CBS via Getty ImagesWhat. A. Season!
Survivor: Kaoh Rong has been quite the whirlwind. Remember that time a bug crawled into Jennifer's ear and it was the worst thing we've ever seen? And then of course, there was that time three contestants—including finalist Cyndey—collapsed from heat stroke and nearly died. Three different contestants have had to be medically evacuated, making this one of the dramatic seasons this show has ever had.
Tonight's finale started with four finalists, including Cydney, Aubry, Michele, and Tai. The votes in the first tribal council resulted in a tie, which had to be broken with a fire-starting challenge. Aubry easily built a fire while Cydney couldn't even get a lasting flame.
In the second reward challenge, Michele won the chance to vote out a jury member (which host Jeff Probst revealed was a twist they had been considering for the past seven years), and she chose ice cream entrepreneur Neal, who had become the first juror when he was removed from the game on day 19 after a cut on his knee became infected.
The final tribal council consisted of the usual jury questions, and things got pretty heated. Then, it was time to vote.
The winner of Survivor: Koah Rong?
Michele Fitzgerald!
The 24 year-old New Jersey bartender was originally part of the Gondol, or beauty tribe, and often used her social skills to get ahead in the game. She managed not to anger many people, which is what really helped her out when it was up to the jury to decide the winner.
"It was really about getting to know people as a friendship first," she told Jeff after her win. "I think I did play in the middle a lot, which is a kind of dangerous place to play, but at the same time, I wasn't really being blamed for anything. My name wasn't really on the chopping block that often."
Congratulations, Michele!
Are you happy with the results? Sound off in the comments!
Survivor will return to Wednesdays on CBS for season 33 later this year.