Monty Brinton/CBSIn the end, the best man won. She just happened to be a woman.
Parvati Shallow, the former boxer from Los Angeles whose flirty ways landed her with a less than coveted sixth-place finish in Survivor: Cook Islands, found redemption Sunday night, getting voted the winner of Survivor: Micronesia—Fans vs. Favorites.
The 25-year-old pugilist and nonprofit organizer—and so-called favorite—was awarded the title and $1 million prize by host Jeff Probst after helping comprise the show's first-ever all-female final four.
Shallow's win indeed proved to be a survival of the fittest, particularly in a season that was unequaled in competitor injuries.
Rather than outwit, outlast or outplay, the unabashed lash-batter used her feminine wiles to secure her spot in the final four, copping in the live finale to having been an equal opportunity flirt on the island with both her male and female competitors.
Shallow, who earlier in the season allowed history to repeat itself by leading a series of aggressive blindsides against the castaways, starting with fellow Survivor: Cook Islands alum Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth, and who was a major player in the so-dubbed Black Widow Alliance, appealed to the Tribal Council's sense of sportsmanship in making her plea for the title, chalking up some of her more duplicitous behaviors over the 39-day period as simply playing the game.
She wound up her appeal by telling the voters that the Survivor version of herself is not an accurate depiction of her character in real life.
Meanwhile, a suddenly emotional Kimmel, who won the final two individual immunities leading up to the final vote, took a different tack, spouting off on her loyalty during the game before letting loose a flood of tears.
In the end, the tribe spoke loud and clear: Shallow handily won the 16th season with five votes to Kimmel's three.