Who Won “Survivor” Season 47? All About the Winner of the $1 Million Prize — and How They Made Show History

Warning: Survivor season 47 spoilers ahead!

The tribe has spoken: Rachel LaMont was crowned the winner of Survivor season 47 and its $1 million dollar prize.

After consistently finding herself at the bottom and being labeled a big threat by multiple players early on in the game, the graphic designer from Southfield, Mich., used a combination of strategic social play, immunity challenge wins and good old-fashioned eavesdropping to make it to the final three. It also didn’t hurt that Rachel found a hidden immunity idol in her French fries.

Related: 25 of the Wildest Rules You Didn't Know Contestants Have to Follow on 'Survivor'

During the final episode, which aired on Dec. 18, she owed her game to the jury (and former tribe mates) and dismissed fellow player Sam Phalen’s remark that her entire strategy relied on luck.

“I obviously had luck in the game, but I do think that getting the clue in the burger was the luckiest thing that happened to me,” Rachel told Entertainment Weekly after the final episode aired. “I think that I have reasoning and evidence to back up that basically everything else that happened to me was not luck."

Here’s everything to know about Survivor 47 winner Rachel LaMont and the important moments she said the long-running competition show didn't air.

She's a graphic designer

Rachel works as a user interface designer in Southfield, Mich., a suburb just outside of Detroit. She told The Oakland Press in September 2024 that she used her skills in creating digital experiences to influence her game strategy on Survivor.

"When you use an app, you don’t think about every button you press," Rachel said. "That’s how I want to play Survivor. I want to integrate myself into the game so that people won’t notice me until it’s too late."

She won with seven jury votes

After an intense fire-making showdown between Sam and Teeny Chirichillo, the remaining three players of Survivor season 47 were Sam, Rachel and Sue Smey. Each tribe member pleaded their case to the jury, and Rachel won the title of Sole Survivor with seven of the eight votes.

Related: Inside the Survivor Casting Process: Here’s How to Apply (and Prove You Have What it Takes!)

The only jury member who didn’t vote for Rachel was Kyle Ostwald, who wrote Sam’s name down on the parchment. Rachel later told EW that his vote was the one she was “the least sure about."

She made Survivor history by winning four immunity challenges

Rachel won four individual immunity challenges throughout the season — a history-making Survivor record that only four other women have claimed: Kelly Wiglesworth, Jenna Morasca, Kim Spradlin and Chrissy Hofbeck.

Related: Where to Watch Every Season of Survivor

Winning the final immunity challenge ensured Rachel’s spot in the final three. A deleted scene from the finale showed that she was very much aware of the potential record — and she was gunning for it.

“I want that record of four immunity wins,” Rachel said in the deleted clip. “I feel like this immunity challenge coming up is my final push. It's the final one where if I win this, I think I can maybe win it all.”

She was an alternate for Survivor season 46

Season 47 wasn’t the first time Rachel stepped foot on that beach in Fiji. She was an alternate for the previous season, meaning she made it through the casting process but wasn’t chosen to play. The graphic designer told EW that the only advantage of being a backup player is understanding how the pre-game works.

“There's so much waiting and it's kind of awkward,” Rachel said. “It's like sitting in a library for a week straight where you can't talk and you're just staring at each other.”

Though she doesn’t think it gave her much of a leg-up during the actual competition, she did say that her short-lived experience on season 46 helped with her mentality going into season 47. Rachel said, “It felt freer and lighter and more like, I really want this. I don't need this, I want it. And it was just kind of a mentality switch that I think only happened with the fact that I got so close."

The eventual winner continued, “I was the backup quarterback at the Super Bowl, and then I got to play the next year. And I think that something about that gave me a little bit more confidence and a little bit more of a mentality shift that let me just have fun with it.”

She was surprised her close relationship with Caroline wasn’t shown on Survivor

With only 90 minutes per episode, there’s not enough time to cover all the relationship dynamics between players. Rachel told EW that, surprisingly, one of her closest alliances, with Caroline Vidmar, didn’t make the cut.

“She was by far my number one from almost the night Sierra was voted out after Tribal,” the season 47 winner said. “And I was very shocked that I don't think there was a single one-on-one conversation with Caroline and I that entire stretch ... We were very clearly working together.”

Caroline was voted off during the Dec. 4 episode as a part of Sam, Genevieve Mushaluk and Andy Rueda’s iconic Operation: the Italy ruse.

Jeff Probst called her one of Survivor's “best overall players”

In a Dec. 19 interview with EW, host Jeff Probst gave the season 47 winner some very high praise.

“I think Rachel will go down as one of the best overall players to ever compete on Survivor,” he said. “She made the most of every opportunity, and when in trouble, always found a way out. Her dominant challenge performance speaks for itself, and her final argument to the jury about why she deserved their vote was very well-crafted with just the right amount of confidence and humility.”

Ahead of the finale, Rachel told only her husband that she had won

Rachel told CBS Chicago that only her husband knew how far she got on the show. The graphic designer kept it a secret from the rest of her family and friends and held watch parties at her house so she could witness all their reactions to her big moves.

"For me to not just get on but to get them watching my journey and to know ultimately that I win, it was the best gift I could ever have," Rachel said.

Though she hasn’t revealed what she’ll do next — or what she’ll do with her $1 million dollar check — Rachel did make an account on Cameo. Her profile says she offers birthday wishes as well as pep talks and advice.

Read the original article on People