Laurel Johnson

Laurel Johnson is a contestant from Survivor: Ghost Island.

A superfan of the game, Laurel was known for her bond with Donathan Hurley and alliance with Domenick Abbate and Wendell Holland after the first tribe switch, remaining loyal despite openly acknowledging that winning against either Domenick or Wendell would be difficult for her. Eventually making it to the Final Tribal Council along with Domenick and Wendell, Laurel ended up being mostly ignored by the jury due to her risk-averse gameplay, receiving no votes to win. After an unprecedented tie between Domenick and Wendell, Laurel became the first person to cast a tiebreaker jury vote in Survivor history.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Age: 29
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Current residence: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Occupation: Financial Consultant
Hobbies: Watching Survivor, playing beach volleyball, and the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.
Pet peeves: Incompetence, indecisiveness, and open-mouth chewers.
Three words to describe you: Driven, focused, and calculated.
What's your personal claim to fame? My college volleyball team winning our division championship. It's one thing to compete at the highest level, but it's another to win and be the best at it.
Who or what is your inspiration in life? My parents—for their dedication, support, and all the values they instilled in me.
If you could have three things on the island, what would they be and why? Crossword puzzle book to keep my mind sharp, keep me sane, and give me a way to tune everyone out, a camera to capture every single moment, and a self-addressed envelope—so there's no confusion as to where to send the million dollar check to.
Which Survivor contestant are you most like? Todd. I'll be a smart player, shrewd, and pulling all the strings, a snake (but unbeknownst to others), and run circles around anyone in a final tribal speech. Also, Sophie. Not afraid to get stuff done, stand up for myself, and tell the boys what to do. I'll be the smartest player there.
What's your reason for being on Survivor? The title of Sole Survivor and the challenge.
Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor? I'm a triple threat to win this game—I'm a former college athlete, an Ivy League graduate, and I know the game better than anyone else out there. I'm a superfan who knows better than to let the game pass me by and I will always fight for every single inch.^[2]

Survivor[]

Laurel started on the Malolo tribe. She immediately bonded with Donathan Hurley. When Malolo lost the first two Immunity Challenges Laurel aided the tribe in voting out Stephanie Gonzalez and Jacob Derwin, in that order.

When the tribe switch occurred, Laurel, along with Donathan, Libby Vincek, and James Lim were switched to Naviti. There, original Navitis Chris Noble and Domenick Abbate talked to the Malolos about taking out the other, putting Laurel in a good spot. When Naviti lost the next challenge, Laurel joined James, Donathan, and Libby in blindsiding original Naviti Morgan Ricke. The following day, however, both she and Donathan approached Domenick and original Naviti Wendell Holland, respectively, about forming a final four deal. Following the second tribe switch, she was switched to the new Yanuya tribe. Yanuya won the remaining challenges.

Shortly after the merge, Laurel and Donathan reconfirmed their final four deal with Domenick and Wendell, and the four began working together. While the former Malolos were getting picked off one by one, Laurel and Donathan were kept safe due to their alliance with Domenick and Wendell. Eventually, Laurel and Donathan became the only former Malolos remaining. However, by then, the former Navitis had began turning on each other, putting Laurel and Donathan in a position of power.

While acknowledging that she had no shot of beating Domenick and Wendell, she continued to stick with them. Even when Donathan decided to turn on Domenick and Wendell, Laurel still stuck with them, and she even abandoned Donathan. At the final five, Wendell played Erik Reichenbach's Hidden Immunity Idol on Laurel at his final opportunity, though it only negated Donathan's vote, as he was voted out unanimously. After Domenick won the Final Immunity Challenge, he chose to save her at Tribal Council. Wendell won the fire-making challenge, joining Laurel and Domenick in the Final Three.

At the Final Tribal Council, Laurel was heavily criticized for being Domenick and Wendell's pawn, and not getting them out. She, however, received some praise from former Malolo Michael Yerger for surviving the Malolo purge. She went on to get no votes while Domenick and Wendell tied with five votes each. Following the tie, host Jeff Probst told Laurel that she would become the final member of the jury and cast the deciding vote. Laurel ended up casting the winning vote for Wendell, giving him the title of Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Malolo	Open	Reward	No	Won
		Sled Zeppelin	Immunity	No	Lost
		Coming Up for Air	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
Switched Tribes, Day 7
2	Naviti	Along the Watch Tower	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
3		Water Slaughter	Reward	No	Won
3		Cell Block Sea	Immunity	No	Won
4		Rod Screw-It	Reward	No	Won
4		Hitch A Ride	Immunity	No	Won
Switched Tribes, Day 15
5	Yanuya	Sir Duke	Immunity	No	1st
6		Discy Business	Reward	Yes	2nd
6		Cruel Sea	Immunity	No	1st
Tribes Merged, Day 20
7	Lavita	Audio Slave	Immunity		Lost
8		Gone Shootin'	Reward		Won
8		Fijian Feast	Immunity		Lost
9		Caged Tigers	Reward		Lost
9		Take the Reins	Immunity		Lost
10		Crocodile Rock	Immunity		Lost
11		A Quick Affair	Reward		Lost
11		The Ball Drop	Immunity		Lost
12		Always on the Run	Reward	No	Invited
12		Seven Bridges Road	Immunity		Won
13		Vin Skully	Reward/Immunity		Lost
		Pyramid Scheme	Immunity		Lost
		Stacked Up	Immunity		Lost
Second Runner-Up, Day 39

Episode	Laurel's Votes	Voted Against Laurel
1	Gonzalez	-
1	Jacob	-
2	Morgan	-
3	Naviti Tribe Immune
4	Naviti Tribe Immune
5	Yanuya Tribe Immune
6	Yanuya Tribe Immune
7	Chris	-
8	Libby	-
9	Desiree	-
10	Kellyn; Ineligible	Kellyn (x2); -¹
11	Chelsea	-
12	Kellyn; Kellyn²	Individual Immunity
13	Sebastian	-
13	Donathan	~~Donathan~~³
Jury Votes for Laurel	-
Second Runner-Up, Day 39
Voted for Sole Survivor	Wendell⁴

^1 In "The Finish Line Is in Sight", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Laurel and Michael, forcing a revote. On the revote, Laurel did not receive any votes to be eliminated.
^2 In "Always Be Moving", the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Donathan and Kellyn, forcing a revote. Laurel did not change her vote on the revote.
^3 In "It Is Game Time Kids", Wendell used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Laurel, negating 1 vote against her.
^4 Also in "It Is Game Time Kids", the jury vote ended with a 5-5-0 tie between Wendell and Domenick. Per the rules, Laurel, as second runner-up, joined the jury and cast the deciding vote.

Post-Survivor[]

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Trivia[]

Laurel was nearly cast for Millennials vs. Gen X.^[3]
Laurel and Sebastian Noel are the sixth and seventh castaways to be on three tribes before the merge, following Jenna Lewis, Jerri Manthey, and Rupert Boneham in All-Stars, Andrew Savage in Cambodia, and Cirie Fields in Game Changers.
- They are the first two castaways to achieve this on their first season.
Laurel is the only member of the original Malolo tribe to win individual immunity.
Laurel is the first African-American woman to have a Hidden Immunity Idol played on her.
Laurel is the first castaway to cast a tiebreaker vote at the Final Tribal Council.
- Due to the tie vote, Laurel is the first castaway since Elisabeth Filarski in The Australian Outback to become a juror on Day 39.
- Because she cast the tiebreaker vote, Laurel is the only contestant to know the identity of their season's winner before their season aired without the winner being revealed on location.
Laurel is the first person to be the 11th member of the jury.