Christy Smith

Christy Smith is a contestant from Survivor: The Amazon.

Distinguished for being the first deaf Survivor contestant, Christy faced difficulty in integrating with her original Jaburu tribe. Following the tribe switch and merge, where she generally remained in the minority, Christy gained her first taste of power when she landed in the swing vote position at the final six. However, her overconfidence and failure to commit turned her prospective allies against her, leading to her elimination.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name: Christy Smith
Age: 24
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Children Adventure Guide for the Deaf
Hometown: Basalt, CO
Luxury Item: Sage

Christy Smith attended high school and college in Washington, D.C., where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology/criminology from Gallaudet University. She most recently worked as a children's adventure guide for the Aspen Camp School for the Deaf. Previous to that, she worked as a facilitator at Hemlock Overlook in Virginia.

Smith is deaf (she can hear minimal sounds but relies on lip-reading skills). Her primary motives for being on Survivor are to promote awareness for the deaf... and win $1 million. Her favorite hobbies are socializing, doing anything outdoors and writing letters. She has traveled to Costa Rica and spent 50 days on a wilderness adventure trip in Alaska with Outward Bound. She describes herself as succulent, independent and goal-oriented. She is most proud of the time she has spent working with juvenile delinquents where she taught them how to work in groups to develop growth and self esteem.

Smith is currently single and resides in Basalt, Colo. Her birth date is September 13, 1978.^[1]

Survivor[]

Christy was placed on the all-female Jaburu tribe at the start of the game. When Jaburu reached their camp, Christy revealed that she was deaf and asked everyone to say their names all over again. The tribe had mixed reactions. Heidi Strobel felt that the communication barrier would be a problem. Christy was unable to communicate with the other women at night because she could not see. Camp life at Jaburu was disorganized. However, the women won immunity because the men (most notably Daniel Lue and Ryan Aiken) fumbled on the balance beam. At the first Reward Challenge, Christy sat out because it involved hearing ability, which Jaburu won. Christy preferred to hang with the older women, such as Jeanne Hebert. When Jeanne told Christy that JoAnna Ward felt that having the Immunity Idol in camp was a bad idea because it went against her religious beliefs, Christy viewed it as stupid. JoAnna overheard her and argued with Christy ending with JoAnna storming off leaving Christy in tears. Jeanne comforted Christy. Jaburu lost Immunity Challenge. Christy voted against Jenna Morasca for her attitude towards Christy and got a vote from JoAnna because of her attitude. In the end, Janet Koth was voted for being the weakest and allegedly smuggling a granola bar into the game. Jaburu won the next two challenges, earning them toiletries and immunity. However, things turned sour when Jaburu lost the next two challenges. Christy agreed with Deena Bennett with voting out strong JoAnna over the emotional Shawna Mitchell, who asked to be voted out.

The tribe received Tree Mail informing them that they need the youngest person to go out on a night of fun. The youngest was Jenna and when she returned, she announced that the tribes have switched. Christy, along with Heidi and Jeanne would move to Tambaqui. The three women decided to stick together. When they arrived, the women were welcomed with open arms and the tribe bonded well. The men were amazed when they found out about Christy's hearing impairment. Unfortunately, the new Tambaqui lost immunity. After drawing sticks, the women decided to vote for Butch Lockley. However, Jeanne was voted out in a 4-2 vote. Although she knew it was irrelevant, Christy asked why was Jeanne was voted out instead of her. Roger Sexton said it was because Jeanne was the weakest link in the new tribe. Satisfied, Christy felt that she was normal for the first time in the game. Butch was particularly happy seeing the smile on her face. Dave Johnson noted what Roger told Christy is far from the truth. At the Reward Challenge, Christy defeated Jenna both times she went up. This won Tambaqui spices, seasonings and a fruit basket. Tambaqui also won immunity.

On Day 19, the tribes were allowed to open the box that been there since Day 1. The box said that the tribes had merged. The new Jacaré moved to a new area for the rest of the game. Roger didn't let the women help with the shelter. Irked by this, the women targeted him because they feared Roger would not voluntarily vote for a woman in the Final Tribal Council. At the same time, the Jaburu men (Alex Bell, Matthew von Ertfelda, and Rob Cesternino) were becoming annoyed with Roger's bossiness. At the first Individual Immunity Challenge, it came down to Christy and Deena. Both women decided to end the Immunity Challenge for spaghetti and meatballs. Christy lost the rock-paper-scissors and immunity. Although Christy got three votes at Tribal Council, Roger was voted out in a 7-3 vote. At the next Reward Challenge, Christy was paired with Rob and Butch, but they lost the challenge. At the same time, Matthew was obsessing with the machete. Christy was creeped out by Matthew. At the Immunity Challenge, Christy was knocked out coming in 4th place. Jenna won immunity and Dave was unanimously voted out.

Christy lost the next Reward Challenge. A feud erupted between Alex and Deena and both wanted the other out. Christy had a difficult time at the eating contest, which Matthew won for immunity. Christy sided with Deena, but everyone else voted Deena out. Christy was now in the minority of the tribe, along with Matthew von Ertfelda and Butch Lockley. Christy viewed the majority in disgust. She was particularly annoyed because they didn't do any work around camp. At the Survivor Auction, Christy beat out Jenna for a letter from home. The letter gave Christy much emotional support. Rob approach Christy about joining them to oust Alex, who told him that he was going to get fourth. Christy was happy about it as she viewed him as drooling over the other women. The plan worked and Alex was blindsided. In danger of being picked off, Jenna and Heidi appealed to Christy saying when they were gone, she would be the next to go. Christy was intrigued by the offer. At the Reward Challenge, because of Matthew's generosity, Christy was able to spend time with her boyfriend, Brent. Christy was torn between going to women (who she felt she had a better chance of going to Final Tribal Council) or the men (who she liked better). Jenna won immunity. Rob talked to her about her decision, which she did not know what to do. Horrified about Christy being a swing vote, Rob schemed with the other women and Matthew to get her out. Jenna and Heidi eagerly accepted. At Tribal Council, Jenna gave immunity to Heidi. Rob's plan came together and Christy was blindsided in a 4-2.

At Final Tribal Council, Christy first greeted the finalists. Christy first asked Matthew what was his reaction when he learned that Christy was deaf. Matthew said that she was going to be treated normally. Matthew added that he treated her like the others and assumed she just had a funky accent. Christy then questioned Jenna about how is her beauty a "handicap", which Christy thought Jenna had stated at a previous Tribal Council. Jenna answered that she was asked about how she was perceived by the tribe and didn't mean her beauty was like the handicap Christy had. Jenna clarified that she felt being a young, attractive, swimsuit model that people would assume she was weak, unintelligent, and a follower. Jenna finished her statement by apologizing to Christy for offending her. Despite promising she would not let Jenna or Heidi win, Christy voted for Jenna to become the Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Jaburu	Unchained	Immunity	No	Won
2		Flip Out	Reward	Yes	Won
2		Total Recall	Immunity	No	Lost
3		Matchmaker	Reward	No	Won
3		The Great Escape	Immunity	No	Won
4		Light My Fire	Reward	No	Lost
4		Gone Fishin'	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
Switched Tribes, Day 14
5	Tambaqui	Up The Creek	Immunity	No	Lost
6		Log Jam	Reward	No	Won
6		Piranha Feast	Immunity	No	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 20
7	Jacaré	Perch	Immunity		Lost
8		Mud Bungee	Reward		Lost
8		Face Off	Immunity		Lost
9		Weapons	Reward		Lost
9		Amazon Menu	Immunity		Lost
11		Survivor Auction
11		Q and A	Immunity		Lost
12		Paddle	Reward		Lost
12		Shoot 'n' Shuffle	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 33

Episode	Christy's Votes	Voted Against Christy
1	Jaburu Tribe Immune
2	Jenna	JoAnna
3	Jaburu Tribe Immune
4	JoAnna	Shawna
5	Butch	-
6	Tambaqui Tribe Immune
7	Roger	Butch, Dave, Roger
8	Dave	-
9	Alex	-
11	Alex	-
12	Jenna	Heidi, Jenna, Matthew, Rob
Voted Out, Day 33
Voted for Sole Survivor	Jenna

Post-Survivor[]

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Trivia[]

Christy is the first Survivor contestant to be deaf. She would be followed by Nina Poersch, Donathan Hurley and Ricard Foyé.
- Coincidentally, everyone except Donathan were voted out in a red tri be.
- In addition to lip-reading, Christy also used a hearing aid to communicate with the other players.
Christy's luxury item was a vial of sage.