Survivor 21 Nicaragua
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua Sep 15 – Dec 19, 2010 Filmed Jun 14 – Jul 22, 2010
Format Medallion of Power debut Old vs. Young Double Tribal Council Tribe Switch Hidden Immunity Idol
Winner
Jud Birza won 5-4-0 Who won Survivor 21?
Jud Birza won Survivor 21, defeating Chase Rice and Matthew Lenahan by a 5-4-0 final jury vote.
- Cast
- 20 castaways
- Filmed in
- San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
- Premiere
- Sep 15, 2010
- Finale
- Dec 19, 2010
Jump to the full cast and finish order or season voting history.
More winners: Survivor 20 winner Sandra Diaz-Twine and Survivor 22 winner Rob Mariano. See every Survivor winner in order.
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
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.
| # | Episode | Aired | Reward | Immunity | Voted out | Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Young at Heart | Sep 15 | La Flor | La Flor | Wendy-Jo DeSmidt-Kohlhoff | 12.2M |
| 2 | Fatigue Makes Cowards of Us All | Sep 22 | Espada | Espada | Shannon Elkins | 12.6M |
| 3 | Glitter in Their Eyes | Sep 29 | La Flor | La Flor | Jimmy Johnson | 12.3M |
| 4 | Pulling the Trigger | Oct 6 | La Flor | La Flor | James Tarantino | 12.1M |
| 5 | Turf Wars | Oct 13 | Espada | La Flor | Tyrone Davis | 12.3M |
| 6 | Worst Case Scenario | Oct 20 | – | – | Kelly Bruno Yve Rojas | 12.3M |
| 7 | What Goes Around, Comes Around | Oct 27 | Espada | Espada | Jill Behm | 11.8M |
| 8 | Company Will Be Arriving Soon | Nov 3 | – | – | Alina Wilson | 12.3M |
| 9 | Running the Camp | 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 | Chase Rice, Jud Birza, Jane Bright, Kelly Shinn, NaOnka Mixon | Jane Bright | Brenda Lowe | 12.0M |
| 11 | You Started, You're Finishing | Dec 1 | Ben Henry, Chase Rice, Holly Hoffman, NaOnka Mixon | – | NaOnka Mixon Quit | 12.3M |
| 12 | Not Sure Where I Stand | Dec 8 | Chase Rice | Matthew Lenahan | Ben Henry | 12.1M |
| 13 | This Is Going to Hurt | Dec 15 | Chase Rice | Jud Birza | Jane Bright | 12.3M |
| 14 | What About Me? | 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 NaOnka Mixon 50
- 2 Marty Piombo 42
- 3 Jud Birza 40
- 4 Chase Rice 36
- 5 Jane Bright 33
- 6 Holly Hoffman 32
- 7 Matthew Lenahan 31
- 8 Brenda Lowe 27
- 9 Ben Henry 20
- 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 1,783 community votes
Community votes are fan estimates for fun, not a scientific survey.
Every castaway on this beach, mapped against 50 seasons.
Daily game Immaculate Grid: Survivor The daily 3x3 castaway puzzle. New grid every day.