Heidi Strobel

Heidi Strobel is a contestant from Survivor: The Amazon.

Heidi formed a friendship and alliance with Jenna Morasca early on. The two employed the strategy of using their sexuality to manipulate the men, becoming infamous for stripping for peanut butter and chocolate during the first individual Immunity Challenge. Both women proved to be key members of the Jaburu Alliance that took control of the Jaburu tribe and the game following the merge, until they were betrayed by Rob Cesternino. With the duo being relegated to the minority, Heidi was seen as a bigger physical threat than Jenna and was voted out at the final five.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name: Heidi Strobel
Age: 24
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: P.E. Teacher
Hometown: Buffalo, Missouri
Luxury Item: Jumprope

Heidi Strobel received a Bachelor of Arts degree in exercise physiology, secondary education and physical education from Drury University in Springfield, Mo. She is currently a physical education and health teacher. She is currently working on her master's degree in physical education and plans to start on a second in nursing next year. She previously worked as a sales representative for a lingerie company, a secretary in a doctor's office and the manager of a fireworks company.

Strobel's three favorite hobbies are running, writing poetry and keeping up on dance music. She describes herself as very conscientious, enthusiastic and determined. If given the chance to hold political office, she would like to be on the State Board of Education to better the schools and to emphasize the importance of health and exercise in the schools. She is a member of the National Athletic Trainer Association, the Missouri Teacher's Association, the Missouri Association of P.E., Health, Recreation and Dance and the Drury Teacher's Association. She is doing this because she loves a challenge of mind and body, and for the experience of a lifetime. If she wins, she will pay off her student loans and buy a car.

Strobel is currently single and resides in Jefferson City, MO. Her birth date is October 29, 1978.^[1]

Survivor[]

Heidi was placed on the Jaburu tribe. When Christy Smith's name was called as the fifth woman on her tribe, Heidi realized that Jaburu would be an all-female tribe. Despite their slow adjustment to the elements, the women won the first two challenges. However, the camp was still disorganized. Things devolved into chaos when a granola bar wrapper was found at camp. The wrapper was burned. Heidi felt it was unfair that everyone was starving while someone had something to eat. Janet was blamed for the wrapper incident. The Tambaqui men won immunity, sending the women to Tribal Council. Heidi voted for Janet, because of being weak as opposed to the granola bar incident. Janet was the one sent home in a 5-1-1-1 vote.

At the Reward Challenge, Heidi became the focus of Rob Cesternino and Daniel. The women won the reward in the form of bath products. Heidi preferred to be with Jenna Morasca and Shawna Mitchell and bathed with them. Jaburu won immunity, keeping Heidi safe. However, the next morning, the tribe was awoken by Jeanne Hebert and JoAnna Ward working. JoAnna later said that anything worth having is worth working for and that beauty fades and your virtue to God is everything. Heidi didn't have a clue on how the quote fit into the game unless JoAnna was picking on that fact that they were worried about stuff that she didn't care about. Heidi decided to align herself with Jenna and Shawna. The girls successfully recruited Deena Bennett into the alliance. Tambaqui won the Reward Challenge. After the loss, Shawna had a breakdown and asked to be voted out. Tambaqui won the Immunity Challenge as well. Deena felt that JoAnna was too much of a threat to continue on and got her voted out.

Jeanne was angry when JoAnna was voted out. Shawna was also upset that the other women hadn't honored her request. The tribe received Tree Mail, inviting the tribe's youngest member to a night of fun, which was Jenna. When Jenna returned, she said that Heidi, Christy, and Jeanne would be going to Tambaqui. Heidi was sad because she was separated from her alliance. The women were warmly received by the men. However, the new tribe lost immunity. After drawing straws, the women decided to vote against Butch Lockley. Knowing Jeanne was the next to go from the information extracted from Jenna, Dave Johnson asked Heidi to vote her out. Heidi complied and Jeanne was voted out in a 4-2 vote. At the next Reward Challenge, Heidi lost both of her rounds to Shawna. Despite that, Tambaqui won and earned spices and a fruit basket. Tambaqui also won immunity.

On Day 19, the tribes met Jeff one last time to officially Merge. The new tribe was called Jacaré. A feast awaited the new tribe when they arrived. However, Roger Sexton was more focused on shelter and prohibited the women to help out. This caused Heidi and Jenna to lobby to Deena to get him out. They argued to Deena that Roger would not vote for a woman if he was on the jury. Deena did comply. At the Immunity Challenge, Heidi and Jenna stripped naked for peanut butter and chocolate. Deena was the one to win immunity. Everything came together and Roger was voted out. Knowing he was on the chopping block, Dave tried to get everyone to turn on Matthew von Ertfelda, who was obsessing with the machete. Heidi came close to winning immunity, but Jenna was the one to win immunity. Dave was unanimously voted out. After Alex Bell won the Reward Challenge, Deena wanted him out should Matthew win immunity. When Alex and Jenna returned, Heidi immediately told Jenna about Deena's plot. The young women sided with Alex. Before the challenge, Heidi was bitten by a spider and her knee swollen to the size of her breast. Matthew won immunity. Rob Cesternino choose Alex, blindsiding Deena.

In the majority, Heidi relaxed more often at camp. The outsiders grew annoyed with the majority's laziness. At the Survivor Auction, Heidi brought a slice of chocolate cake and a slice of cheesecake. At the Immunity Challenge, Rob won immunity. The girls voted for Matthew for his athleticism, but they were shocked when Alex was voted out. After the blindside, Everyone talked about Alex, and he was in the game. Heidi didn't saying anything because she would just curse. Heidi and Jenna decided to appeal to Christy, saying that she has a better chance of winning going with them. At the Reward Challenge, Heidi was able to spend time with her mother because of Matthew's generosity. Rob tried to get Heidi and Jenna on his good side, but Heidi said that he'll win the game by screwing everyone over. Jenna won immunity, placing Heidi in real danger of elimination. However, Rob gave both women a saving grace when he offered to eliminate the undecided Christy. The women eagerly accepted, and Rob was back in the good graces. Jenna gave Heidi individual immunity and Christy was voted out in a 4-2 vote.

The women were thankful for Rob. Heidi didn't mind being told by Rob that she or Jenna was the next to go. At this time, Butch was constantly gathering firewood. At the Reward Challenge, Heidi failed to get past the first stage. Matthew won the challenge for a car. Matthew wanted to take everyone, but he chose Rob when told he could only take one. When they returned, they found that the shelter had burned down. Heidi was the only person who's belongings were unharmed, which made her feel guilty. Heidi wanted Butch voted out because they deserved it more. Heidi knew realistically, that the alliance could not be broken. The women refused to help rebuild the shelter because they were the next to go. At the Immunity Challenge, Heidi failed to win. Jenna broke down after the challenge, claiming she had health problems. Seeing Jenna's elimination would benefit herself, Heidi campaigned against her friend. However, the men deemed Heidi the bigger threat to win the game and she was voted out in a 3-2 vote.

At Final Tribal Council, Heidi asked both finalists to name someone who deserves their seat more than them. Matthew said Rob because of his strategic game is what allowed Matthew to make it as far as he did. Jenna begrudgingly agreed because of Rob's strategic prowess. Heidi asked if there was anyone else, which no one responded. Heidi gave her jury vote to Jenna because she played the game harder and because of their friendship they had.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Jaburu	Unchained	Immunity	No	Won
2		Flip Out	Reward	No	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		Invited
12		Shoot 'n' Shuffle	Immunity		Received¹
13		Try Again	Reward		Lost
13		Out on a Limb	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 36
Notes: ^1 Jenna gave up her immunity to Heidi at Tribal Council.

Episode	Heidi's Votes	Voted Against Heidi
1	Jaburu Tribe Immune
2	Janet	-
3	Jaburu Tribe Immune
4	JoAnna	-
5	Jeanne	-
6	Tambaqui Tribe Immune
7	Roger	-
8	Dave	-
9	Deena	-
11	Matthew	-
12	Christy	Individual Immunity¹
13	Rob	Butch, Matthew, Rob
Voted Out, Day 36
Voted for Sole Survivor	Jenna

^1 In "Sour Grapes", Jenna originally won individual immunity, but gave it to Heidi during Tribal Council.

Post-Survivor[]

In 2003, Heidi posed for Playboy Magazine with The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca.
In 2004 and 2005 respectively, Heidi appeared on both editions of "I Love the '90s".^[2]
Heidi married Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels on New Year's Eve in 2006. The couple has since had three biological children, Caleb (born October 2009),^[3] Braxton (born 2011), and Mackenzie (born 2016).^[4] Heidi and her husband also adopted a baby Ethiopian girl named Reeve during Christmas 2012.^[5]
In December 2017, Heidi and Cole donated their $9.75 million mansion to charity.^[6]

Trivia[]

Heidi initially applied for The Amazing Race with her grandfather as her partner, but due to Mark Burnett's insistence, she applied for Survivor instead. She had not watched Survivor prior to competing.^[7]
Heidi and Janet Koth are the first contestants to reside in Missouri during filming.
Heidi's luxury item was skipping rope.
Heidi became the first person to receive the Immunity Necklace from the original winner of the Immunity Challenge.
- Heidi is the first player to have individual immunity without ever winning an Immunity Challenge.
At the Survivor: The Amazon Reunion Show, it was revealed by Jeff Probst that Heidi had the highest IQ out of any castaway that season.
Heidi says living in The Amazon took a toll on her health. She incurred spider bites, parasites that hurt her kidneys, and significant weight loss.^[8]
She was nominated in Survivor: America's Tribal Council in the Sexiest Female category, but lost to Amber Brkich.