Parvati Shallow

Parvati Shallow (born September 21, 1982 in Vero Beach, Florida) is a television personality and was the $1,000,000 winner of the reality television series Survivor: Micronesia. She had previously competed in Survivor: Cook Islands where she placed sixth,^[1] and later was the runner-up in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. From July 5, 2011 to December 2011, Parvati starred in CBS' Around the World For Free.^[2] From 2013 to 2014, she was the host of Survivor Live on CBS.com, a weekly web-exclusive series where she interviews the voted off castaways from Survivor and chats with other special guests such as former players.

Biography

Shallow grew up the eldest of three siblings on a commune in Vero Beach, Florida. She and her family moved to Atlanta when she was 11 years old. Shallow put herself through college, attending the University of Georgia, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism with minors in French and Italian. While in college, she was an active member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.

Shallow began competing in boxing in 2004. She and some fellow boxers created a non-profit organization titled "Knockouts for Girls", a charity that provides scholarships and boxing lessons for underprivileged girls. She completed the Nautica Malibu Sprint Triathlon and is scheduled to compete in the Wildflower Olympic Distance Triathlon at Lake San Antonio, CA^[3]

In 2009, Shallow and fellow Survivor contestant Amanda Kimmel appeared in the movie Into the Blue 2 (as herself). In 2010, Shallow was the host on a CBS Survivor preview segment for the 21st season, Survivor: Nicaragua.

Shallow was the latest host of the webseries Around the World For Free, which began airing on July 5, 2011.^[4]

Survivor

Shallow originally auditioned for The Amazing Race along with her friend. They did not make the final cut. CBS producers, however, remembered her from her auditions and then approached her to take part in Survivor, which she accepted.^[5] She is widely considered to be one of the best to ever play the game, placing in the top 3 in most rankings.^[6]

Survivor: Cook Islands

Shallow originally appeared as part of the Rarotonga tribe, which represented Caucasians, along with Adam Gentry, Jonathan Penner, Jessica "Flica" Smith, and Candice Woodcock. Her tribe did not face any danger for the first six days as they had immunity. At the end of the second immunity challenge, Billy Garcia of the Aitu tribe told Shallow and Woodcock that he was next to go. Woodcock replied, "We love you" and Garcia believed Woodcock and he fell in love. Shallow was particularly allied with Gentry and Woodcock, who were romantically involved. When the four tribes were merged into two, Shallow and Gentry remained in Rarotonga while their other tribe mates were sent to Aitutaki. Despite being stronger in number, the new Rarotonga continually lost in challenges. Shallow pressed for the elimination of J.P Calderon, whom she thought as arrogant and he became the fourth person voted out, despite his physical strength. Shallow survived her tribe's next three Tribal Councils as John Paul "J.P." Calderon, Stephannie Favor, and Cristina Coria were voted off. When the contestants were down to 12, a 'Mutiny' twist was presented where anybody could change tribe affiliations, and for the first time it was accepted. Shallow's former tribe mates Penner and Woodcock decided to jump back to Rarotonga, thus having all remaining Caucasian contestants on the same tribe. Rarotonga lost the next two Immunity challenges and Shallow remained loyal to her "White Alliance" by eliminating Brad Virata, Rebecca Borman, and Jenny Guzon-Bae. At the merge, despite coming with a 5–4 member advantage over Aitutaki, Shallow found herself at the minority as Penner betrayed his former tribe mates and joined the Aitu 4 in voting out Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez. Shallow was angry with Penner and even cut her thumb with a machete a day following Penner's betrayal while cutting a coconut, saying she was imagining the coconut was Penner's head. After alliance member Candice was eliminated, Shallow and Gentry found themselves fighting for survival. Despite being on the outs, Shallow was able to retain her strength and won two reward challenges, one being the loved one challenge. This worried the Aitu 4, who were dissatisfied with how Gentry and Shallow lay around camp sleeping, while they worked and got their food. In an attempt to stay in the game, Gentry and Shallow talked to Yul Kwon about voting out Penner (who betrayed their alliance) first in exchange for their jury votes, a plan which succeeded. On day 36 Shallow was finally voted out in a 4–2 vote when the Aitu 4 saw her craftiness as more of a threat than Gentry's physical strength. As a juror, she cast her vote for runner-up Ozzy Lusth. Shallow was noted for being a flirt throughout the season. She flirted with Nathan "Nate" Gonzalez to ensure his loyalty, had 'cuddle sessions' with Gentry and sat naked in a hot tub with Kwon and Lusth during a reward challenge. Shallow also kissed Gentry when she was voted off.

Survivor: Micronesia

Parvati returned as a "Favorite" and part of the Malakal tribe. She formed a close bond with James Clement and the two formed an alliance with another couple consisting of Amanda Kimmel and Ozzy Lusth. After their tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge, they tried swinging Jon Dalton, aka "Jonny Fairplay", over to their side to gain a majority over the alliance of Yau-Man Chan, Ami Cusack, Eliza Orlins, and Jonathan Penner. However, Fairplay was voted out instead as per his wishes. Parvati then made a pact with Cirie Fields to go all the way to the final three with Amanda. After losing the 3rd Immunity Challenge, Parvati was targeted by the opposing alliance but her alliance (now with Cirie) succeeded in voting off strategic threat Yau-Man.

At the tribal switch, Parvati and James Clement were separated from their alliance as they moved to Airai. However, she remained safe as her tribe won the remaining tribal Immunity Challenges. On day 20, she made a deal with Natalie Bolton to an alliance with James and Alexis Jones plus a final four deal with Alexis and Amanda, both of which Natalie accepted.

At the merge, Parvati found herself in a good position as she was allied with six (Alexis, Amanda, Cirie, Natalie, Ozzy, James) of the 9 people left. During the 10th Immunity Challenge, Parvati convinced Jason Siska to step down from the challenge so that she could win Immunity, which worked (under the condition that the tribe would not vote for Jason). However, Parvati's "Couples Alliance" decided to turn back on what they said and vote off Jason. Cirie saw this as an opportunity to blindside physical threat Ozzy and needed Parvati for it to work, which she agreed to. She recruited her Airai female alliance Natalie and Alexis to the plan, and Ozzy was voted off 5–4. After Ozzy was voted off, Parvati found herself in a failed attempt to patch things up with James and Amanda (who kept her distrust to herself). The five remaining women then formed an alliance to vote off the men, starting with Jason. However, when James was evacuated and Erik Reichenbach won Immunity, they were forced to vote off one of their own. Amanda was the intended target, a plan which Parvati did not want to be part of. She then helped Amanda in her quest to find the Hidden Immunity Idol (which she found buried under the tribal flag) and together, they voted off possible jury threat Alexis.

Parvati made it all the way to the final three with Cirie and Amanda (as promised) However, she was shocked to learn that only two of them would face the jury. She was eliminated first at the Final Immunity Challenge but was chosen to be in the Final Two by Amanda. At the Final Tribal Council, Parvati convinced the jury to vote for her because of her aggressive game play compared to her previous season. Despite being accused of being a mean person by Eliza Orlins and a backstabber by Ozzy Lusth, the jury decided to award Parvati the title of Sole Survivor with a vote of 5–3 against Amanda, earning votes from Eliza Orlins, Jason Siska, Alexis Jones, Natalie Bolton, and Cirie Fields.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Parvati returned to play Survivor for a third time as a part of the villains tribe. She quickly accepted an alliance with Russell Hantz and Danielle DiLorenzo. On Day 18, the villains lost immunity, and the Parvati, Russell, and Danielle alliance were still struggling to gain control of the game. They finally gained control when they persuaded Jerri to switch sides and vote out Russell's rival, Rob. While the Villains are yet to vote out a female member, the Heroes assumed that the Villains side was being run by an all-women alliance, led by Parvati. When the villains lost immunity again on Day 21, they decided to vote Coach out to further confirm the Heroes belief of that. Parvati and Danielle both found the hidden immunity idol together and decided not to tell Russell. On Day 24, the villains lost immunity again and James "J.T" Thomas Jr. gave his idol to Russell, in hopes that he would use it to vote out Parvati. Russell, however, showed it to Parvati, along with Danielle and Jerri.

On day 25, the Heroes and Villains merged into Yin Yang and went to the Heroes camp. Parvati and Russell came up with this story that they both played their idol, negating all votes and that in the revote they voted out Courtney. The new tribe quickly alienated Parvati, making Parvati swear to get revenge on all of the heroes. For the immunity challenge on Day 27, Parvati and Danielle were the last two remaining. Parvati decided to give it to Danielle, because Parvati already had the idol. Before tribal council, Russell gave Parvati his idol. Parvati went and then talked to Amanda, who warned her to play the idol for herself. Parvati didn't trust her, and at tribal council she played both idols on Sandra and Jerri, sending JT home in a 5-0 vote.

On day 33, Russell won immunity, and decided to turn on his alliance. He tried to pit Parvati and Danielle against each other, but failed. Russell then aligned with the heroes to vote Danielle out, and with a little help from Jerri, Danielle was voted out in a 4-3 vote. Russell then aligned with the heroes and decided to target Parvati. However, his plan was ruined when she won immunity on day 36. Parvati then won her third challenge on Day 37, and they voted the last hero, Colby, out of the game in a 4-1 vote. After Parvati failed to win the final immunity challenge, it seemed that she would be voted out, since everyone wanted her gone. Parvati wanted to get rid of Sandra, thinking she would get a lot of votes in the end. However, they voted out Jerri in a 3-1 vote, because Russell believed he would get her vote on the jury.

In the end, Parvati came in second, gaining the jury votes of Coach, Danielle, and Jerri. She beat Russell, who received no votes, and was beaten by Sandra Diaz-Twine, who got the votes of all heroes, plus Courtney. At the reunion, it was revealed that Parvati had played more days than anyone else in Survivor history, with 114 days in three seasons, a record that was surpassed in 2011 by Rob Mariano, who played a total of 117 days in four seasons.

Parvati was one of the first five inductees into the "Survivor Hall of Fame" in the year 2010, alongside Hantz, Mariano, Diaz-Twine, and Richard Hatch. She also became one of only five players to make it to the finale more than once, along with Hantz, Mariano, Diaz-Twine, and Amanda Kimmel. To this day, Parvati has widely been considered one of the greatest players in Survivor history, and on reality TV podcaster and former Survivor contestant Rob Cesternino's online poll for the greatest contestant in the show's history, Parvati won both times the poll was ever held (in 2011 and 2014).^[7][8][9] In the official issue of CBS Watch commemorating the 15th anniversary of Survivor, Parvati was voted by viewers as the 4th greatest contestant in the history of the series (only behind Rob Cesternino, Russell Hantz, and Rob Mariano), and was the highest-ranking female contestant.^[10] Also, she was the only three-time contestant in the top 10 to have all three of her seasons also be voted by viewers as among the top 10 greatest seasons of all time - Cook Islands was ranked 10th, Micronesia was ranked 3rd, and Heroes vs. Villains was ranked 1st.^[11] In addition, she came in 2nd in the same magazine's poll for the most attractive female contestant, only behind Brenda Lowe of Survivor: Nicaragua and Survivor: Caramoan.^[12] She was thus the only female contestant to appear in both polls, and one of only two contestants overall to appear in the "greatest players" poll and one of the "most attractive" polls, the other being fellow Cook Islands contestant Ozzy Lusth. In 2015, host Jeff Probst named Parvati one of his top 10 favorite Survivor winners, and one of his top 5 favorite female winners.^[13]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Parvati Shallow.

• Survivor After Show on CBS.com
• Parvati Shallow biography for Survivor: Cook Islands at CBS.com
• Parvati Shallow biography for Survivor: Micronesia at CBS.com
• Parvati Shallow biography for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains at CBS.com
• Parvati Shallow at the Internet Movie Database