Survivor 44
Proof that losing early is not the same as losing.

Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho is the Sole Survivor
Yamil "Yam Yam" Arocho won on a 7–1–0 jury vote, beating Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger at the final tribal council.
All 18 castaways, in boot order
- 1
Yamil "Yam Yam" ArochoSole Survivor · 26 days - 2
Heidi Lagares-GreenblattRunner-up · 26 days - 3
Carolyn Wiger2nd runner-up · 26 days - 4
Carson GarrettEliminated · 25 days · jury - 5
Lauren Harpe12th voted out · 24 days · jury - 6
Jaime Lynn Ruiz11th voted out · 23 days · jury - 7
Danny Massa10th voted out · 21 days · jury - 8
Frannie Marin9th voted out · 19 days · jury - 9
Kane Fritzler8th voted out · 17 days · jury - 10
Brandon Cottom7th voted out · 15 days · jury - 11
Matt Blankinship6th voted out · 14 days · jury - 12
Josh Wilder5th voted out · 13 days - 13
Matthew Grinstead-MayleQuit (Injury) · 11 days - 14
Sarah Wade4th voted out · 9 days - 15
Claire Rafson3rd voted out · 7 days - 16
Helen Li2nd voted out · 5 days - 17
Maddy Pomilla1st voted out · 3 days - 18
Bruce Perreault2 seasons playedMedically evacuated · 1 days
Photos: CBS
Trivia from Survivor 44
Whose three straight sit-outs in Survivor 44 led Probst to tighten the sit-out rule?
Claire Rafson — Claire sat out the first three immunity challenges and was voted out on Day 7. In Survivor 45 Probst announced: "You cannot sit out of back-to-back challenges, period."
Who was the first player whose Shot in the Dark came up Safe?
Jaime Lynn Ruiz — Jaime Lynn in Season 44 — with the twist that nobody had voted for her, so the safety saved her from nothing.
The winner, runners-up, jury vote, dates, day count, cast size and location on this page come from Wikipedia's Survivor 44 article, cross-checked against the series overview table before publication.
Sources (2)
- “Survivor 44,” Wikipedia, accessed September 25, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_44.
- “List of Survivor (American TV series) episodes,” Wikipedia, accessed September 25, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Survivor_(American_TV_series)_episodes.