| Robert "Bob" Crowley | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 25, 1951 South Portland, Maine |
Robert "Bob" Crowley (born February 25, 1951) was the $1,000,000 winner of the American television show Survivor: Gabon. On December 14, 2008, it was revealed that he had been voted the winner, receiving four out of the seven votes and thus beating out hairdresser Susie Smith and pin-up model Jessica "Sugar" Kiper. In addition to his million dollar win, Crowley also won the $100,000 from the Sprint Player of the season contest. At 57, he is the oldest winner in the history of Survivor, and he also tied the record for winning the most consecutive challenges. He is also known for his very realistic fake immunity idols, which he made twice during the game.
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At the time of Survivor's airing, Crowley taught physics at Gorham High School in Gorham, Maine. Crowley was the teacher of Survivor: Vanuatu contestant Julie Berry.[1] He has since retired from teaching.[2]
In 2009, Crowley published his autobiography, Making Waves: The Stories of Maine's Bob Crowley. The producers of Survivor, however, forbade Crowley from mentioning the show in his book.[3]
On Survivor: Gabon, Crowley was originally placed into the Kota Tribe. Crowley had originally been in an alliance with fellow tribemates Jacquie Berg, Marcus Lehman, Charlie Herschel, and Corinne Kaplan. This alliance is known to many Survivor fans as the "Onion Alliance." The Kota Tribe proved to be strong by winning the first three challenges. In Episode 3, Kota lost the immunity challenge and were forced to face Tribal Council, where Paloma Solo-Castillo was voted out.
In the following episode, there was a tribal swap which ended up taking fellow alliance member Jacquie Berg to the opposing Fang tribe. When Jacquie was voted off, Randy Bailey was welcomed into their newly made alliance. The Kota tribe would still stand strong, and the tribe won the next two immunity challenges. In Episode 7, both tribes faced a twist where each tribe would have to enter Tribal Council. The "Onion Alliance" voted out Dan Kay over the weaker Susie Smith in fear that Dan had the Hidden Immunity Idol. This ended up being the vital mistake to Crowley's alliance as Susie would end up switching sides.
In Episode 8, both tribes assumed that a merge would be coming up but instead they were welcomed with another tribal swap. Crowley and Marcus remained on Kota while Charlie, Randy, and Corinne moved to Fang. When Fang won the immunity challenge, Crowley and Marcus went to face Tribal Council where tribemates Susie, Ken Hoang, and Crystal Cox voted out Lehman.
After Marcus was voted out, both tribes merged into the new Nobag Tribe ("Nobag" is Gabon spelled backwards). Charlie ended up getting voted out at the next Tribal Council and it soon appeared that Crowley's alliance would crumble. In the following episode, Crowley was targeted next, but when he got sent to Exile Island, he created a fake Hidden Immunity Idol. He used to fake idol to secure his spot in the game and Randy, his own alliance member, was blindsided. After Randy's elimination, Crowley created another Hidden Immunity Idol in an attempt to save himself and last alliance member, Corinne. Although it was futile and Corinne was eliminated, it caused Ken to betray his own alliance and vote against Matty Whitmore.
Crowley's winning streak continued by winning his fifth challenge in a row. This was something his other tribemates did not expect. In Episode 12, Ken tried to propose a deal with Crowley and said that if he had won immunity he would give it up to Ken since he had tricked him at the last Tribal Council. However Jessica "Sugar" Kiper had informed Crowley that it was just a trick to blindside him and Crowley went against the idea. In the following Tribal Councils, Crystal and Ken were both voted out.
In the final immunity challenge, Crowley lost to Susie in a card building challenge. Crowley seemed doomed again but he was able to convince Sugar to go on his side and vote against Whitmore. Knowing that a tie breaker challenge might occur, Crowley also started practising how to build a fire. At Tribal Council, a tie did occur, and as Crowley had expected, a tie would take place. Matty and Crowley were forced to compete in a fire building challenge and once again, Crowley won.
At the final Tribal Council, Crowley was confronted by Ken for not giving up his immunity. Crowley was also confronted by Randy for using the fake Hidden Immunity Idol against him. In the end, the jury voted Crowley as the Sole Survivor in a vote of 4-3-0. Crowley earned the votes of Marcus Lehman, Charlie Herschel, Randy Bailey, and Corinne Kaplan. In addition, Crowley also won the 'Sprint Survivor of the Season' award, earning the fan's vote over Sugar Kiper and Matty Whitmore.
| Preceded by Parvati Shallow |
Title of Sole Survivor Gabon |
Succeeded by J.T. Thomas, Jr. |