MANILA, Philippines — Filipino-Canadian Erika Casupanan was crowned the winner of the 41st season of the American reality competition show "Survivor," becoming the first Filipino and Canadian to become the "sole survivor."
Collecting seven votes from eight jury members at the Final Tribal Council, Casupanan becomes the show's third winner of Asian descent, following "Cook Islands'" Yul Kwon and "San Juan del Sur's" Natalie Anderson.
She is also the first female "Survivor" winner since Season 34 "Game Changers'" Sarah Lacina in 2017.
"If you want any proof that we're in a new era of 'Survivor' is that I am the winner, a Filipino immigrant woman who lives in Canada, and I won the game," Casupanan said in an Instagram post after her victory aired on television. "I don't care what you look like, sound like, where you're from, your background, what you believe in... you can win the game. I'm proof."
Casupanan also said she would love to see more beautiful diverse winners of the show following her win.
Game progress
Casupanan was born in Hermosa, Bataan and migrated with her family to Toronto, Canada where she currently resides.
She was cast for "Survivor 41," which features a diverse cast after a new commitment by the show to feature 50% of contestants who are people of color. In 2020 however, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the show to be filmed in April-May in Fiji this year—the traditional 39-day game was also cut to 26 days, incorporating more twists to make up for the lost days.
Casupanan was part of the successful Luvu tribe that won every challenge up to the traditional merge, meaning she and her tribemates never had to go to tribal council and vote someone out.
Though initially having a quiet start, Casupanan's gameplay blossomed when she was sent into exile and overturned the results of a challenge to allot immunity to other players, including herself.