Mike Gabler
I used what I call the 'Alligabler' strategy to manage my threat level. Survivor 43
Played on
26 days played
Game record
Vote alignment89%of 9 ballots
89th percentile of 423 castaways
Immunity record1career immunity win
77th percentile of 751 castaways
Jury vote share88%of 8 jury votes
94th percentile of 125 finalists
Occupation at casting Heart Valve Specialist Hometown Meridian, Idaho
Played with 17 castaways across 1 season See every connection ↓ Gabler has shared a beach with seventeen other castaways.
Biography
Mike Gabler won Survivor: 43 and then made history off the island: the 52-year-old heart valve specialist and former Green Beret medic donated his entire $1 million prize to charity supporting military veterans, becoming one of the game's most inspiring champions.
On the beach, Gabler was often underestimated as an eccentric older player, only to reveal himself as a sharp strategist who navigated the endgame and won a jury's respect. As the second-oldest Sole Survivor at the time, his victory upended assumptions about who could win the new era.
Generous, unpredictable and deeply principled, Mike Gabler is remembered as the winner who gave it all away, his Survivor 43 title a rare story where the biggest headline came after the million was won.
Get to know Mike Gabler
Mike Gabler's own answers from the pre-game cast profile CBS published before the season aired.
- Hobbies
- Camping, hunting, fishing, skiing
- Pet peeves
- Unfairness and men in skinny jeans!
- Castaway they say they are most like
- If I can only pick one, then I'd say Sandra. She was always in the right place at the right time. She had phenomenal strategies and game play.
Alliances fans have named
Survivor never names an alliance on screen. These names, and who counts as a member, are how the fan community records the game rather than an official record of it.
Birthplace, pre-game profile and alliance facts adapted from Survivor Fandom and Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-21. Licensed CC BY-SA.
Fan poll Players
Survivor Hall of Fame: is Mike Gabler in or out?
Tap to vote and see what fans think 1,653 community votes
Community votes are fan estimates for fun, not a scientific survey.
Seasons
| Season | Result | Days | Tribes | Votes against | Confessionals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Survivor 43 2022 | 26 of 26 days
| Baka Gaia | 0 | 45 |
Castaway network
Mike Gabler’s connections
The strongest overlaps are surfaced first; every castmate is organized by season below.
- 17
- castaway connections
- 5
- tribemates
Every castaway, by season
Open a season for the complete cast list and the context behind each connection.
Survivor 43 17 castaways View cast
- Cassidy Clark Shared the cast1 season
- Cody Assenmacher Shared the cast1 season
- Dwight Moore Shared the cast1 season
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Elie Scott Shared a tribe1 season -
Geo Bustamante Shared the cast1 season -
James Jones Shared the cast1 season -
Jeanine Zheng Shared a tribe1 season -
Jesse Lopez Shared the cast1 season -
Justine Brennan Shared the cast1 season -
Karla Cruz Godoy Shared the cast1 season -
Lindsay Carmine Shared the cast1 season -
Morriah Young Shared a tribe1 season -
Nneka Ejere Shared the cast1 season -
Noelle Lambert Shared the cast1 season -
Owen Knight Shared a tribe1 season -
Ryan Medrano Shared the cast1 season -
Sami Layadi Shared a tribe1 season