| Courtney Yates | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1981 New York, NY |
Courtney Yates (born March 26, 1981 in Boston, Massachusetts) is a waitress who became part of the reality television show Survivor: China in 2007, finishing second to winner Todd Herzog. In 2010, Yates returned to the series for all-star edition Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. She placed 11th, and became the second member of the jury.
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She has studied at both the Boston and Beacon Hill campuses of Suffolk University, as well as its West African campus located in Dakar, Senegal. She paid her own way through college by sidelining as a passenger service agent for a major airline at Boston’s Logan Airport, and eventually graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
Another past occupation for her was working as a “historical interpreter,” which was actually a tour guide wearing a costume, at historic abodes found in Salem, Massachusetts. She has also worked as a receptionist for a high-end hair salon. She currently works as a waitress for a top restaurant in New York’s Union Square, where she says she enjoys the liberty and the fast pace of living that it allows her. Apart from her work, her favorite pastimes are learning new things and reading.[1] She is currently dating Stephen Fishbach from Survivor: Tocantins. [2]
Yates competed in the reality television show Survivor: China. Yates started on the Fei Long tribe and though immediately targeted for her weakness in challenges and laziness around camp, but was spared due to Leslie Nease's connections with the opposing tribe. After the tribal switch in episode 5, Yates got close with new tribe members Frosti Zernow and Sherea Lloyd. Yates' increasing dislike for tribe mate Jean-Robert Bellande lead her to attempt to vote him off for the second time (the first being at Nease's elimination), but the untrusted Lloyd was eliminated instead. Yates expressed her frustrations of Bellande to Todd Herzog and Amanda Kimmel, who wanted Yates in their alliance though they feared her as a loose cannon. Yates joined Herzog and Kimmel in a final three alliance and voted off the rest of their merged tribe until they became the final three. The final episode of the season, broadcast on December 16, 2007, revealed that Yates finished second, behind winner Todd Herzog, garnering 2 jury votes from James Clement and Denise Martin.[3] At the reunion, Yates defended her weight as a genetic trait and apologized for claiming Martin "sucked at life."
Yates was a contestant on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, as a member of the Villains tribe.[4] Yates formed an alliance with Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tyson Apostol, and Rob Mariano. After Apostol was eliminated, Benjamin "Coach" Wade targeted Yates for her weakness in challenges. Diaz-Twine sought revenge for Wade's disloyalty and convinced Russell Hantz that Wade was targeting Hantz. Wade was voted out that night by a narrow margin of one vote over Yates. However, Yates was voted out in the subsequent tribal council despite attempts to vote out Jerri Manthey. Yates finished 11th and was the 2nd member of the Jury, as well as the final player to leave before the merge.
In the final Jury vote, Yates was the only villain to vote for Diaz-Twine, along with all five jury members from the Heroes tribe. Ultimately, this gave Diaz-Twine her 6-3-0 victory.