[Warning: Spoilers ahead if you haven’t seen the Wednesday night finale of Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X.]
A new Survivor winner has been crowned.
Adam Klein was named the winner of the 33rd season of the CBS reality competition, earning a $1 million cash prize along with the title of Sole Survivor.
Host/executive producer Jeff Probst announced the winner during the live portion of the show’s three-hour finale Wednesday night.
This season was subtitled Millennials vs. Gen X and kicked off with two tribes of 10 players each. Heading into the finale there were six players left, three from each tribe. The Millennials included homeless shelter manager Klein, 25; barista Hannah Shapiro, 24; and real estate agent Jay Starrett, 27. The three Gen X’ers were police sergeant Bret LaBelle, 42; TV writer David Wright, 42; and model Ken McNickle, 33.
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The last few tribal councils of the season were full of immunity idols, both real and fake. Starrett was voted out in sixth place, after playing a fake idol that Wright had made and hidden inside a coconut. During that same tribal council, McNickle played a legacy advantage giving him immunity — a twist introduced during this season of the show — that Jessica Lewis had given to him earlier in the season when she was voted out.
LaBelle was voted out next, during a tribal council that saw Klein play a (real) immunity idol. Then came Wright, leaving Klein, McNickle and Shapiro as the final three.
The tribal council got a bit contentious, with Shapiro and Klein arguing over whether she was a “flipper” who frequent went “rogue” or had been simply making smart strategic moves. McNickle got teary when asked about his decision to vote out his ally Wright and later had his own exchange with Klein, whom he accused of “underestimating” him.
Klein also broke down in tears when talking about his mom, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer several months before he was on Survivor, revealing that he’d applied to play on a “Blood vs. Water” season with her and talking about how much it meant to her that he was able to play the game.
At the end of the live finale Probst revealed that next season will be subtitled “Game Changers” and feature previous players including fan favorite Ozzy Lusth, past winner Tony Vlachos and the show’s only two-time winner Sandra Diaz-Twine. Michaela Bradshaw, from the season that just concluded, also will appear. The show again will take place in Fiji.
Read THR TV critic Daniel Fienberg’s full recap.
