'Survivor: One World' shuffles tribes and votes off Monica Culpepper

Survivor: One World ended its men versus women format and eliminated Monica Culpepper, a 41-year-old ex-NFL football player's wife from Tampa, FL, from her Manono tribe during Wednesday night's fifth episode of the CBS reality series' 24th edition.


Monica was voted out of her tribe at the season's fifth Tribal Council session, the first elimination session for the mixed-gender tribe after Manono and Salani had experienced a tribal shuffle in which many castaways were forced to switch tribes at random.

"I'm extremely disappointed. I came here to win. I chased my husband all over stadiums for 11 years of football and all I was looking forward to was him coming to the Survivor stadium. The dumbest thing that I could have done was trust [Colton Cumbie]. I guess I blame myself for being outwitted," Monica said following her ouster.

Survivor: One World's fifth broadcast began on Day 12 with the all-female Salani tribe attempting to come to grips with the fact the all-male Manono tribe had given up its immunity idol the castaways had received from winning the fourth Immunity Challenge to the women's tribe in order to participate in the season's previous Tribal Council.

The girls acknowledged that the guys were "a mess" and involved in some serious nonsense. Therefore, they decided they must stick together and go into the next Reward Challenge seven strong with the confidence they could "blow the guys away."


The castaways then arrived for the Reward Challenge where they were met by Survivor host Jeff Probst, who had a surprise to reveal before explaining the rules.

Jeff announced they'd be switching up the tribes, so he asked everyone to drop their buffs. He told Manono and Salani it was going to be a random switch in which each person was required to draw an egg, and when told, smash it against his or her body. The color paint to explode out of the egg would represent which tribe everyone would be on.

The blue paint represented Salani and the new members of that tribe were: Jay Byars, a 25-year-old model from Gaffney, SC; Michael Jefferson, a 30-year-old banker from Seattle, WA; Troy "Troyzan" Robertson, a 50-year-old swimsuit photographer from Miami, FL; Kat Edorsson, a 22-year-old timeshare representative from Orlando, FL; Chelsea Meissner, a 26-year-old in medical sales from Charleston, SC; Kim Spradlin, a 29-year-old bridal shop owner from San Antonio, TX; and Sabrina Thompson, a 33-year-old high school teacher from Brooklyn, NY.

The new Manono tribe -- which consisted of Colton, an openly gay 21-year-old college student from Monroeville, AK; Leif Manson, a 27-year-old phlebotomist from San Diego, CA; Jonas Otsuji, a 37-year-old sushi chef from Lehi, Utah; Greg "Tarzan" Smith, a 64-year-old plastic surgeon from Houston, TX; Christina Cha, a 29-year-old career consultant from West Hollywood, CA; Monica; and Alicia Rosa, a 25-year-old special education teacher from Chicago, IL -- drew eggs with orange paint inside.

Salani was thrilled about their new tribe, while Manono was a bit disappointed because they realized most, if not all, of the muscle was on the other side.


After the tribal swap, Jeff then instructed both tribes to compete in teams of four people at a time for the challenge. They were required to carry a large bucket to a water tower, where they must fill it. On their way back, they had to work together to plug the holes that were leaking out a lot of the water they had just collected. When tribe members got to their finish platform, they then had to dump the remainder of their water into a huge container and head back out to do it all over again.

The first tribe to fill its container with water and raise its flag would win reward in the form of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. In addition, the winning tribe could continue living at their Survivor: One World camp on the beach they had grown accustomed to, while the losing tribe must start fresh and create a new camp for themselves at a brand new location.

Salani, not to anyone's surprise, ended up winning the Reward Challenge.

"Look at them and look at us. It's like Greek gods versus peasants -- no, village people," Colton said.

Jeff then gave Manono a map which would lead them to the destination of their new camp.


After the challenge, Sabrina was extremely thankful that she had Kim and Chelsea on her new tribe, along with Kat, who were all her good friends and alliance members.

"Not only did I get on a tribe with people I don't want to be on a tribe with, I got on a tribe with people who suck!" Colton said. "We're not going to be able to compete with them in anything. They're Greek gods, they're going to dominate us in challenges, they're eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They're getting stronger than they already are!"

"Oh my God, we're going to be the laughing stock! We're not going to win. I already know we're not going to win. Even if the girls didn't have the guys on their team at Salani, they'd still probably kick our butts. That's how sad that is," Alicia joked.

Colton then formed a little alliance with Christina and Alicia, and Christina promised him he wouldn't get blindsided. Afterward, Colton admitted to cameras he was just telling the girls everything they wanted to hear in order to ensure his safety in the game. Colton also got Monica on his side, and she believed they had the power of numbers.

While Monica told Colton she'd never lie to or leave him, she was also a bit worried about whether Colton was really trustworthy.


"I hope you're still with us. I hope you're not the puppetmaster, master-manipulator and that you really aren't truly with the guys and the girls are going down one, two, three. I feel like I'm the strongest of the three girls, which would mean it would be me first," Monica explained after Colton joined her alliance of females.

Meanwhile, Salani's members were getting along fine and even caught a chicken and four crabs for food. Jay then talked to Troy and Kim about going into the merge with a solid four or five people, suggesting Mike should not be a part of it.

"I think it's Salani versus Manono right now. I don't think it's men versus women, and if it was, we would be on the outs because we're down a man as far as our tribe goes. They have one more girl. I don't mind at all working with these women. I think I can trust them and I want to get to know them better and see where their heads are at," Jay explained.

Kim then told Troy and Jay she trusted Chelsea and they could as well, so she made a deal with the guys to have each others' backs and keep one another informed at all times -- forming a new alliance. 

Colton told Alicia he trusted Monica but not Christina and that Christina had to be the first castaway on their tribe to get voted off. Alicia said they needed four people to be a strong alliance, and therefore, eliminating Christina would make it unstable because she personally believed the girls were loyal and the guys were "crazy."


Despite what seemed to be the obvious, Alicia still felt that the women were against the men on the Manono tribe. Colton, however, was set on joining forces with Jonas, Tarzan and Alicia to get rid of Monica and Christina.

Colton then had to tighten his ties with Jonas to make sure they were on the same page. He told Jonas he'd stick by him and remain loyal to the men because he couldn't afford to have female allies. After Colton asked Jonas to vote for Christina, Jonas pleaded for Colton not to scam him.

Jonas wasn't sure whether he should believe Colton and follow his orders because it was becoming increasingly more concerning to him that Colton was apparently running the show on both sides. Jonas believed he would be making a ridiculous move in the game if he chose to overlook the fact Colton might be forming alliances with the women and the men on the Manono tribe at the same time.

On Day 14, over at the Salani camp, Kim tried to look for the other hidden Immunity Idol, and after unsuccessfully searching for it for quite awhile, she ended up getting lucky and discovered it. She chose to share the information with Chelsea alone because she said there was no one else she trusted more in the game.

Kim then talked to Chelsea about their idol being a "game-changer." Kim said they would be able to gather numbers as long as they didn't tell a soul and didn't lead their fellow castaways to believe they were a dangerous pair.

Meanwhile, Manono wasn't so fortunate. A chicken they had caught escaped and got away, and Colton continued scheming to ultimately blindside either Monica and Christina. Colton thought they were both on the outs but brought different strengths and weaknesses to the table. He believed Christina had no friends, but Monica had power and could be considered a big physical threat.


Colton worried Monica would be a force to be reckoned with if she made it to the merge, while Christina would be much easier to get rid of in that case. As a result, he told Alicia that Monica was "scarier" than Christina and should be the next castaway to go. Colton claimed Christina would be eliminated afterwards.

Alicia was hesitant about Colton's plan and said he was asking too much of her in expecting her to trust a whole other tribe. However, Colton assured her it was all about trusting him only -- one person -- and she seemed responsive to that outlook.

"I just had to convince Alicia that I have her back. I convinced her, 'Look, I'll take care of you. We just have to take out Monica and Christina," Colton said. "I've been getting rid of the head of the snake this entire time: [Matt Quinlan], [Bill Posley], and now Monica. So, I think it's pretty brilliant."

Colton then gave Alicia permission to "kill him" once he got home to Alabama if he ended up betraying her.

Later that day, the Salani tribe and Manono tribe met with Jeff, who then explained the rules to what would be their fifth Immunity Challenge.

The castaways learned that each tribe would have three members appointed to race to get a ball in the water and then work together to shoot the ball into a basket, while the members of the opposing tribe must try to stop them in any way possible. Every time a tribe got its ball in the basket, they'd score one point. The first tribe to get three points would win the challenge and be safe from the vote at the next Tribal Council.


Mike scored two fast points for Salani, but Leif played great defense. Monica then scored a basket for Manono, but Mike quickly countered and scored Salani's third and final basket -- resulting in a big win for Salani.

After the challenge, the Manono tribe was very bummed out that they had lost, but they were at least pleased with the one point they did earn thanks to Monica. Monica apologized for letting her tribe down, but everyone thanked her for the work she had done and commended her for being the only player to score a point.

Monica then talked to Leif and insisted they needed to keep strong girls around to win challenges in the future, but Alicia and Colton were determined to send her home and ready to execute "the best blindside ever made" in the game. Jonas was also fully onboard to make the move.

"If following Colton means voting off somebody else and getting me one step further to the million, awesome. I could be Colton's b-tch. I'll be whatever you want me to be! Just don't vote me off," Jonas joked.

Alicia then lied to Christina and Monica, telling them to get rid of Tarzan at the next Tribal Council. Christina thought it was a great plan because she said watching Tarzan in the challenge reminded her of "a wounded hippo walking through water." Christina was convinced she had Colton, Jonas, Alicia, and Monica all on her side to eliminate Tarzan.

"The guys have lost sight on the numbers game. In my mind, I'm like, that's a huge win for the women -- that the men are all onboard to take out one of the men," Monica explained.


Jonas then told Leif that they were planning on voting off Tarzan while Christina was present. Jonas wasn't ready to let Leif in on the actual agreement because he was concerned that Leif couldn't keep a secret.

"In a weird way, that whole event that happened with Leif telling Bill that he was going home, that sort of tipped me off to be a little wary of Leif and not to trust him so much," Jonas said. "So Leif is definitely a wild card and he did do some pretty crazy things. With four guys and three girls, anybody could flip on the guys' side and just make it the girls' game now."

Eventually, Colton pulled Leif aside and told him to vote for Monica. He did the same with Tarzan afterwards and labeled Monica the "head of the snake." Colton told Tarzan that Alicia was sure Monica was playing everybody, justifying his reasoning even more. Colton was annoyed that he had to make all the decisions because he wasn't "working with intelligent people."

Colton apparently found it hard to "be the leader of a bunch of idiots."

That night, Survivor: One World's newly-shuffled Manono tribe members arrived for their first Tribal Council, the fifth elimination session of the season.

Colton announced he needed Monica to "turn the sinking ship around" but was clearly lying to Jeff. Alicia also complimented Monica for her athletic ability and competitive nature but admitted she could be seen as a threat later in the game. Monica said she wanted to help the team rather than get herself further, but she understood why people could have come to that conclusion.


The tribe continued to talk Monica up, as Jonas said she was very hard working.

Jeff then revealed the votes and all the castaways' votes were cast to oust Monica from Survivor: One World except for two. After showing the votes, Jeff extinguished Monica's torch.

The episode's closing credits later showed that everyone voted for Monica, while Monica and Christina voted for Tarzan.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski