After 34 days on the BBC show, the winner of Survivor has been named Matthew.
In the final episode, each of the three finalists – Christopher, Matthew, and Leilani – had to persuade a ‘jury’ of past participants that they were the deserving winner. The trio faced hard questioning regarding their experience as well as games and had to maintain their confidence in their merit.
Six out of eight voters thought Matthew was the most deserved member of the Tribal Council, thus he now has the life-changing reward of £100,000 and the title of Sole Survivor!
The closing scenes as the votes were tabulated, according to the 21-year-old Hospitality worker from Cumbria, were like a ‘out of body experience’ that delivered a ‘adrenaline high.’
When Matthew finally heard his name called, there was only one thing he wanted to do: give presenter Joel Dommett a great embrace. Sweet!
‘When Joel announced me as the winner that was the best moment of my entire life,’ he recalled.
‘I was really emotional thinking about how proud my family and friends were going to be. I felt like all my hard work had paid off, it was a dream come true! I just wanted to give Joel a massive hug!’
Matthew and his fellow contestants survived the month-long adventure by living on a beach and participating in physical, mental, and psychological challenges.
Matthew has had time since his return from the Dominican Republic to eat all of the takeout he missed while on the island and ruminate on the series. He lovingly expressed how he is’so proud’ of himself.
‘I outwitted, outplayed and outlasted 17 other players by playing the social game perfectly,’ he stated.
‘I anticipated before the show that I would be underestimated because I was the youngest player, so me being aware of that definitely helped me in the game.
‘I never burnt any bridges with anyone, because I wanted to have options and multiple routes to the final because being able to adapt my strategy and game plan as time went on was really important to me.’
Matthew had to make bold choices to be victorious, and he has no regrets.
‘The biggest move I made was definitely when I flipped on my original Caleton alliance. I knew that if I wanted to win, I would need to eliminate all of the threats whether they were in my alliance or not,’ he shared.
‘I didn’t want to leave with any regrets and I had to put myself first, to give myself the best possible chance of winning.’
The winner isn’t the only one who is feeling pride: ‘My family and friends are so proud, and that for me means everything.
‘I’m just from a little town in West Cumbria so to be able to represent it is so special to me,’ he concluded.
Now he just has the small matter of spending £100,000…
Catch up on Survivor on BBC iPlayer.