Dean Kowalski
The Lairo castoff who faked, finessed and fire-made his way from the bottom to the final vote.
Known for
Dean started Island of the Idols on a losing Lairo tribe and got a rude wake-up call when his ally Chelsea Walker was blindsided to break up what the tribe saw as a showmance. The tribe switch saved him. He bonded with Kellee Kim, and when she learned he was the target she handed him her idol. He played it, erased five votes and helped send Jack Nichting out instead.
Then Dean turned on Kellee at the merge and spent the middle stretch watching his old Lairo mates fall, even inventing a fake Legacy Advantage to deflect attention. The last five days were his highlight reel: an Idol Nullifier that blindsided Janet Carbin, two individual immunity wins, and a fire-making win over Lauren Beck, with Tommy Sheehan coaching him. At Final Tribal he sold his moves and knocked Tommy's lack of wins, but claiming he had made no promises backfired with jurors who remembered otherwise. Aaron Meredith and Elizabeth Beisel voted for him as Tommy won 8-2-0.
Background: Survivor Wiki
The season they played
- 2Survivor 39: Island of the Idolsage 29, New York, New York2nd of 20 · 39 days
Source
Seasons played, finishing positions, day counts, jury status, ages and hometowns come from the contestant table in each season's Wikipedia article, cross-checked against the series overview before publication.