Portrait of Tom Westman

Tom Westman

I have the Hidden Immunity Idol, but everyone knows I have it so I'm still a target. Survivor 20, E4
Winner

Played on

53 days played

Game record

Vote alignment67%of 12 ballots

43rd percentile of 423 castaways

Immunity record5career immunity wins

99th percentile of 751 castaways

Jury vote share86%of 7 jury votes

90th percentile of 125 finalists

Occupation at casting Firefighter, Motivational Speaker Hometown New York City, New York

Played with 37 castaways across 2 seasons See every connection ↓

Westman has shared a beach with thirty-seven castaways, inside the most-connected tenth of everyone who has played.

Biography

Tom Westman, a New York City firefighter, won Survivor: Palau (Season 10) with one of the most dominant performances the game has ever seen. Leading the Koror tribe to a historic clean sweep, no member of his tribe was ever voted out during the pre-merge, Tom then racked up a string of individual immunity wins to protect himself and cruise to the title.

His combination of physical dominance, natural leadership and heroic likability made him an instant fan favorite. He returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (Season 20), fittingly cast as one of the Heroes.

Tom Westman is routinely ranked among the greatest Survivor winners of all time, the firefighter whose Palau run set a standard for old-school, front-of-the-pack champions.

Get to know Tom Westman

Born in Sayville, New York The hometown on their cast bio, New York City, New York, is where they were living when they were picked for the show.

Tom Westman's own answers from the pre-game cast profile CBS published before the season aired.

Claim to fame
"Being a proud member of the FDNY as a Lieutenant of Ladder Co.108 in Brooklyn."
Inspiration
"My parents."

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 Tom Westman in or out?

Tap to vote and see what fans think

Seasons

Season Result Days Tribes Votes against Confessionals
Palau Season 10, 2005 Koror 0 60
Heroes vs. Villains Season 20, 2010 5th voted out Heroes 5 17

Castaway network

Tom Westman’s connections

The strongest overlaps are surfaced first; every castmate is organized by season below.

37
castaway connections
17
tribemates
1
repeat castmate
5
winners

Connections worth exploring

Repeat pairings, other-show overlaps, tribe overlap, winners and Survivor veterans rise to the top.

Survivor 20

J.T. Thomas

3 Survivor seasons

Shared a tribe Winner

Every castaway, by season

Open a season for the complete cast list and the context behind each connection.

Palau Season 10, 2005 19 castaways 2 returning players View cast

Explore the full Palau cast →

Heroes vs. Villains Season 20, 2010 19 castaways 5 winners 19 returning players View cast

Explore the full Heroes vs. Villains cast →

Explore Tom Westman in the graph → Find a path from Tom Westman Show me another castaway