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Every castaway that plays Survivor dreams of making it to the end and winning the $1 million grand prize. Unfortunately, they typically have a one in 18 chance of becoming the Sole Survivor. So it’s understandably challenging to not only get to the end but also to win the jury over. However, the two players who make it to the Final Tribal Council in Survivor and lose walk away with some prize money.

Mike Gabler, Cassidy Clark, and Owen Knight hold hands during the Final Tribal Council in 'Survivor' Season 43 on CBS, where they all won money.
Mike Gabler, Cassidy Clark, and Owen Knight | Photo: Chuck Snyder/CBS

Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight were the runner-ups of ‘Survivor 43’

Following Jesse Lopez’s devastating loss in the final four fire-making challenge, Cassidy Clark, Owen Knight, and Mike Gabler plead their case during the Final Tribal Council in Survivor 43. And going into the deliberation, many viewers believed that Cassidy had the Survivor money in the bag. However, they quickly learned that wasn’t the case.

The jury seemed to be eating out of Gabler’s hands. Meanwhile, Owen was an afterthought, and Cassidy’s explanations of her game were falling on deaf ears.

In the end, the Survivor 43 jury rewarded Gabler with the $1 million prize money and crowned him the Sole Survivor in a 7-1-0 vote. Everyone wrote Gabler’s name down except for James Jones, who voted for Cassidy.

Did Cassidy and Owen earn any money for getting second and third place in ‘Survivor’?

Even though Owen and Cassidy didn’t win the grand prize in Survivor 43, they still walked away with a considerable amount of money.

According to CinemaBlend, the third-place finisher wins $85,000, and the second-place finisher wins $100,000. Sadly, the Survivor prize money is before taxes, just like the winner’s $1 million.

So, hopefully, the fact that Cassidy and Owen walked away from Survivor 43 with a check is some consolation for those angry that they lost the game.

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Mike Gabler is donating his ‘Survivor 43’ money to charity

During the Survivor 43 finale, Gabler announced that he would be donating his $1 million prize money to veterans. And while speaking with Showbiz Cheat Sheet, he further explained his decision.

“I made [the decision] before even going into the game, when I was back home, while I was talking to a veteran buddy of mine and my wife,” the Survivor 43 winner shared. “And we were just almost tongue in cheek, said, ‘You know if you win this thing. Whatever the chances of that are, you know, it’s not an easy game, right? But if you win this, what about doing some good with the money and donating to charity? You know, half of it or all of it?'”

Gabler continued, “And it’s what we talked about. The more it made sense. And I told my wife, I said, ‘Hey, are you cool with this? If I win this, if we do this?’ And she’s like, ‘Absolutely.'”

As for which specific charities he’ll be donating to, Gabler said, “I created a donor-advised fund I got with a lawyer and an accountant. And we created a donor-advised fund which guarantees that every penny that is put into there has to be spent on charity. It cannot be a 503c or something like that.”

“It has to go to the charities, for sure,” he explained. “So all the money we got wired in yesterday, I haven’t looked at all of it yet, but it’s all wired in there, and it has to be used for charity. One of them is Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions. That is one of the foundations that I’m going to definitely be supporting. And Big Ben from a few seasons ago also supports that charity.”

All seasons of Survivor are streaming on Paramount+.