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Now that the Survivor Season 43 castaways have merged, the season is about to pick up a lot of steam. The game has become individual as the players compete for immunity and try to get to the final three chairs. So, based on the first six episodes, which castaway has the best chance of becoming the Survivor Season 43 winner? Read on for our theories and predictions.

Host Jeff Probst explains a challenge to the remaining 12 'Survivor' Season 43 castaways, one of which will be the winner.
Jeff Probst and the ‘Survivor’ Season 43 cast | Robert Voets/CBS

Which castaways remain in ‘Survivor’ Season 43?

After Elie Scott’s shocking exit in Survivor Season 43 Episode 6, only 12 castaways remain in the game. And they are:

  • Cassidy Clark (26), a designer from Austin, TX
  • Cody Assenmacher (35), an elevator salesperson from Honolulu, HI
  • Dwight Moore (22), a graduate student from Collierville, TN
  • James Jones (37), an event planner from Philadelphia, PA
  • Jeanine Zheng (24), a UX designer from San Francisco, CA
  • Jesse Lopez (30), a political science Ph.D. student from Durham, NC
  • Karla Cruz Godoy (28), an educational project manager from Newark, DE
  • Mike Gabler (52), a heart valve specialist from Meridian, ID
  • Noelle Lambert (25), a Paralympian from Manchester, NH
  • Owen Knight (30), an college admissions director from New Orleans, LA
  • Ryan Medrano (25), a warehouse associate from El Paso, TX
  • Sami Layadi (19), a pet cremator from Las Vegas, NV

One of these players will be the winner of Survivor Season 43. However, some are more likely to make it to the end than others.

The frontrunners of the season

Based on the preview for Survivor Season 43 Episode 7, it’s not looking good for Noelle. Karla plants seeds of doubt in people’s heads about the Paralympian, and she might be the next castaway to leave the game. So we are ruling her out as the Sole Survivor.

Other players who we don’t think have a good chance of making it to the end are Ryan, Gabler, Jeanine, Cassidy, James, and Owen. Of course, these players could surprise us and kick it into high gear in the upcoming episodes. But we’re just going off what we have seen so far, and we believe that others have played better games.

That leaves us with Cody, Karla, Sami, Jesse, and Dwight as our frontrunners. Each of these castaways is either in a great spot going into the merge, or they have proved to be an excellent strategist. And some of them are both. But only one can be our winner pick for Survivor Season 43.

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Who do we believe is the winner of ‘Survivor’ Season 43?

Unfortunately, we don’t think Sami, Jesse, or Dwight will be the Survivor Season 43 winner. Sami’s age will likely come back to bite him later in the game because, let’s be honest, there’s not much difference between 19 and 22 years old. Meanwhile, Jesse is easily influenced by others — see Cody planting seeds of doubt about salespeople — and Dwight’s edit doesn’t suggest that he emerges as the Sole Survivor.

Overall, we believe that Cody and Karla are the most probable winners. Cody is excellent at manipulating people, even those closest to him, and he has had the most screen time by far this season. The producers undoubtedly love Cody, but they also spend a lot of time highlighting Karla’s journey. She could be perceived as a villain, but fans love her and her strategic ways. Karla is easily one of the best players so far this season.

But since we have to pick a winner, our money is on Karla. No one has ever thrown her name out, and she is constantly controlling the votes she’s a part of. Karla was also quick to clock Cody’s lies and strategy. She’s an intelligent player, so she just has to hope the other castaways don’t recognize her threat level until the finale.

Survivor Season 43 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

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