About a year ago, Mike Gabler stunned Survivor superfans from coast to coast with his unexpected victory, however, that was not the only surprise that viewers had in store come finale night. After winning the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar cash prize, Gabler announced that he would be the first Survivor winner in the history of the beloved competition series to give away the cash prize that he had earned, with plans to donate it entirely to charities that ed United States veterans and their families — how sweet is that? 1e3v4w

For those who need a refresher as to how the heart valve specialist was victorious in the end of Survivor 43, his journey was anything but ordinary…

During the season finale, Cassidy Clark won the final immunity challenge and decided to take Owen Knight with her to the end, forcing Jesse Lopez and Mike Gabler to compete against one another in the infamous final four fire-making challenge. As one can assume, Gabler won the challenge, making Survivor history with the fastest time ever recorded in a fire-making challenge (before Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt beat him during Survivor 44).

To the surprise of viewers, knocking out the frontrunner of the season turned out to be one of the key moments that led to his victory, with the Idaho native being praised by the jury for his final four fire-making win (as well as his strong social bonds), despite being Survivor 43‘s biggest oddball. Gabler dominated the conversation at the final tribal council, explaining that he was an “alli-Gabler” throughout the entirety of Survivor 43, playing in the middle and hiding in plain sight, resulting in a near-perfect game with no votes cast against him.

Because of this, Gabler beat Cassidy and Owen in a 7-1-0 vote, prior to announcing what he would do with his winnings, despite keeping his plans to himself throughout the entirety of his time on the hit competition show.

“I kept it quiet. I talked about it with my wife and my buddy before the show, and we were like, ‘If you get to the end, let’s do something powerful, something good.’ There’s a lot of news out there, just terrible stuff, and I’m like, ‘Let’s do something big with this money.’ Even though I was very much about it all along, I didn’t want to use veterans to benefit me. I want to benefit veterans,” he shared in an exclusive interview with Parade after being crowned the champion.

On December 11, the “Sole Survivor” of Survivor 43 took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to announce that his mission has finally been accomplished — how exciting is that?

“We did it! The entire $1,000,000 from Survivor season 43 has been donated! The 2nd photo shows the entire list of tremendous organizations that we donated to who are helping veterans, first responders, and humanity. There is still much more work to do to bring our veterans ALL THE WAY back home. God bless everyone and God bless the USA,” Gabler wrote, garnering quite the reaction from his fellow castaways.

Rick Devens of Survivor: Edge of Extinction shared, “Incredible. Outstanding work, sir!”

Wardog DaSilva of Survivor: Edge of Extinction dished, “Look at what Gabler did, just WOW!!!! This is such an amazing gift to so many charities, I do not know each charity but going to assume they’re reputable organizations.”

Owen Knight of Survivor 43 gushed, “Grateful to have met you, G! Amazing work ”

As for which charities received a generous donation from Mike Gabler himself, the full list is as follows.

• Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS)
• Special Operations Warrior Foundation
• Illuminated Warrior and Family Foundation
• Special Forces Foundation
• No Fallen Heroes Foundation
• Ranch Church
• Bonefrog Labs
• ID Guard and Reserve Family Foundation
• Heroic Hearts Project Inc
• Battle Dawgs
• Give Kids The World Rescue 22 Foundation
• TADSAW
• K9s For Warriors
• Pararescue Foundation
• Operation Healing Heroes Foundation
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
• Healing Patriots
• Camp Freedom
• Mental Joe Apparel
• Koterra
• Project Echelon
• Advocates of Healthy Minds
• Waymakers Missions
• The Born To Run Foundation

While a majority of these charities help out United States veterans and their families, the 53-year-old also donated to a few reality TV-specific charities like Give Kids the World, a nonprofit resort for critically ill children and their families that does many events with reality TV alums, as well as the Born to Run Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to child amputees (founded by fellow castaway Noelle Lambert).

Survivor superfans can stream Survivor 43 from start to finish to see Mike Gabler’s path to victory (as well as the other 44 seasons that the beloved competition series has to offer) via Paramount Plus.

If there is one thing to know about “Sole Survivor” Mike Gabler, he is an absolute goofball.

Survivor 45 is officially underway, and it looks like the controversial winner of Survivor 43 has been tuning in week after week. With a cast that is nothing short of spectacular (despite the lack of age diversity), Gabler has taken to social media to pinpoint his favorite castaway of the season, and given the history behind his decision, his pick is just too funny.

The 53-year-old has decided to root for Emily Flippen this fall, despite the not-so nice things she had to say about him in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly.

In said interview, the infamous Survivor 45 castaway revealed that she only applied for the show because she was angered by Gabler’s win — she thinks he was undeserving of the million-dollar prize!

“I applied for the first time in my life in the beginning of December 2022. Ripped an application video because I was really angry that morning after watching Mike Gabler win. I decided that was not ok in my book so I was like ‘I should apply, I can do this!'”

For those who need a refresher as to how the heart valve specialist was awarded the title of “Sole Survivor” in the first place, his journey was anything but ordinary.

During the season finale of Survivor 43, Cassidy Clark won the final immunity challenge and decided to take Owen Knight with her to the end, forcing Jesse Lopez and Mike Gabler to compete against one another in the infamous final four fire-making challenge — in her eyes, Gabler was the only one who could take out Jesse once and for all!

Naturally, Gabler won the challenge, making Survivor history with the fastest time ever recorded in a fire-making challenge (before Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt beat him during Survivor 44). To the surprise of viewers around the world, knocking out the frontrunner of the season turned out to be one of the key moments that led to his victory…

Advancing to the final three, the Idaho native was praised by the jury for his final four fire-making win, as well as his strong social bonds, despite being Survivor 43‘s biggest oddball. Gabler dominated the conversation at the final tribal council, explaining that he was an “alli-Gabler” throughout the entirety of Survivor 43, playing in the middle and hiding in plain sight, resulting in a near-perfect game with no votes cast against him.

In the end, Gabler beat Cassidy and Owen in a 7-1-0 vote, which caused an uproar from Survivor fans across the globe (including Emily Flippen).

Nonetheless, Gabler ultimately turned a negative into a positive, sharing his for Emily in an extremely comedic way.

“Flippen Awesome Tribe Swappin’ Survivor Wednesday! #Luv4Lulu @SurvivorSFT @survivorcbs,” he shared via Twitter (referencing Emily’s last name), coinciding with four images of him wearing a tee shirt with her face on it — how funny is that?

Fans praised Gabler for his optimism, calling this post “absolute icon behavior.”

“I think it’s hilarious that you did this considering how she talked about you”

“Wait this is actually so funny lmfao”

“How can you not like this guy">

“You’re such a Flippen great sport, Gabler!”

To see how the rest of Emily Flippen’s journey unfolds on Survivor 45, tune into CBS every Wednesday at 8pm ET/PT.

Back in December of 2022, the highly-anticipated finale of Survivor 43 premiered. With a victory that sent Survivor superfans into a frenzy, the episode will go down in history as one of the wildest ones to date!

While the entirety of Survivor 43 was phenomenal, what made this season finale so spectacular?

Keep scrolling to see who took home $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor” during Survivor 43, and to learn what exactly went down…

Who won Survivor 43? 6s144y

To the surprise of Survivor superfans worldwide, the one and only alli-Gabler emerged as victorious at the end of Survivor 43.

During the highly-anticipated season finale, Cassidy Clark won the final immunity challenge and decided to take Owen Knight with her to the end, ultimately forcing Jesse Lopez and Mike Gabler to face off in the infamous final four fire-making challenge. Gabler won the challenge with the fastest time in the history of Survivor (which was quickly ed up by Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt in Survivor 44), ultimately knocking out the obvious frontrunner of the season. Little did he know this would be one of the key moments that led to his sweeping victory!

At the final tribal council, Gabler received a great deal of praise surrounding his final four fire-making win, as well as his strong social bonds, however, he was criticized that his oddball personality overshadowed his gameplay. Because of this, Gabler talked the jury’s ears off, explaining that he was an “alli-Gabler” throughout the entirety of Survivor 43, playing in the middle and hiding in plain sight. He did not get a single vote all season long — how wild is that?

Spitting facts that left the jury’s jaws on the floor, Gabler beat Cassidy and Owen in a 7-1-0 vote in the end, garnering votes from every jury member with the exception of James Jones.

After winning $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor,” the heart valve specialist did what no other castaway has done before. He donated his winnings to charity, ing veterans in need — Mike Gabler is truly one of a kind!

What did winner Mike Gabler have to say post-finale? 4s353z

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly after his wild win, Gabler discussed how people did not give him enough credit all season long, and his speech at final tribal council is what sealed his fate.

“My game the entire time was a relationship game, and the edit showed a lot of it, but also left out a lot of it,” he prefaced. “I actually thought the season’s edit was fantastic because it left everybody guessing. No one knew exactly who was gonna go into it. There were a lot of strong players in the final. I mean, the final five was five sharks in a bowl together trying to make it out. I felt pretty good no matter who I went up against. I had a strong story to tell because I had been playing the entire time.”

“I’m a better orator than I think I got credit for, so a lot of the game, I believe people underestimated me,” Gabler explained. “I mean, I’m a reasonably intelligent individual, and my oratory skills and all that stuff are more potent than I think folks gave me credit for, and that was their mistake, not mine.”

“Even the fire making, which broke an all-time Survivor record — early on in the game, I couldn’t make fire, right? [Winks] I hunt and camp and do all kinds of stuff, but it’s not my advantage to show people that I can make fire very well early… I’ll gather wood, I’ll do whatever you need me to do, but I hid that card up my sleeve until the final four and I blazed into final three,” he explained, ultimately revealing that his fire-making skills were kept under wraps all season long — what a genius!

What did runner-up Cassidy Clark have to say post-finale? 4f6n

Some Survivor superfans may argue that Cassidy was robbed of $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor” on Survivor 43, but what went wrong?

As we know, Cassidy sent Gabler into the final four fire-making competition, ultimately emerging as victorious and knocking out the season’s obvious frontrunner: Jesse. During the final tribal council, Cassidy’s ally-turned-enemy, Karla Cruz Godoy, reprimanded her for this decision — who would have thought a seemingly innocent fire-making challenge could have costed her the win?

After sharing some choice words, Karla ultimately convinced the rest of the jury that if Cassidy would have pulled a Chris Underwood (giving up her individual immunity to make fire herself), she would have been able to take credit for knocking Jesse out of the game, something that the jury deemed to be the difference between a win and a loss.

“[Putting Gabler into the final four fire-making competition] was definitely held against me, which was just offensive honestly, because I earned that last challenge. That was a crazy amount of pressure to work under and the biggest immunity of the season… I was so proud of myself, and I didn’t feel like it was fair to basically say, ‘You have to give this up or you’re not getting my vote. You have to risk it,'” Cassidy shared in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, prior to revealing why she thinks she didn’t win the game.

“I think they were just upset that Jesse got out and that I was a part of a big reason why he got out because I made that decision,” the Austin, Texas native dished. “I think they all had their minds made up for Jesse to win, which I don’t blame them. He was playing an incredible game, but once he was gone, I think they were looking at me like, ‘You’re the reason, and you should have done this and that’ and just trying to undermine my win and the fact that I got to make the decision to put Gabler in.”

“Obviously, Gabler made the fire, but I was a huge part in getting the biggest threat out of the game, and it hurt that they really felt like I had played such a bad game that I needed to Chris Underwood it, who wasn’t even playing. He wasn’t even in the game, so I just felt like that was unfair to hold that against me and to expect that of me,” she concluded.

While Survivor 43 will go down in history as having one of the most controversial winners of all time, our fingers are crossed that Survivor 45 has a much different outcome this fall. Catch the premiere this Wednesday (September 27), followed by weekly episodes from 8pm to 9:30pm ET/PT on CBS — it is sure to be a season to !

If you are a Survivor superfan, chances are that the words “drop the four, keep the one” live rent free in your head.

After the hit competition show’s 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, Emmy Award-winning host Jeff Probst decided to do a full rebrand of the series we have grown to know and love, ultimately kickstarting a brand new era of Survivor. He dished all about it in a tweet back in July of 2021, just a few months prior to the premiere of Survivor 41:

“I just wanted to check in and let you know that Survivor was tough for the players, because think about it, we had an entire year where we weren’t shooting, so all we had was time to think… That’s a dangerous thing, and it led to ask creating a new game that is much more dangerous. You could refer to it as ‘Survivor 2.0.’ You could call it ‘Dawn of a New Era,’ which it is. You could refer to Survivor 41 by saying ‘drop the four, keep the one,’ because this is a brand new game. All of these are true, but here’s the best way to think of this new version of Survivor: Survivor 41 is like the monster in a horror movie, and if you’re a player, it’s coming for you… either you devour the monster, or the monster will devour you.”

Seasons 41 through 44 have experienced more twists and turns than ever before, shortening the game from 39 days to 26 days, removing themed seasons, and adding a multitude of advantages: Beware Advantages, Knowledge is Power, Shot in the Dark, and more.

To top it all off, Survivor is currently in a dry spell when it comes to castaways returning to play another season of the beloved competition series, with this new era seemingly removing the idea of bringing fan-favorite players back for another shot at $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor.”

Even though it has been years since a contestant has returned to the beach for another season (with the exception of Bruce Perrault), us Survivor fans can dream, right?

While there are dozens of castaways from Survivor‘s new era who we need to see back on our television screens for a second time, keep scrolling to see which five are non-negotiables in our eyes.

Carson Garrett (Survivor 44) z1d4r

If you watched Survivor 44, chances are that the adorable Carson Garrett stole your heart.

Despite coming in fourth place (losing to Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt in the infamous final four fire-making challenge), Carson is arguably one of the most well-rounded players in Survivor history, playing a social and strategic game that was nothing short of spectacular, with a few immunity wins sprinkled in.

Throughout Survivor 44, the NASA engineering student controlled the game in the middle, forming a strong alliance with two of his Tika tribemates: Carolyn Wiger and Yam Yam Arocho. Making numerous game-changing moves, all while remaining in the good graces of the jury, Carson was deemed a threat going into the finale. Because of this, Heidi made the decision to compete against him in the final four fire-making competition, ultimately defeating the 20-year-old genius.

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Carson revealed whether or not he would be willing to hit the beach for a second time:

“Oh, absolutely — I love it. Obviously I would practice fire a little more, but I was thinking in my head the other day: Even if I practice fire for the whole year, I still don’t know if I would’ve beat Heidi. She was so fast. You saw her build it in like 10 seconds. That was legit. It was so quick that I’m just proud I had a flame going next to her. Like, I can’t believe it.”

Taking time away from our television screens to practice his fire-making skills, our fingers are crossed that we get to see Carson compete for $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor” once again.

Karla Cruz Godoy (Survivor 43) 5r1kj

Every good season of Survivor needs a villain, and Karla Cruz Godoy is truly as evil as they come.

Karla went down in history as one of the most cutthroat players of Survivor‘s new era, playing a major role in the demise of her former ally, Cassidy Clark, at the final tribal council of Survivor 43. Fans of the beloved competition show (and Cassidy herself) think that she would have ran away with the victory if it was not for Karla slandering her name in front of the jury — yikes!

As for Karla’s personal journey on Survivor 43, she aligned with Cassidy Clark and James Jones early on in the game, ultimately maintaining control of the Coco tribe pre-merge. Finding herself in the majority alliance after the merge, Karla outlasted a majority of her former tribemates, prior to being deemed too big of a threat by the remaining castaways. After wasting her hidden immunity idol and falling short during the final five immunity challenge (despite having an advantage), Karla was ultimately voted out unanimously, just days short of the finale.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Karla answered the question that we all have been wondering: Would she play Survivor again?

“Oh yes! Let’s go! I’ve been lifting [and] I’ve been working out a lot more now. I’m stronger than ever. Let’s do it.”

We are hoping Karla gets the chance to return to the beloved competition series and put her newfound muscles to good use — we know she would dominate in challenges!

Cassidy Clark (Survivor 43) 1q3h54

Speaking of Cassidy Clark, she is another castaway that deserves a second chance at playing Survivor (despite dominating on The Challenge: USA as we speak).

After winning the final immunity challenge and sending Jesse Lopez, the frontrunner of Survivor 43, into the infamous final four fire-making challenge against Mike Gabler (ultimately leading to his elimination), Cassidy made a multitude of moves that many Survivor fans viewed as game-winning. However, this was not the case…

Unfortunately, during the final tribal council, Karla reprimanded Cassidy for her decision to put Gabler into the final four fire-making challenge rather than herself, ultimately convincing the jury to vote for the 51-year-old heart valve specialist instead. Losing in a 7-1-0 vote (earning just one vote from her ally, James Jones), Cassidy became the runner-up of Survivor 43, making for one of the most heartbreaking losses that the Survivor franchise has seen.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Cassidy dished about what was going through her mind during the Survivor 43 after-show, which took place just moments after Gabler’s nearly-unanimous victory.

“I think that was one of the hardest things to have to go through, because truly I really felt very confident like I could win this, and for a lot of the game, I wasn’t sure I was going to be capable of that… Whenever it was right there in front of me, and I really felt like I had played the best game considering who I was sitting next to, having to lose that and then go through this whole like, ‘Oh, we’re happy! We’re eating! We’re drinking!’ I honestly drank way too much champagne just trying to deal with the shock, the pain and the loss of it, and then the next day, I I was at Ponderosa, I had a really bad panic attack, because it was just so much to go through within 24 hours, and there really was no time to process it… It was difficult. I wish that we had had that time to be able to come back and come together and discuss it, but it is what it is.”

Given how brutal her loss was, we know that Cassidy would return to the beach more fired up than ever if she is given the opportunity.

Hai Giang (Survivor 42) 1d724v

Hai Giang‘s blindside during Survivor 42 was truly devastating, but we are confident that he has more left in the tank — returning to the beach for a second time would be the perfect opportunity to show Survivor fans what he is truly capable of!

To start off his Survivor journey, Hai quickly aligned with Lydia Meredith, however, the duo was clearly on the bottom of the Vati tribe. Outlasting his tribemates by pure luck (and backstabbing his closest ally along the way), Hai eventually made it to the merge, where he really started to find his footing. Forming his very own alliance that seemed to be picking up speed, Hai became a strategic force that landed on Omar Zaheer’s radar, who orchestrated 6-2 blindside against him at the final eight.

Hai reflected on this blindside during a chat with Entertainment Weekly:

“I got outplayed, right? It’s as simple as that. I think the edit was very spot-on in its retelling of that afternoon. I was extremely comfortable… My reaction at tribal was exactly that of someone who got blindsided, but was understanding to the fact of why I was targeted. I think Lindsay [Dolashewich] said it best when she said ‘We have to even the playing field tonight,’ and as the votes were being read and my name kept coming up and I realized it was me, it was like when you hear about when people die and they see the light. It was literally that. Everything was slow motion. Every conversation that I had that afternoon was rushing back to me, and every subtext of everything that people were saying that Tribal made sense. Lindsay was not talking about evening the playing field to take out Jonathan [Young]. She was talking about taking me out, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, that brilliant.'”

Using his blindside as a learning experience, we know Hai would come back to the beach more alert than ever, ready to make a splash.

Ricarde Foyé (Survivor 41) 4j574l

Ricard Foyé is unlike any contestant the Survivor franchise has ever seen.

During his journey on Survivor 41, Ricard solidified himself as a true triple threat, playing a phenomenal strategic, social, and physical game during his 24 days on the island. The 33-year-old flight attendant was able to play a cutthroat game while maintaining positive relationships with his fellow castaways, all while dominating challenges along the way, however, one challenge lead to his demise…

Going into the finale, Ricard was seemingly going to walk away with $1 million and the title of “Sole Survivor,” given that he was undoubtedly playing the most impressive game among the remaining castaways: Heather Aldret, Xander Hastings, Deshawn Radden, and Erika Casupanan. After losing the final five immunity challenge to Erika, who found an advantage that gave her a massive headstart in the challenge (specifically in the puzzle portion), Ricard was ultimately eliminated in a unanimous vote.

While debriefing with Entertainment Weekly, Ricard shared whether or not he thinks he could have won the immunity challenge that fateful day, had Erika not found the advantage:

“I would’ve kicked ass in that puzzle, but it’s fine. That is part of the game, advantages, and if I had found an advantage in a different portion of the game, I obviously would’ve used it and whatever outcome would come from that advantage would be just as valid… I have to accept that, but I do believe I would have won that puzzle. I’m good at puzzles.”

With Erika’s advantage causing Ricard to fall just seconds short in the final five immunity challenge, we are certain that he would prevail as successful should he be given a second chance at playing Survivor.