| Tina Wesson | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 26, 1960 Knoxville, Tennessee |
Tina Wesson (born December 26, 1960 in Knoxville, Tennessee) won $1,000,000 as the winner of Survivor: The Australian Outback. A married personal nurse from Knoxville, Tennessee, Wesson outlasted 15 other players to become the first woman to win the $1 million prize in 2001. She did not have any votes cast against her at Tribal Council. To this date, Wesson is the oldest female ever to win Survivor, being aged 40. Wesson returned in 2004 for Survivor: All-Stars, where she was the first person voted off the show.
As part of the Ogakor tribe, Wesson was not targeted in the beginning of the game, seeming to mesh well with all the contestants and was not seen as a physical liability. In Episode 4, Wesson was part of a move orchestrated on the way to Tribal Council. Wesson managed to convince allies Keith Famie and Colby Donaldson to force a tie between Mitchell Olson (who was aligned with Amber Brkich and Jerri Manthey) and Famie, whereby Olson would be voted off due to his previous vote at Episode 3's tribal council.
At the Final 6, the main faction of the now Ogakor 4 joined Bingham and Elisabeth Filarski to vote out Manthey's old ally Brkich, propelling them into the Final 5, at which Wesson, Donaldson and Famie took control and eliminated Bingham and then Filarski at the next two tribal councils. In the Final 3 immunity challenge, Donaldson continued a winning streak and chose to eliminate the more hated Famie instead of Wesson, which cost him the win.
Wesson became the Sole Survivor in a 4-3 vote, in which she gained the votes of Famie, Filarski, Manthey, and Calaway.
As part of the Saboga tribe who lost immunity in the first episode, Wesson, a previous winner, was immediately targeted. She was eliminated over Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn. Tribemate Jenna Lewis orchestrated this move stating "it's our game now, get... off our playing field!" With the very first votes against her, Wesson was voted out of Survivor: All-Stars in Episode 1.
| Preceded by Richard Hatch |
Title of Sole Survivor The Australian Outback |
Succeeded by Ethan Zohn |