Aubry Bracco, a native of New Hampshire, won the milestone 50th season of Survivor on Wednesday night, taking home a record $2 million prize.
The Hampton Falls and Cambridge resident secured her first victory in her fourth appearance on the reality show, outlasting 23 veteran contestants including Cirie Fields, Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth, Dee Valladares, and Genevieve Mushaluk.
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Bracco's Winning Strategy
Bracco maintained a low profile for the first two-thirds of the season, managing a pre-merge rivalry with Mushaluk and playing without permanent alliances.
She correctly voted out the departing contestant at every tribal council she attended.
After spearheading the blindsides of Lusth and Fields, Bracco won her second-ever final-four immunity challenge, allowing her to bring Joe Hunter to the final tribal council and forcing Rizo Velovic and Jonathan Young into a fire-making competition.
Her deliberate, subtle strategy was fueled by her past experience, specifically her narrow loss to Michelle Fitzgerald on "Survivor: Kaôh R?ng."
"I'm here knowing that first time I played, I played with somebody who did make their big moves at the end of the game, and they went on to win that way," Bracco said in a season 50 episode 10 confessional.
Bracco also adapted her behavior because she was playing as a parent for the first time, noting that motherhood altered her competitive edge.
"I've had a harder time playing as a fierce person this time. I think I'm softer being a mom," she said.
During the Survivor Auction in episode eight, Bracco ate two live grubs to secure milk and chocolate chip cookies, demonstrating her determination.
"People always underestimate me, they always have in this game," Bracco said in season 50 episode 8.
"I've played four times and I still get underestimated," she added.
Reactions from Finalists and Host
Runner-up Jonathan Young, originally from season 42, explained his strategy of hiding his strategic mind from other players.
"I thought about 'Survivor' every day for four years," Young said. "Because I played a game, I knew if you watched me, you didn't see any strategy.
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I was just the big guy."
Fifth-place finisher Tiffany Nicole Ervin believed her social connections led to her elimination.
"I think that's why I was voted out, because I was friends with everybody on the jury," Ervin said.
"I think that's a part of what makes you a threat."
Ervin described the extreme physical and mental strain contestants endure.
"It is so hard to regulate your emotions when you are playing a game like 'Survivor,'" she said.
"You are hungry, you are tired. You are giving your literal blood, sweat and tears into these challenges."
Rizo Velovic finished in fourth place for the second consecutive time, having competed in season 49 with only a nine-day break.
"Falling short twice obviously sucks, but to know that I'm a part of history is something that I wear as a badge of honor," Velovic said.
Host Jeff Probst accidentally revealed Velovic's fourth-place finish before the taped segment aired.
Probst explained the backstage confusion, saying he was not watching the episode while preparing for live interviews.
"What happened, I'm still not sure. We have a big team, mistakes happen.
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But we got ahead of ourselves," Probst said.
