Survivor 21 Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua Sep 15 – Dec 19, 2010 Filmed Jun 14 – Jul 22, 2010

Tribes EspadaLa FlorLibertad

Format Medallion of Power debut Old vs. Young Double Tribal Council Tribe Switch Hidden Immunity Idol

20 Castaways all first-time players
39 Days
9 Jury
Winner Jud Birza won 5-4-0

The twenty-first season of the series features twenty contestants divided into tribes by age and introduces the Medallion of Power, a specialized advantage that can be traded between tribes for help during challenges.

Day one split the cast into two tribes: La Flor and Espada. Everyone here was new to the game, and one of them would go on to play again.

Starting tribes

Espada

Holly Hoffman, Dan Lembo, Jane Bright, Marty Piombo, Jill Behm, Yve Rojas, Tyrone Davis, James Tarantino, Jimmy Johnson, Wendy-Jo DeSmidt-Kohlhoff

La Flor

Jud Birza, Chase Rice, Matthew Lenahan, Ben Henry, Kelly Shinn, NaOnka Mixon, Brenda Lowe, Alina Wilson, Kelly Bruno, Shannon Elkins

Full cast & placements

Days, tribes and votes are on each castaway's page.

Place Castaway Result Days Tribes Votes against
1 Jud Birza
5 of 9 jury votes
39 La FlorLibertad 2
2 Chase Rice
4 of 9 jury votes
39 La FlorEspadaLibertad 1
3 Matthew Lenahan
0 of 9 jury votes
39 La FlorLibertad 1
4 Holly Hoffman
15th voted out
38 EspadaLibertad 4
5 Dan Lembo
14th voted out
37 EspadaLibertad 9
6 Jane Bright
13th voted out
36 EspadaLa FlorLibertad 11
7 Ben Henry
12th voted out
32 La FlorEspadaLibertad 5
8 Kelly Shinn
Quit
28 La FlorLibertad 0
9 NaOnka Mixon
Quit
28 La FlorEspadaLibertad 3
10 Brenda Lowe Also played S26
11th voted out
27 La FlorLibertad 13
11 Marty Piombo
10th voted out
24 EspadaLa FlorLibertad 15
12 Alina Wilson
9th voted out
22 La FlorEspadaLibertad 10
13 Jill Behm
8th voted out
18 EspadaLa Flor 3
14 Yve Rojas
7th voted out
15 Espada 7
15 Kelly Bruno
6th voted out
15 La Flor 8
16 Tyrone Davis
5th voted out
14 Espada 6
17 James Tarantino
4th voted out
11 Espada 5
18 Jimmy Johnson
3rd voted out
8 Espada 8
19 Shannon Elkins
2nd voted out
6 La Flor 7
20 Wendy-Jo DeSmidt-Kohlhoff
1st voted out
3 Espada 9

Episode guide

All 14 episodes of Survivor 21: when each aired, who won reward and immunity, who left, and how many people watched.

US viewers per episode

US viewers, episode by episode: 11.3M at the low point to 13.6M at the high. The dashed line is the season average of 12.2M. Episode 14 drew the biggest audience.
# Episode Aired Reward Immunity Voted out Viewers
1 Young at Heart Sep 15 Reward La Flor 12.2M viewers Sep 15 La Flor La Flor Wendy-Jo DeSmidt-Kohlhoff 12.2M
2 Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All Sep 22 Reward Espada 12.6M viewers Sep 22 Espada Espada Shannon Elkins 12.6M
3 Glitter in Their Eyes Sep 29 Reward La Flor 12.3M viewers Sep 29 La Flor La Flor Jimmy Johnson 12.3M
4 Pulling the Trigger Oct 6 Reward La Flor 12.1M viewers Oct 6 La Flor La Flor James Tarantino 12.1M
5 Turf Wars Oct 13 Reward Espada 12.3M viewers Oct 13 Espada La Flor Tyrone Davis 12.3M
6 Worst Case Scenario Oct 20 12.3M viewers Oct 20 – – Kelly Bruno Yve Rojas 12.3M
7 What Goes Around, Comes Around Oct 27 Reward Espada 11.8M viewers Oct 27 Espada Espada Jill Behm 11.8M
8 Company Will Be Arriving Soon Nov 3 12.3M viewers Nov 3 – – Alina Wilson 12.3M
9 Running the Camp Nov 10 Reward Ben Henry, Dan Lembo, Jud Birza, Marty Piombo, Matthew Lenahan 11.3M viewers Nov 10 Ben Henry, Dan Lembo, Jud Birza, Marty Piombo, Matthew Lenahan Brenda Lowe Marty Piombo 11.3M
10 Stuck in the Middle Nov 17 Reward Chase Rice, Jud Birza, Jane Bright, Kelly Shinn, NaOnka Mixon 12.0M viewers Nov 17 Chase Rice, Jud Birza, Jane Bright, Kelly Shinn, NaOnka Mixon Jane Bright Brenda Lowe 12.0M
11 You Started, You're Finishing Dec 1 Reward Ben Henry, Chase Rice, Holly Hoffman, NaOnka Mixon 12.3M viewers Dec 1 Ben Henry, Chase Rice, Holly Hoffman, NaOnka Mixon – NaOnka Mixon Quit 12.3M
12 Not Sure Where I Stand Dec 8 Reward Chase Rice 12.1M viewers Dec 8 Chase Rice Matthew Lenahan Ben Henry 12.1M
13 This Is Going to Hurt Dec 15 Reward Chase Rice 12.3M viewers Dec 15 Chase Rice Jud Birza Jane Bright 12.3M
14 What About Me? Dec 19 13.6M viewers Dec 19 – Jud Birza Dan Lembo Holly Hoffman 13.6M

Survivor 21 also aired 1 recap or special broadcast, which sit outside this numbering.

Episode, twist and location facts adapted from Survivor Fandom and Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-21. Licensed CC BY-SA.

Who got the edit

Confessional counts: the to-camera interviews the edit gave each castaway across Survivor 21. A rough proxy for who the season was built around.

  1. 1 NaOnka Mixon 50
  2. 2 Marty Piombo 42
  3. 3 Jud Birza 40
  4. 4 Chase Rice 36
  5. 5 Jane Bright 33
  6. 6 Holly Hoffman 32
  7. 7 Matthew Lenahan 31
  8. 8 Brenda Lowe 27
  9. 9 Ben Henry 20
  10. 10 Alina Wilson 18

416 confessionals across the season. Top 10 of 20 castaways shown.

Voting history

Every tribal-council vote of the season. Rows are castaways by finish, columns are councils in order. Each cell is who that castaway voted for.

Key Vote matched the boot Struck through = vote nullified by an idol No vote cast (immune, absent, or already out)

Voter Ep 1 Wendy-Jo 9-1 Ep 2 Shannon 7-3 Ep 3 Jimmy 8-1 Ep 4 James 5-3 Ep 5 Tyrone 6-2 Ep 6 Kelly 8-4-2 Ep 6 Yve 6-1 Ep 7 Jill 3-2-2 Ep 8 Alina 10-2 Ep 9 Marty 7-4 Ep 10 Brenda 8-1-1 Ep 13 Ben 4-2-1 Ep 14 Jane 5 Ep 15 Dan 4-1 Ep 15 Holly 3-1
Jud Birza Brenda Kelly Marty Alina Jane Brenda Holly Jane Dan Holly
Chase Rice Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Marty Brenda Ben Jane Dan Holly
Matthew Lenahan Shannon Marty Jill Alina Marty Brenda Ben Jane Dan Holly
Holly Hoffman Wendy-Jo Jimmy Dan Tyrone Yve Alina Marty Brenda Ben Jane Dan Matthew
Dan Lembo Wendy-Jo Jimmy James Tyrone Yve Alina Jane Brenda Jud Jane Chase
Jane Bright Wendy-Jo Jimmy Dan Marty Marty Marty Marty Brenda Ben Matthew
Ben Henry Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Jane Brenda Jud
Kelly Shinn Shannon Kelly Jill Alina Marty Ben
NaOnka Mixon Shannon Tyrone Yve Alina Marty Brenda
Brenda Lowe Shannon Kelly Jill Alina Marty NaOnka
Marty Piombo Wendy-Jo Jimmy James Brenda Jane Alina Jane
Alina Wilson Brenda Tyrone Yve Marty
Jill Behm Wendy-Jo Jimmy James Brenda Jane
Yve Rojas Wendy-Jo Jimmy James NaOnka Dan
Kelly Bruno Shannon Marty
Tyrone Davis Wendy-Jo Jimmy James NaOnka
James Tarantino Wendy-Jo Jimmy Dan
Jimmy Johnson Wendy-Jo Dan
Shannon Elkins Brenda
Wendy-Jo DeSmidt-Kohlhoff Yve

See how every season's jury and boot votes compare on the final votes hub.

Fan poll Seasons

Where does Survivor 21 (Nicaragua) rank among all Survivor seasons?

Tap to vote and see what fans think

Every castaway on this beach, mapped against 50 seasons.

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