Skip to main content

Netflix recently added Survivor Season 32 to its streaming library, introducing a new group of people to the Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty cast, including the season’s winner Michele Fitzgerald. Michele is a bit of a controversial figure in the Survivor community. But despite the pushback she received after the season 32 finale aired, Michele has continuously proved why she deserved to win in the years following her first television appearance.

Michele Fitzgerald, the winner of 'Survivor' Season 32, wears a yellow camisole and her yellow 'Survivor' buff around her neck.
Michele Fitzgerald | Photo by Monty Brinton/CBS via Getty Images

Michele was the winner of ‘Survivor’ Season 32

Upon arriving in Cambodia, the Survivor producers placed Michele on the Beauty tribe. At the time, Michele was a 24-year-old bartender from Freehold, New Jersey.

According to her CBS bio, she believed she would win Survivor because she “watched every season, so I know what it takes to be successful on this show. Using my charm, I think I can build strong relationships and lead an alliance without being viewed as aggressive. My social awareness will help me understand and use people’s strengths, weaknesses, and motives to my advantage. I’m not gonna play on the sidelines. I want to make big, badass moves that will get me further in the game and have fun doing it.”

And from the beginning of the game, Michele put her strategy to the test. She immediately formed strong connections with her tribemates. However, the Beauty tribe won the first few Immunity Challenges, so Michele never had to worry about getting voted out.

The tribe faced their first setback on Day 9 when producers had to medically evacuate Caleb Reynolds from the game. Despite losing a team member, Michele and her fellow castaways bounced back and won the next Immunity Challenge. There was a tribal switch on Day 12, but Michele was safe until the merge because her team kept winning.

After the merge, Michele was often the swing vote, which allowed her to form connections with almost everyone. Michele also won two critical individual Immunity Challenges, the latter at the final four, which secured her a spot in the finale. Ultimately, the jury crowned Michele the Sole Survivor of Survivor Season 32 in a 5-2-0 vote against Aubry Bracco and Tai Trang.

Michele competed on ‘Winners at War’

Following the Survivor Season 32 finale, Michele was met with backlash by fans (and even host Jeff Probst) who thought that Aubry should have won. However, CBS had already written the check, and Michele had cemented her place among the other Sole Survivors. And in doing so, she earned a spot on Survivor Season 40, aka Winners at War.

Producers placed Michele on the Sele tribe alongside Adam Klein, Ben Driebergen, Danni Boatwright, Denise Stapley, Ethan Zohn, Jeremy Collins, Natalie Anderson, Parvati Shallow, and Rob Mariano. Despite the tribe’s poor performances at Immunity Challenges, Michele survived each Tribal Council and even helped mastermind some eliminations.

After a tribal switch and a couple of lost challenges, Michele made it to the merge. And whenever she saw danger coming her way, Michele saved herself by winning Immunity Challenges or using an advantage.

During the final four, Natalie won immunity and brought Michele to the end. Unfortunately, the jury focused more on Tony Vlachos and Natalie’s games, and Michele received zero votes. Tony won Survivor: Winners at War in a 12-4-0 vote, making him the second two-time champion after Sandra Diaz-Twine.

However, Michele made Survivor history by making it to the season 40 finale. Aside from The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca, who quit All-Stars due to a family emergency, Michele is the only winner to play multiple seasons and never be voted out.

Related

‘Survivor’ Spoilers: Will a Showmance Form in Season 44?

What has Michele been up to since her ‘Survivor’ seasons?

Following her appearance on Survivor: Winners at War, Michele competed on The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies in 2021. She and her partner, Corey Lay, were eliminated in episode 4. Michele returned to the MTV series again in 2022 for Ride or Dies, where she competed alongside her ex, Jay Starrett, who originally starred in Survivor Season 33. They were eliminated in episode 8.

Aside from her reality TV ventures, Michele works as a Business Development Manager at Palace Resorts.

She doesn’t appear to be dating anyone at this time, but fans can follow Michele’s adventures on her Instagram.

Survivor Season 32, starring Michele Fitzgerald, is available to stream on Netflix and Paramount+.

Best in Entertainment