by Thinus Ferreira
The digital marketing manager from Somerset West, Nicole Wilmans (26) and the youngest woman to compete this season clinched the title of Sole Survivor and won the R1 million in the 8th season of Survivor South Africa, when she got the most votes from the jury during the finale that was broadcast on M-Net (DStv 101) on Thursday night.
"I don't even know where to begin. I'm just so grateful for everyone who did vote for me and just to have shared this experience with all of these amazing people and to be the Sole Survivor with such a phenomenal cast, I should feel - well done," said Nicole as she tapped herself on her shoulder. "It's mindblowing."
During the 2-hour finale of Survivor SA: Immunity Island - part Wild Coast-filmed, part studio-bound reunion show, that saw all of the castaways returning to a reconstructed tribal council set in Silverline Studios in Cape Town - DStv subscribers first saw Francois "Chappies" Chapman (32) from Centurion getting his torch snuffed as one of the final three castaways.
While Chappies was widely favoured and predicted to be the winner after stacking multiple, consecutive immunity challenge wins during the course of the 39-day season, he shockingly failed to win the last immunity challenge in an endurance challenge that would have guaranteed him a place as one of the final two contestants.
"What a beautiful ending to this amazing season. It’s another blindside right at the end," Chappies said.
That left Nicole Wilmans and Anela Majozi (25), a math educator and rugby coach from Johannesburg, as the final two castaways in Survivor SA: Immunity Island who had to plead their case before, and canvass for votes, from the jury.
In the end, Nicole Wilmans emerged victorious who said that "I think I was born to be on Survivor" before the show began, and who said she packed her bikini first - adamant to get the sun-tanned "Survivor-glow" during her time on the reality competition series.
