Survivor: Blood vs. Water

Survivor: Blood vs. Water is the 27th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season filmed in May–June 2013 and premiered on Wednesday, September 18, 2013, featuring returning castaways and their loved ones competing against each other. It was the third consecutive season, and the ninth season overall, to feature returning contestants. As with the previous two seasons, the season was filmed in the Philippines and this was the third season filmed in the country, but this time at Palaui Island, Cagayan. Tyson Apostol was named the Sole Survivor in the season finale on December 15, 2013, defeating runners-up Monica Culpepper and Gervase Peterson in a 7–1–0 vote.Redemption Island, a twist formerly seen in Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific, was utilized after a three-season hiatus. In conjunction with the "Blood vs. Water" twist, remaining contestants were given the option to switch places with their loved one if their loved one was on Redemption Island. The game began with a twist called Day Zero, in which each of the ten pairs was marooned in a separate location, spending the night together before congregating as a full cast the following morning and dividing into two tribes. Due to this twist, this season is one of three to last longer than 39 days, after Survivor: The Australian Outback which lasted 42 days, and being followed by Survivor: San Juan del Sur, the second "Blood vs. Water" season, which also began with Day Zero. This season also marks the second occurrence of the rock-picking tiebreaker, 23 seasons after it first occurred in Survivor: Marquesas in 2002. This is also the first time in 13 seasons, since Survivor: Fiji, to not feature a fan favorite vote that would award one player with US$100,000.