New Jersey man wins $2 Million on ‘Survivor’

Yes, Survivor is still on the air, and, yes, I still watch it. The most recent season had a decidedly Jersey flair as the final three contestants were all from the Garden State.

This season pitted 20 former winners against each other and featured twice the usual prize money: the winner (or Sole Survivor) got $2 million instead of the usual $1 million. The twenty contestants were whittled down to three for the final vote and ALL three finalists were from New Jersey! The $2 million prize was won by a member of the Jersey City Police Department, Tony Vlachos, who was something of a “villain”, hiding in the underbrush to eavesdrop on other players among other tactics.

The remaining two finalists were Michelle Fitzgerald of Freehold, and Natalie Anderson of Edgewater.

Vlachos won the final vote 12-4; Anderson got the four votes and Fitzgerald got 0. He is now the second two-time winner of Survivor. He told Entertainment Tonight that the only thing he knows he’s going to spend his prize money on is go-karts he promised his kids. He’s had to wait quite a while for his money, though. Filming ended almost a year ago and he had to wait until the votes were counted live to find out he had won.

This season was called Survivor: Winners at War and was the 40th season (covering 20 years). Plans for the next season are on hold because of the pandemic.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle. Any opinions expressed are Bill Doyle's own.