Survivor crowned Rachel LaMont the winner of Season 47 in a landslide vote over runner-up Sam Phalen during the two-hour finale broadcast that aired Wednesday night on CBS.

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Rachel, a 34-year-old graphic designer from Dexter, MI, who currently resides in Southfield, MI, won Survivor through a 7-1 jury vote against Sam, a 24-year-old sports reporter from Schaumburg, IL, at the Final Tribal Council session on Night 25 of the game.

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"I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience because it's just so surreal that [I won] this show that I fell in love with. Because the second I watched it, I thought, 'I have to do that,'" Rachel told Survivor host Jeff Probst during the aftershow filmed in Fiji.

"And the biggest lesson I think I walked in with was I thought I had such a good grasp of my strengths and my weaknesses, and I think that this game really flipped that completely on its head, yet I was able to just kind of work with it and adapt to it and land myself here."

But Rachel added, "I am a little bit in shock, if I'm being completely honest! I thought Sam had an incredible Final Tribal, and I genuinely did not know where those final votes were going. I was really nervous."

Sue Smey, a 59-year-old flight school owner from Kirkwood, NY, who currently resides in Putnam Valley, NY, placed third with zero jury votes at the Final Tribal Council.

Teeny Chirichillo, a 24-year-old freelance writer from Manahawkin, NJ, finished in fourth place after losing the fire-starting challenge to Sam on Night 24 of the game.

The Survivor 47 finale began on Night 24 of the game with the Final 4 castaways celebrating their successes and achievements.

On Day 25, the Final 4 competed in the Final Individual Immunity Challenge of the season. Jeff took back Rachel's necklace for the third time.

For the challenge, Jeff instructed each castaway to crawl under a muddy net, use a long pole to unweave a rope, and then use the rope to lower a gate. After running through the gate, they had to collect a bag of letter tiles, which they would use to solve a combination lock.

Solving the lock would release a machete, and then the players would have to use it to drop a ladder, before climbing to the finish and solving a hanging-bat puzzle.

The winner would be guaranteed a spot in the Final 3 at the Final Tribal Council of Survivor 47. The winner would also decide which two castaways would compete in the fire-starting challenge as well as which player would automatically advance to the Final 3.

In the end, Rachel won Immunity and her way to the end, and she appeared emotional and ecstatic. Rachel also won herself a spot in the Survivor Hall of Fame after winning four Immunity Challenges.

Jeff told Rachel, "For the fourth -- and historic -- time, Immunity is yours... Only five women, including yourself, over 46 seasons, have won four Individual Immunities."

The four other iconic Survivor women were Jenna Morasca, Chrissy Hofbeck, Kim Spradlin and Kelly Wiglesworth. Kelly and Chrissy, however, got to the end and didn't win the game.

Sam admittedly felt defeated after the challenge because he had tried many times to knock her out of the game. Sam predicted he was definitely going to be making fire for his life that night.

Since Sue had been Rachel's only loyal ally in the Survivor game, Rachel was immediately convinced that she was going to take Sue to the end with her.

Rachel didn't waste any time telling Sam and Teeny their fate, and she liked the idea of those two going into battle against each other.

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Sam claimed he had never practiced fire during the game, but Teeny thought he was just joking around to get inside her head. Teeny called Sam "arrogant" and said she didn't appreciate his "mind games" at all.

Since Sam and Rachel had been enemies for quite some time, Rachel helped Teeny with her fire technique and gave her some pointers in order to boost her confidence up.

It turned out, however, that Sam may have been telling the truth because Sue watched him struggle to spark a flame with his flint.

"I've gone 25 days and maybe just touched a flint for the first time. Now I'm starting to wish I had done a little bit more to prepare for this potential moment. Making fire is a foreign concept to me, and it makes me really nervous that Teeny has a coach," Sam lamented to the cameras.

Sam was well aware that everyone was rooting against him, and he was seemingly beginning to lose hope. Sam said he was "way over [his] head" and he felt "scared to lose" and look like "an idiot."

But after Sam re-read his letter from home, he realized he shouldn't give up and he could still defy the odds -- and so he kept practicing.

On Night 25 at Tribal Council, Sam announced, "The necklace doesn't win you a million bucks," and there should be a lot of criteria that goes into voting for the winner, who is supposed to have "outwit, outplay and outlast" the rest.

Rachel then announced how she wanted Sam and Teeny to compete in the fire-making challenge.

Teeny explained how she was confident in this new version of herself and it actually felt good to be playing against a threat who is handsome, athletic and popular -- which were things Teeny said she always wanted to be.

Sam declared that he was going to "fight like hell" and he was ready to go.

Sam and Teeny were asked to look at their supplies -- magnesium, husk and a flint -- and then make a fire tall and hot enough to burn through a rope. The first burn to burn his or her rope would advance to the Final 3 with Rachel and Sue.

The person who lost the fire-making challenge would become the eighth member of Survivor 47's jury.

Teeny sparked a flame quickly and worked to build it up while Sam struggled to spark any type of flame at all. Teeny had a good foundation and seemed close to winning but then Sam finally started up a fire.

At one point, both fires were hitting the rope, and then suddenly, right as Teeny was about to be victorious, the wind shifted her flame to the side and only Sam's fire was burning the rope.

In an "unbelievable turn of events" and an "unbelievable comeback" on Sam's part, according to Jeff, Sam won in fire and clenched a spot in the Final 3.

"I have never seen a fire-making challenge that close -- ever -- on Survivor!" Jeff shouted.

Teeny cried and appeared distraught, but she pointed out how she was still proud of herself for how she had played Survivor.

Before Jeff snuffed Teeny's torch, she hugged Rachel and thanked her for her help and support.

"I do think that moment will haunt me for the rest of my time on Earth, but I've had to overcome a lot of emotional hardships out here," Teeny said in her final words.

"Throughout my life, I have obtained this sort of 'sidekick energy,' and out here, I've learned how to be my own best friend, and it will help me live my life in ways I never have before."

On Day 26, the Final 3 castaways enjoyed a beautiful feast of food, and Sam thought he had a chance to win after coming from behind and making it to the end as a true underdog. He thought his "scrappy" story was "rootable," one that the jury would want to get behind.

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Sue, for her part, said she had downplayed herself the whole time and fooled everyone on Survivor, and so she didn't think that she was "the goat" going into the Final Tribal Council at all.

At the Final Tribal Council, the following jury members were ready to ask questions and ultimately vote for the winner of Survivor 47: Sierra Wright, Sol Yi, Gabe Ortis, Kyle Ostwald, Caroline Vidmar, Andy Rueda, Genevieve Mushaluk, and Teeny.

The Final 3 castaways had to plead their case as to why they deserved to the "Sole Survivor" on Night 26 of the game.

When asked why their game would be remembered, Rachel said she fell on her face pretty hard and had the ability to adapt and go from an underdog -- and someone who had been left out of the game -- to a real threat. Rachel said, however, she didn't care how people were going to remember her.

Sam shared how he never gave up on himself and found a way using "creative strategy, social adaptability, charm, humor and self-deprecation" to get himself to the end. Sam said he wanted to leave Survivor feeling proud of himself and have others admire him.

Sue then revealed she's actually 59-years-old and her legacy would be a grandmother making it through the entire game -- being truthful, honest and loyal -- to the end.

Caroline asked Rachel to reveal her biggest mistake in the game and how she recovered, and Rachel said she completely changed her game following Sierra's exit by bonding with Lavo and Sol. Rachel also shared how she had spied on people and found out Teeny had betrayed her, which prompted her to play her idol.

Sam said his mistake was not tying up loose ends by throwing out names without thinking about the consequences. But Sam said a fake idol he and Genevieve had made helped to flip the game.

Sue told Andy that he had lied to her twice and then blindsided Caroline, and so believing him a third time was her greatest mistake in the Survivor game.

Rachel attempted to blow Sol's mind by telling him how she had played her idol effectively.

"Having every single person in the game sell your game to the jury for you, without you actually leaving the game, that was something I've never seen on Survivor. That's something I'm really proud of that I pulled off," Rachel explained.

But Sam argued that he had been very intentional in elevating Rachel's threat level.

"I had to gas somebody up in front of everybody else so that nobody's looking at me and everybody is looking at Rachel, so I was able to navigate the game without the protection of an Immunity necklace. I was able to put a threat above myself," Sam explained.

"I think the problem is you didn't take the threat out," Rachel quipped. "Saying you can't beat someone to the jury and then going to the end with them is not a strategy that I think is a very smart one."

Andy called Rachel, another Super Fan, a "challenge beast" and an "idol finder." But he pointed out how she had the worst voting record of the Final 3.

Rachel said she often couldn't convince people to do her bidding in the game and so she had to find another way to play. Sam agreed Rachel had lost a lot of strategic and social agency as the game progressed and so it was Immunity and an idol in fries that got her to the end of the game.

"I got voted for more than anybody here, I'm the only one in the game that never voted incorrectly, I was voted for at four different Tribal Councils, and I received a total of 10 votes throughout this game," Sam boasted.

"You were the one who said multiple times, 'I need him out of this game. He's a threat.'"

Sue then recalled how she had won the bucket challenge and could've outlasted the other two men in the challenge as well.

"I beat all your asses!" Sue said. "I found the Beware Advantage, I stayed loyal to the people I wanted to go to the end with, and I got out the people I wanted out."

Before voting commenced, Sam told the jury his game was imperfect but happened to be the most well-rounded, dynamic, adaptable, and creative of the Final 3 castaways. Sam said he never had to rely on immunity necklace or buying fries at the Survivor auction.

In her final pitch, Rachel argued that she had played "the most dominant game" of the Final 3.

"There were two advantages and one idol post-merge, and I controlled all of them -- and that wasn't just through luck, it was through social connection and stealthiness," Rachel insisted.

"I had to get an idol when everyone was at camp and then I had to play it in an incredibly large fashion, which I feel made a huge statement."

Rachel added how she also won four immunities and tied a record, for which she felt really, really proud.

"I went from an underdog to a super big dog, and I hope that I get your vote," Rachel concluded.

As the jury voted, Kyle's vote for Sam was revealed in the voting booth, and Caroline showed her vote for Rachel and gushed about how Rachel had played her idol "brilliantly."

Jeff proceeded to read the votes for the winner of Survivor 47 in the following order: Rachel, Sam, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, and Rachel.

Footage then rolled into the Survivor aftershow that had been pre-recorded in Fiji.

Sam admitted to Jeff that he was "disappointed" not to win the game after giving his best pitch during the jury questioning.

"I knew it was an uphill battle coming in. I just tried to come into tonight with the same mentality I went into fire with -- come out fighting and give it my best," Sam explained.

"I knew I could make a compelling case; I knew that I played a really good game that I should be proud of. I came into tonight wanting to win but at peace with the result regardless, and so I'm blessed."

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And Jeff told Sue that there have been 21 women over the age of 50 to play Survivor, which is five percent, and of those, there have only been five that have made it to the end, which is under one percent.

"I just wanted to represent the people of my generation," Sue shared, "to show them that life doesn't end at 50 or 60 or 70. You have to just go for it, and I went for! I am very proud of my game and what I accomplished and how I achieved it... I feel like I have a whole new family here."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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