Amanda Lee Kimmel (born August 3, 1984) is an actress, model and former beauty queen who has competed in the Miss USA and Miss Earth pageants. Kimmel gained international notoriety as a runner-up contestant on both Survivor: China and Survivor: Micronesia. She also competed on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Kimmel broke several Survivor records during her three seasons competing on the show.

Pageantry

Kimmel won the Miss Montana USA 2005 title in late 2004 after placing first runner-up in both the 2003 and 2004 pageants. She competed at the Miss USA 2005 pageant held in Baltimore, Maryland in April 2005, but failed to place. The pageant was won by Chelsea Cooley of North Carolina.

After passing on her Montana crown to Jill McLain in late August 2005, Kimmel traveled to Quezon City, Philippines to participate in the Miss Earth 2005 pageant. Kimmel was selected to represent the United States in this pageant from a group of applicants, and did not compete in a live competition for the title. She made the top eight in this international pageant, the highest placement ever by a delegate of the United States in the pageant's five-year history.

In early August 2006, Kimmel crowned fellow former Miss USA competitor Amanda Pennekamp as Miss Earth USA, in the second live pageant held in the United States to choose a delegate for the Miss Earth competition. Pennekamp, Miss South Carolina USA 2004, had placed first runner-up in the Miss USA 2004 pageant.

Kimmel has also competed in the Miss World Kite competition held in China, an honor offered to winners of the Miss Montana USA pageant.

Survivor

China

Kimmel competed on the reality television show Survivor: China, becoming one of several Miss USA delegates to compete on Survivor (Danni Boatwright, Kim Mullen, and Janu Tornell being the others). The final episode of the season, broadcast on December 16, 2007, revealed that Kimmel finished third, behind winner Todd Herzog and second-place finisher Courtney Yates, garnering only one jury vote from 6th place finisher Erik Huffmann.

Micronesia

Kimmel also appeared on Survivor: Micronesia, the sixteenth season of Survivor, which began airing on February 7, 2008. She was one of ten returning favorites on the Malakal tribe. Survivor host Jeff Probst commented on Kimmel, "Amanda knows how to play Survivor. She knows how to build an alliance, how long to keep it, when to get rid of it. She's very good at looking at odds, she's very good at assessing if [she's] better off against this person, or with this person. [...]" Kimmel found the Hidden Immunity Idol (the first female to find one) after Jason Siska was voted out in possession of one, and she played it during Episode 12, thus negating four votes against her and ensuring the elimination of fan Alexis Jones. She ended the season in second place, losing to Parvati Shallow in a 5-3 vote.

During the season Kimmel began a relationship with Ozzy Lusth, formerly from Survivor: Cook Islands. As of the reunion show, they were still dating, but they subsequently separated. During her time on Micronesia she set the record for the most days on Survivor (78 days, which was later surpassed), and the first player to make the final tribal council twice (which she lost both times).

Heroes vs. Villains

Kimmel returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains as one of the Heroes. This was Kimmel's third season competing on Survivor. Kimmel was an early target in the game, receiving four votes between the first two tribal councils. Kimmel eventually made it to the merge, and on day 30, became the twelfth person voted out and the fourth member of the jury, finishing in 9th place.

During the airing of this season, it was announced (on the season's 22nd day) by Jeff Probst that Kimmel was the first contestant to spend a cumulative 100 days competing on Survivor. Upon getting voted out, Kimmel had spent a cumulative 108 days on the show; this was a record at the time, though surpassed at the end of the season when Parvati Shallow (who reached Day 39 for her second time) finished at 114 total days. Rob Mariano currently holds said record, with 117 cumulative days over four appearances on the show.

Acting

In 2008, Kimmel began her acting career, appearing in the film Into the Blue 2, starring alongside fellow Survivor teammate Parvati Shallow. In 2010, she appeared in an ad campaign for Scope mouthwash alongside Ryan Seacrest. Later that year, she starred alongside Lou Taylor Pucci in the punk-rock film "All Together Now".

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