Terry Deitz
The Navy pilot who flew solo through Panama's merge on immunity wins, and ran out of runway one day early.
Known for
Terry took command of the switched La Mina, found the Hidden Immunity Idol during a stint on Exile Island, and walked into the merge down 6-4 to Casaya. Nobody on the other side would flip, so he simply refused to lose: five straight individual immunities kept the target he wore from ever landing while his allies fell around him. He sat on the idol even when Danielle begged for it, taught her to make fire, and then watched her win the final immunity and vote him out. At the reunion, five of seven jurors said he would have gotten their votes.
Cambodia's Second Chance vote brought him back for a gentler, more social game on Ta Keo, where he comforted an isolated Abi-Maria Gomes. After the tribe switch left him and Kelley Wentworth in the minority, Kelley kept throwing him under the bus behind his back, before a family emergency cut his run short.
Background: Survivor Wiki
Season by season
Photos and logos: CBS
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.
Sources (4)
- “Survivor: Panama,” Wikipedia, accessed September 28, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor:_Panama.
- “Survivor: Cambodia,” Wikipedia, accessed September 28, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor:_Cambodia.
- “List of Survivor (American TV series) episodes,” Wikipedia, accessed September 25, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Survivor_(American_TV_series)_episodes.
- “Terry Deitz,” Survivor Wiki, accessed September 28, 2026, https://survivor.fandom.com/wiki/Terry_Deitz.