Ilona

Tribe(s): Bemba, Lunda, Nguvu
Finish: 12/20
Days Lasted: 24

Ilona is a contestant from *Survivor: The Congo*.

## Survivor: The Congo

Ilona began *Survivor: The Congo* originally on the green Bemba tribe, where she formed a tight trio with Lemon and Priyanka during the first few days of the game. This seemed to paint a target on their backs, especially in the eyes of Janelle, Jeana, Kari and Rio. The trio responded by forming close relationships with Aliza and Estelle before bringing them into their Maple Leaves alliance. When Bemba lost the first immunity challenge, Ilona and her alliance had the majority to eliminate Da'Vonne for her aggressive campaigning against them. As the days progressed, Ilona's alliance started to question Estelle's loyalty because Estelle seemed to bond with Jeana and Rio. After losing the following immunity challenge, a three way tie occurred between Aliza, Estelle and Jeana after The Maple Leaves split their votes between Estelle and Jeana. At the revote, the majority united together to eliminate Jeana. Ilona felt comfortable she was in a position of power within her alliance, though she noticed that Janelle had somehow created a close trio with Lemon and Priyanka. After Bemba lost on Day 11, Ilona's fears were confirmed when she subtly suggested the alliance eliminate Janelle  and was quickly shut down. At tribal council, Ilona flipped to work with Aliza, Estelle, Kari and Rio in order to blindside Janelle.

The two tribes then met together for a surprise announcement on Day 12, where Sukhvinder from the Lunda tribe elected to quit the game. A tribe switch occurred following her departure, where Ilona was switched to Lunda with Lemon whilst joining original Lunda women Annaliese, Ashley, Helena, Sophie and Sue. Ilona and Lemon reconciled their differences regarding Janelle's elimination in order to work together. On paper, it appeared the pair were in the overwhelming minority on this new tribe, though Sue quickly explained she wanted to work with them more than with The British Invasion alliance. Ilona and Lemon were also told that Helena was considering flipping on her alliance after Sue told her that she was an expendable ally to them. When Lunda lost immunity on Day 18, The British Invasion voted for Lemon but Ilona voted with Helena, Lemon and Sue to blindside Ashley. It now seemed that Ilona's group were in power, where they voted for Annaliese when Lunda lost the following immunity challenge. However, Annaliese played her Hidden Immunity Idol and Sue was voted out with the only two votes that counted from Annaliese and Sophie.

On Day 23, the remaining twelve castaways merged into the blue Nguvu tribe. Ilona and Lemon clearly wanted to work with Helena on this new tribe, though they were disappointed when their original ally Priyanka explained she was completely on the outs on her switched Bemba tribe. Helena saw this lack of numbers and began to question her allegiance to the group. At the first merged tribal council, the girls decided to vote for Catherine from The British Invasion whilst The British Invasion voted for Estelle. However, the remaining five girls with no ties to either alliance formed a majority faction. This faction voted together and eliminated Ilona, making her the first member of the jury. At the Final Tribal Council, she voted for Annaliese to win the title of Sole Survivor.

## Trivia

* Ilona is the first First Nations castaway, specifically Nlaka'pamux, to appear on *Survivor*.