Tom Westman
The firefighter who ran Koror like a firehouse and won Palau without ever really being in danger.
Sole Survivor
- Won Survivor 10: Palau (2005) after 39 days.
Known for
Tom took charge of Koror almost the moment he was picked for it, and the tribe answered with a winning streak that ground Ulong down to a single castaway. He provided, he led, he pushed Willard out as dead weight, and once Ulong's last survivor was folded into Koror and the game went individual, he stacked up five individual immunity wins. The ending was pure drama: after a fire-making tiebreaker sent Jenn home, Ian Rosenberger stepped off the final immunity challenge on the condition that Tom take Katie Gallagher to the end. A jury that grilled both finalists still gave Tom the title 6-1, with Coby's lone vote going to Katie.
Heroes vs. Villains was a different story. He landed outside the Heroes' majority alongside Colby Donaldson and Stephenie LaGrossa, then snagged a Hidden Immunity Idol and turned J.T. to blindside Cirie Fields. A few days later J.T. and Candice stuck with their alliance, and Tom went home 5-2 before the merge.
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: Palau,” Wikipedia, accessed September 28, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor:_Palau.
- “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,” Wikipedia, accessed September 28, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor:_Heroes_vs._Villains.
- “List of Survivor (American TV series) episodes,” Wikipedia, accessed September 25, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Survivor_(American_TV_series)_episodes.
- “Tom Westman,” Survivor Wiki, accessed September 28, 2026, https://survivor.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Westman.