You may also want to visit our Survivor: Pulau Tiga (First Season), Survivor: The Australian Outback (Second Season), and Survivor: Guatemala (Eleventh Season) pages!

Series Description

Survivor: Cook Islands was a 60 minute reality series on CBS where twenty contestants were stranded on the tiny islands of Moturakau and Rapota in Aitutaki Lagoon, located in the Cook Islands. For 39 days they had to survive mother nature with a very limited food supply. They also competed against each other for rewards and temporary immunity from dismissal from the competition. The last contestant on the island would become the "Ultimate Survivor" and win One Million Dollars! This was the thirteenth season of the Survivor TV show.

Survivor: Cook Islands Cast

African-American Tribe With Yellow Buffs:

Rebecca Borman - 34-year-old, make-up artist from Laurelton, NY
Stephannie Favor - 35-year-old, Nursing student from Columbia, South Carolina
Nathan Gonzalez - 26-year-old, Retail salesman from Los Angeles, California
Sundra Oakley - 31-year-old, Actress from Los Angeles, California
Sekou Bunch - 45-year-old, jazz musician and recording artist from Los Angeles, California - 1st Voted Off

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Asian-American Tribe With Green Buffs

Anh-Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui - 42-year-old, Nail salon manager from Christianburg, Virginia
Becky Lee - 28-year-old, Attorney from Washington, District of Columbia
Yul Kwon - 31-year-old, Management consultant from San Mateo, California
Jenny Guzon-Bae - 36-year-old, Real estate agent from Lake Forest, Illinois
Brad Virata - 29-year-old, Fashion Director from Los Angeles, California

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Hispanic-American Tribe With Red Buffs

Billy Garcia - 36-year-old, Heavy metal guitarist from New York, New York
J.P. Calderon - 30-year-old, Professional volleyball player from Marina Del Rey, California
Cristina Coria - 35-year-old, Police officer from Los Angeles, California
Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth - 25-year-old, Waiter from Venice, California
Cecilia Mansilla - 29-year-old, Technology risk consultant from Oakland, California

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White-American Tribe With Blue Buffs

Adam Gentry - 28-year-old, Copier salesman from San Diego, California
Jonathan Penner - 44-year-old, Writer-producer from Los Angeles, California
Parvati Shallow - 23-year-old, Boxer-waitress from Los Angeles, California
Jessica Smith - 27-year-old, Performer-roller girl from Chico, California
Candice Woodcock - 23-year-old, Pre-med student from Fayetteville, North Carolina

Cook Islands Trivia

One episode of Survivor: Cook Islands was shot approximately every three days on the islands.

At the beginning of the season, the African-American tribe name was "Hiki (Hee-Key)", the Asian-American tribe was "Puka (Poo-Kah)", the Hispanic-American Tribe was "Aitu (Eye-Too)", and the White-American tribe was "Raro (Rare-Oh)".

The Cook Islands are a self-governing entity that has chosen to not become a seperate state from its mother country of New Zealand. Their constitution does, however, guarantee them the right to become a sovereign nation whenever they wish.

Survivor Cook Islands was generating a lot of controversy well before the first episode was broadcast. This season, four teams will compete against each other. Those teams will be composed of different races! Yes, a team of African-American contestants will challenge teams of Asian, Hispanic, and Caucasian contestants! Survivor Host Jeff Probst, in an interview on CBS' "The Early Show" said, "I know, from where I sit, I found it to be one of the freshest ideas we've had going back to the beginning of this show in season one." But the talk at internet forums and blogs was less kind! At first, many bloggers were even saying that it must be a rumor because no network would allow such an idea to make it to the air in these days of "political correctness".

The first explorer from the West to visit the Cook Islands was Captain Bligh, although he never set foot on land. That visit occured mere days before the infamous mutiny by his crew!

Being centrally located in the Pacific Ocean, the Cook Islands made the perfect stop-off for "flying boats" used to transport passengers between the Americas and Asia during the 1940s and 1950s.

Both islands, Moturakau and Rapota, are densely populated with palm trees, providing plenty of coconuts to eat and palm fronds for use in building shelter. There are a small number of banana, lime, and mango trees, but they don't provide much fruit. Aitutaki Lagoon is loaded with just about every saltwater fish you can think of ... if the Survivors have the skills to catch them, that is! And the pesky animal life in the Cook Islands should make life a bit uncomfortable for the Survivor contestants! In addition to crabs and lizards, there are also plenty of spiders, flies, and scorpions!

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

1. I Can Forgive Her But I Don't Have to Because She Screwed With My Chickens (09/14/2006)
2. Dire Straights and Dead Weight (09/21/2006)
3. Flirting and Frustration (09/28/2006)
4. Ruling the Roost (10/05/2006)
5. Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus (10/12/2006)
6. Plan Voodoo (10/19/2006)
7. A Closer Look (10/26/2006)
8. Why Aren't You Swimming?! (11/02/2006)
9. Mutiny (11/09/2006)
10. People That You Like Want to See You Suffer (11/16/2006)
11. Why Would You Trust Me? (11/23/2006)
12. You're a Rat (11/30/2006)
13. Arranging a Hit (12/07/2006)
14. I Have the Advantage...For Once (12/14/2006)
15. This Tribe Will Self-Destruct in 5, 4, 3... (12/17/2006)
16. Survivor: Cook Islands - The Reunion (12/17/2006)