Wendell Holland
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Born: March 8, 1984
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Occupation: Former Company Owner Seasons: Ghost Island; Winners at War Placing: Winner (Ghost Island); Thirteenth (Winners at War) Tribes: Naviti; Yanuya; Lavita; Dakal; Sele (v2); Koru Total Challenge Wins: 18
Days Lasted: 74 Votes Against: 17 Awards: Strategy With A Smile (Ghost Island); Social Butterfly (Ghost Island); Bamboozled! (Ghost Island) |
Survivor: Ghost Island
Wendell started off on the Naviti Tribe, where he had an immediate bond with Domenick Abbate and they became close allies. Wendell and Dom went against Chris Noble and Sebastian Noel, as Dom and Chris wanted each other out in the worst way. However, their Tribe never lost Immunity and never went to Tribal. There was then a Tribal Switch, which saw Wendell stay on Naviti and he was joined by Dom, Chris, Angela Perkins and Morgan Ricke from the original Naviti, and they were joined by Donathan Hurley, Libby Vincek, Laurel Johnson and James Lim from the Original Malolo. Tribal lines were extremely blurred, as Chris and Dom still wanted each other out. Chris and Angela tried pulling in the original Malolo members to blindside Dom, and Dom and Wendell did the same to try to blindside Chris. Dom and Wendell even formed a pretty tight bond with Laurel and Donathan and formed a secret Final Four alliance. However, after losing Immunity, Chris was sent to Ghost Island and immune from Tribal Council. Because their main target was out, Dom and Wendell targeted Angela, as she was Chris' biggest ally on the Tribe. However, the original Malolo knew that Angela and the other Naviti members were split, so took this opportunity to vote out who they wanted and blindside Morgan.
Chris would later rejoin the Tribe but Naviti didn't lose Immunity again and there was another Tribal Switch, which saw the addition of a new Tribe, Yanuya, where he was joined by Sebastian, Jenna Bowman, Chris and Laurel. However, Yanuya never lost Immunity and the Tribes soon Merged. The people left were, from the original Naviti, Wendell, Angela, Chelsea Townsend, Chris, Desiree Afuye, Dom, Kellyn Bechtold and Sebastian and from the original Malolo, Donathan, Jenna, Laurel, Libby and Michael Yerger.
Dom and Chris once again went for each other, blurring Tribal lines from the start. The original Naviti, especially, struggled about who to choose between Chris or Dom and the original Malolo were just relieved that they were safe for at least one Tribal. In the end, the majority of the Tribe chose to stick with Dom and Chris was blindsided. After that was settled, Dom and Wendell formed the Naviti alliance, with Angela, Kellyn, Chelsea, Desiree and Sebastian, planning to pick off the original Malolo members. However, nobody suspected that Dom and Wendell still had their Final Four Alliance with Laurel and Donathan. The Tribes first target was Michael, as he was a huge physical and strategic threat, followed by Libby, who was a huge strategic threat. However, at Tribal, Michael played a Hidden Immunity Idol, but the Naviti Alliance had the forethought to split the votes and threw a few votes on Libby, who was voted out. Michael was once again supposed to be the target, but Laurel told Dom that Desiree was trying to join the original Malolo members to blindside him, so Dom and Wendell wanted to flip things on Desiree, but Kellyn, the other leader of the Naviti alliance, wasn't so sure. In the end, they wound up on the same page and Desiree was voted out.
There was then a twist, where the remaining 10 were split into two temporary Tribes, with Wendell, Michael, Laurel, Domenick and Kellyn on one, and then Chelsea, Sebastian, Angela, Jenna and Donathan on the other. Each Tribe would go to Tribal Council and vote out one member. With Domenick and Chelsea winning Immunity, the Naviti Alliance was in perfect position to vote out the remaining original Malolo members, other than Wendell and Dom's alliance, Laurel and Donathan. At the first Tribal, Donathan played his Hidden Immunity Idol but it didn't matter, as Jenna was voted out. At their Tribal, the worry was that Michael had another Hidden Immunity Idol, which freaked Laurel and Kellyn. Laurel decided to throw a vote at Kellyn and Kellyn threw two votes at Laurel, playing her Extra Vote. However, luckily it was a tie vote, with Michael having received two votes and Laurel receiving two votes, and in the Re-Vote, Michael was voted out.
Now with the numbers all together, Dom, Wendell, Sebastian. Laurel and Donathan took over the game, with Kellyn, Chelsea and Angela. The girls began to rally, trying to pull in Laurel and Donathan to blindside either Domenick or Wendell, while the guys targeted Chelsea, who was a physical threat. Laurel and Donathan considered it but Laurel wanted to stick with Wendell and Chelsea was voted out. The next target for the guys was Kellyn, while Donathan was finally ready to blow things up and get Dom and Wendell out. However, it might have been too late, as they didn't really have the numbers, but Dom and Wendell got weary of Donathan, so they split the votes between Donathan and Kellyn just in case and in the end, Kellyn was sent home.
Dom and Wendell then targeted one of their own, Sebastian, who they viewed as a Jury and physical threat. However, Sebastian sensed this and tried to pair with Angela and Donathan, telling them that he has an Extra Vote and he would use it to blindside Domenick, as Wendell had won Immunity. However, Angela couldn't keep her mouth shut and told Dom about the Extra Vote and the plan. Dom had only one Idol but he wanted to save it for next Tribal, so he used his fake Idol to bluff Sebastian into sticking with the Donathan vote, allowing them to blindside him. At the next Tribal, Wendell had Immunity and Dom played his Hidden Immunity Idol, while Wendell played his Idol for Laurel, and the Tribe voted out Donathan.
At the next Tribal, Dom had Immunity and he could choose who to bring with him to the Final Three, while the other two had a Firemaking Challenge. Dom chose to take Laurel, so Wendell and Angela had a Firemaking Challenge, which Wendell won.
At the Final Vote, for the first time ever, there was a tie, between Wendell and Domenick, who each received 5 votes, so Laurel became the 11th member of the Jury and cast the last vote and Laurel voted for Wendell to win, beating Dom with 6-5 vote.
Chris would later rejoin the Tribe but Naviti didn't lose Immunity again and there was another Tribal Switch, which saw the addition of a new Tribe, Yanuya, where he was joined by Sebastian, Jenna Bowman, Chris and Laurel. However, Yanuya never lost Immunity and the Tribes soon Merged. The people left were, from the original Naviti, Wendell, Angela, Chelsea Townsend, Chris, Desiree Afuye, Dom, Kellyn Bechtold and Sebastian and from the original Malolo, Donathan, Jenna, Laurel, Libby and Michael Yerger.
Dom and Chris once again went for each other, blurring Tribal lines from the start. The original Naviti, especially, struggled about who to choose between Chris or Dom and the original Malolo were just relieved that they were safe for at least one Tribal. In the end, the majority of the Tribe chose to stick with Dom and Chris was blindsided. After that was settled, Dom and Wendell formed the Naviti alliance, with Angela, Kellyn, Chelsea, Desiree and Sebastian, planning to pick off the original Malolo members. However, nobody suspected that Dom and Wendell still had their Final Four Alliance with Laurel and Donathan. The Tribes first target was Michael, as he was a huge physical and strategic threat, followed by Libby, who was a huge strategic threat. However, at Tribal, Michael played a Hidden Immunity Idol, but the Naviti Alliance had the forethought to split the votes and threw a few votes on Libby, who was voted out. Michael was once again supposed to be the target, but Laurel told Dom that Desiree was trying to join the original Malolo members to blindside him, so Dom and Wendell wanted to flip things on Desiree, but Kellyn, the other leader of the Naviti alliance, wasn't so sure. In the end, they wound up on the same page and Desiree was voted out.
There was then a twist, where the remaining 10 were split into two temporary Tribes, with Wendell, Michael, Laurel, Domenick and Kellyn on one, and then Chelsea, Sebastian, Angela, Jenna and Donathan on the other. Each Tribe would go to Tribal Council and vote out one member. With Domenick and Chelsea winning Immunity, the Naviti Alliance was in perfect position to vote out the remaining original Malolo members, other than Wendell and Dom's alliance, Laurel and Donathan. At the first Tribal, Donathan played his Hidden Immunity Idol but it didn't matter, as Jenna was voted out. At their Tribal, the worry was that Michael had another Hidden Immunity Idol, which freaked Laurel and Kellyn. Laurel decided to throw a vote at Kellyn and Kellyn threw two votes at Laurel, playing her Extra Vote. However, luckily it was a tie vote, with Michael having received two votes and Laurel receiving two votes, and in the Re-Vote, Michael was voted out.
Now with the numbers all together, Dom, Wendell, Sebastian. Laurel and Donathan took over the game, with Kellyn, Chelsea and Angela. The girls began to rally, trying to pull in Laurel and Donathan to blindside either Domenick or Wendell, while the guys targeted Chelsea, who was a physical threat. Laurel and Donathan considered it but Laurel wanted to stick with Wendell and Chelsea was voted out. The next target for the guys was Kellyn, while Donathan was finally ready to blow things up and get Dom and Wendell out. However, it might have been too late, as they didn't really have the numbers, but Dom and Wendell got weary of Donathan, so they split the votes between Donathan and Kellyn just in case and in the end, Kellyn was sent home.
Dom and Wendell then targeted one of their own, Sebastian, who they viewed as a Jury and physical threat. However, Sebastian sensed this and tried to pair with Angela and Donathan, telling them that he has an Extra Vote and he would use it to blindside Domenick, as Wendell had won Immunity. However, Angela couldn't keep her mouth shut and told Dom about the Extra Vote and the plan. Dom had only one Idol but he wanted to save it for next Tribal, so he used his fake Idol to bluff Sebastian into sticking with the Donathan vote, allowing them to blindside him. At the next Tribal, Wendell had Immunity and Dom played his Hidden Immunity Idol, while Wendell played his Idol for Laurel, and the Tribe voted out Donathan.
At the next Tribal, Dom had Immunity and he could choose who to bring with him to the Final Three, while the other two had a Firemaking Challenge. Dom chose to take Laurel, so Wendell and Angela had a Firemaking Challenge, which Wendell won.
At the Final Vote, for the first time ever, there was a tie, between Wendell and Domenick, who each received 5 votes, so Laurel became the 11th member of the Jury and cast the last vote and Laurel voted for Wendell to win, beating Dom with 6-5 vote.
Voting History
Episode |
Wendell Voted For |
Voted For Wendell |
2 |
Angela Perkins |
--- |
7 |
Chris Noble |
--- |
8 |
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9 |
Desiree Afuye |
--- |
1o |
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11 |
Chelsea Townsend |
Angela Perkins Chelsea Townsend, Kellyn Bechtold |
12 |
--- |
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13 |
Sebastian Noel |
Individual Immunity |
13 |
Individual Immunity |
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13 |
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Jury Vote: Angela Perkins, Chelsea Townsend, Donathan Hurley, Kellyn Bechtold, Laurel Johnson, Sebastian Noel |
Survivor: Winners at War
Wendell was originally on the Dakal Tribe, where he formed an alliance with Yul Kwon, Nick Wilson and Sophie Clarke, due to them all being one time players who didn't have many previous connections in the game. They were against the "Poker Alliance" of Tyson Apostol, Amber Mariano and Kim Spradlin-Wolfe, and the alliance of Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos and Sarah Lacina. The No Connections Alliance wanted to vote out Tyson and Sandra's alliance was all for it since she had a grudge against Amber's husband Boston Rob. However, when Tyson said that he would turn on Amber or Kim to keep himself in the game, they changed targets and voted out Amber instead.
The next time they lost Immunity, Tyson was the target once again. Tyson tried to get Sandra, Tony and Sarah to join him, using the argument that Wendell's alliance wanted to vote out all of the big threats, meaning that Sandra and Tony would be next. However, Sandra's grudge against Tyson proved to be too strong and Tyson was voted out.
There was then a Tribal Switch that found Wendell, Yul and Nick on a Tribe with Parvati Shallow and Wendell's ex-girlfriend Michele Fitzgerald. After losing Immunity, Wendell's plan was to vote out Parvati. However, he told her that he would vote with her if she gave him two Fire Tokens. Parvati and Michele told this to Nick in order to get Wendell voted out. All of Wendell's scheming came out at Tribal Council but Yul and Nick stuck with him and voted out Parvati because she's too big of a threat.
However, Yul questioned Wendell when they got back to camp and planned to vote Wendell out before Michele. After losing Immunity, Wendell talked to Nick and Michele about voting out Yul because he knew that Yul was coming after him. Nick and Michele were conflicted but eventually decided to side with Wendell, due to Yul's strategic prowess and voted Yul out.
The Tribes then Merged and Wendell struck up a friendship with Jeremy Collins. Wendell, Michele and Nick thought that everybody was planning on voting out Adam Klein, who nobody trusted. However, Jeremy wanted to vote out Nick so that he could be Wendell's right-hand man instead. The plans somehow changed and much to Jeremy's dismay, it was Wendell who was voted out, due to being perceived as a bigger threat than Nick or Adam.
Wendell spent the rest of the game on the Edge of Extinction but when it came time for the Edge Challenge, Wendell narrowly lost to Natalie Anderson.
The next time they lost Immunity, Tyson was the target once again. Tyson tried to get Sandra, Tony and Sarah to join him, using the argument that Wendell's alliance wanted to vote out all of the big threats, meaning that Sandra and Tony would be next. However, Sandra's grudge against Tyson proved to be too strong and Tyson was voted out.
There was then a Tribal Switch that found Wendell, Yul and Nick on a Tribe with Parvati Shallow and Wendell's ex-girlfriend Michele Fitzgerald. After losing Immunity, Wendell's plan was to vote out Parvati. However, he told her that he would vote with her if she gave him two Fire Tokens. Parvati and Michele told this to Nick in order to get Wendell voted out. All of Wendell's scheming came out at Tribal Council but Yul and Nick stuck with him and voted out Parvati because she's too big of a threat.
However, Yul questioned Wendell when they got back to camp and planned to vote Wendell out before Michele. After losing Immunity, Wendell talked to Nick and Michele about voting out Yul because he knew that Yul was coming after him. Nick and Michele were conflicted but eventually decided to side with Wendell, due to Yul's strategic prowess and voted Yul out.
The Tribes then Merged and Wendell struck up a friendship with Jeremy Collins. Wendell, Michele and Nick thought that everybody was planning on voting out Adam Klein, who nobody trusted. However, Jeremy wanted to vote out Nick so that he could be Wendell's right-hand man instead. The plans somehow changed and much to Jeremy's dismay, it was Wendell who was voted out, due to being perceived as a bigger threat than Nick or Adam.
Wendell spent the rest of the game on the Edge of Extinction but when it came time for the Edge Challenge, Wendell narrowly lost to Natalie Anderson.
Voting History
Episode |
Wendell Voted For |
Voted For Wendell |
1 |
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4 |
--- |
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6 |
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7 |
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14 |
For Sole Survivor: Tony Vlachos |
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Trivia
- Wendell is the first castaway to win after a tie vote at the Final Tribal Council.
- Wendell is the fourth African-American castaway to win Survivor, following Vecepia Towery, Earl Cole and Jeremy Collins.
- Wendell is the first man, and second castaway overall, to be on an auxiliary tribe and become the Sole Survivor, following Sarah Lacina.
- By extension, Wendell is the second castaway to be the highest placing member in three different Tribes, after Sarah.
- By extension, Wendell is the second castaway to be the highest placing member in three different Tribes, after Sarah.
- Wendell lost 25 lbs. during his time on Winners at War. Wendell then notes that this was 1 lb. less than his weight less on Ghost Island.