'Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X' Season 33 Finale: Who Won?
And then there was one! Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X crowned its season 33 winner during the Wednesday, December 14, finale. Six people were still in the running at the start of the emotional episode: David Wright, Jay Starrett, Adam Klein, Hannah Shapiro, Ken McNickle and Bret LaBelle.
Read Us Weekly‘s recap to find out who won and follow all the twists. Be sure to start at the bottom to get it in chronological order.
10:14 p.m. ET: An emotional Adam spoke about who his mother was: “My mom lived at 100 percent. She always was dancing and living and smiling and loving. … She is with me tonight.”
10:10 p.m. ET: “It was a clean sweep — Adam got every single vote from the jury,” Probst told the crowd.
10:08 p.m. ET: Adam wins!
10:08 p.m. ET: First two votes: Adam!
10:06 p.m. ET: It all comes down to this! Time to take the final votes back to sunny L.A.
10:02 p.m. ET: Us’ reporter observed that final three contestants are holding hands on stage. And they all look really nervous!
9:59 p.m. ET: “It became our dream together to come and play this game,” Adam said about his mother. “She’s my best friend in this whole world. … I felt like we were winning together.”
9:56 p.m. ET: Beyond that, Adam wept as he pleaded with the jury to remember that everything he had done, he had done to make his sick mother happy.
9:53 p.m. ET: Ken attempted to sell himself as an old-school, black-and-white person, who was more rigid than adaptable. He said the benefit of that was that he wasn’t a “flipper.” He followed that up by looking pointedly at Hannah. Adam agreed with that assessment of Hannah, so she countered that he was nothing more than a follower who went along with her plans.
9:51 p.m. ET: Adam pointed out that he had worked hard to maintain alliances and keep the people close to him in the game.
9:48 p.m. ET: Hannah started off by pitching herself as someone who was strategic, not flashy. “I was a mess,” she said of her former self. She’d grown, though, she said. She insisted, “I’m ready.”
9:42 p.m. ET: Adam, Hannah and Ken reminisced over a protein-packed meal about how much they’d grown, then went to their final council with the jury.
9:36 p.m. ET: In his exit interview, Dave said he’s “going to walk out of this game a new man, really, and that is worth more than a million dollars.”
9:33 p.m. ET: Dave got three votes, and Adam got one. Dave then became the final jury member, in spite of what Bret predicted would happen.
9:29 p.m. ET: After a lot of strategizing and debating, the final four went to the tribal council.
9:20 p.m. ET: “It’s going to be the absolute toughest decision,” Ken said of picking who should get sent home at the final tribal.
9:17 p.m. ET: With one minute left in the overtime challenge, they tied again, but Ken took the win.
9:14 p.m. ET: At the end of 30 minutes, Hannah and Ken were tied for first, so they moved into a showdown.
9:11 p.m. ET: They went to their final immunity challenge. The challenge was extremely difficult, and none of them managed to gain and sustain a lead for any meaningful period of time.
9:04 p.m. ET: Adam played his idol that night, but he didn’t even need to, since no one voted for him to leave. Instead, Bret was voted off.
As he walked away, Bret congratulated Dave as though he’d already won.
8:59 p.m. ET: Amazingly, Adam found two idols as all of that was happening. He started crying when he realized he could share his joy with his ill mother.
8:56 p.m. ET: Adam went out searching for an idol, convinced that Dave might have or could get one.
“I’m terrified that if this thing isn’t out there, it probably means that Dave already has it,” Adam said to the camera. As he said that, David was back at camp, asking Hannah and the others to vote Adam out.
8:52 p.m. ET: Bret and Ken got leads in the challenge, and Hannah dragged behind. In the end, Ken won by spelling out the words, “Not a participation trophy,” from some tiles that were provided during the obstacle course. Get it? Because Gen X-ers tend to criticize millennials for participation trophies?
8:45 p.m. ET: Going into the next challenge, David explained that he had become the biggest target since Jay was gone. He was determined to win immunity, but was worried that his poor swimming skills would hinder him during the water portion of the obstacle course.
8:38 p.m. ET: Jay worked to persuade David and Adam to vote Bret off that night, convinced he had an immunity idol that he could then save until the next tribal council.
Unsure that his pitch worked, Jay ended up trying to play his idol that night to avoid being voted off anyway.
Host Jeff Probst took one look at it and said, “This is not an immunity idol. It is a work of art, but it has no value in this game.”
Only then did Jay realize he had been tricked, but as it was occurring to him, Ken played his legacy advantage.
Jay was voted out.
8:24 p.m. ET: Everyone else wanted immunity too, of course, so they all headed to a challenge later that day. Jay had the early lead eventually, but David won in the end, securing the immunity and a steak dinner. Jay, however, brandished what Adam had given him: a chance to take anyone’s reward. He selected Adam and David to eat the steak with him after stealing it.
8:20 p.m. ET: Since it was Day 26, Ken finally got to open his legacy advantage, which he got from Jessica Lewis. It guaranteed him immunity at the next Tribal Council.
8:14 p.m. ET: After a season with emotion, romance and even evacuations, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X opened its finale episode with introductions of millennials Adam Klein, Jay Starrett and Hannah Shapiro, plus Gen X-ers Bret LaBelle, Ken McNickle and David Wright.
Tricky David made a fake immunity idol and hid it to trick Jay, who had to flush his the previous night. Jay laughed to the camera about the “train of losers” who didn’t see the idol on the ground, never realizing he picked up a fake …
8:10 p.m. ET: Us’ reporter spotted a number of past contestants at the live finale’s taping: Tai, Cerie, Tony the Cop, Cochran and Caleb. Before the show, Will and Zeke were taking pics backstage.
8 p.m. ET: Who will survive? Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X‘s finale airs Wednesday, December 14, and just six contestants remain heading into the long-running CBS competition series’ final season 33 episode. Us Weekly will be following all the televised action, as well as providing behind-the-scenes details from the finale’s taping, so be sure to refresh this post throughout the episode for by-the-minute details.
Six individuals remain in contention for the title of this season’s Sole Survivor: David Wright, Jay Starrett, Adam Klein, Hannah Shapiro, Ken McNickle and Bret LaBelle.
Will Wahl and Sunday Burquest were eliminated in the Wednesday, December 7, episode. Sunday told Us exclusively that she wasn’t pleased with Hannah’s strategizing, which led to the youth pastor’s ouster.
“I wasn’t happy about it, but it was not a surprise to me because she basically said that right to me during the game,” Sunday, 45, told Us. “As the game went on, she was getting a little bit more confident and condescending with some of us because she felt like she was making a lot of moves that were to her credit. She felt that she could point a finger and that label in my direction. I mean, we’re fine now, but it wasn’t fun to hear it, for sure.”
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For his part, Will said his own “arrogance” was his major downfall. “My biggest regret is voting out Zeke at final nine,” the 19-year-old revealed to Us. “I think I should have waited a few more tribals for that. I feel like if I waited one more tribal, it would have been a good opportunity if I could have gotten Jay on board with it.”
Survivor‘s finale is hosted by Jeff Probst and airs on CBS Wednesday, December 14, at 8 p.m. ET. Keep checking this post for frequent updates throughout the three-hour event.
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