Xander Hastings

After obtaining an Extra Vote and a Hidden Immunity Idol within the first few days of the game, Xander became the biggest target on Yase. Relegated to the minority following the merge, Xander's game shifted to one of self-preservation, flying under the radar to survive several votes unscathed even through Yase's decimation to earn a seat at the Final Tribal Council. However, he was perceived as socially and strategically lacking in comparison to Erika Casupanan, and thus received no votes to win.

Profile[]

Retrieved from cbs.com

Age: 21
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Current Residence: Chicago, Ill.
Occupation: App developer
Hobbies: Free climbing, road tripping, antique shopping, graphic design
Three Words to Describe You: Independent, resilient, adventurous
Pet Peeves: Laziness and cockiness, especially from people who like to bark orders
What is the accomplishment you are most proud of? Nike Cross Nationals is the Super Bowl of cross country, and I love that people were baffled that my high school team even qualified. The conditions on race day were grim. The field was hilly, drenched, and oozing mud, the temp was a bone-chilling 40 degrees, it was pouring rain and clearly no place for a Florida boy. Everyone was miserable, but seeing the best of the best riddled with fear and intimidation, I felt a surge of confidence. Despite predictions that we would flop, we placed in the top 10.
What is something we would never know from looking at you? I love the pursuit of knowledge and experience. I could spend hours discussing the genius of Richard Serra's commission for the NYC IRS building, or how Mandarin enables the mind to think more creatively, or the lab I just finished on rendering an image of the Crab Nebula using doppler shift and Kepler's Third Law, or an algorithm for my latest app's feed widget, or the golden warmth of the sun as it crests the horizon on a cold morning in Rocky Mountain National Park, or meandering through the crowded bazaars of western China. I want to live a thousand lives before mine is over.
Who is your hero and why? Undoubtedly my dad. That man sacrifices everything for his family and especially for me to live out my exuberant adventures and ambitions. He served in the Navy, Peace Corps, and now serves as a prominent doctor in the Jacksonville community. People adore him, most of all me. Above all, he lets me know he's proud of me and supports me in any direction I want to take my life.
Which past Survivor will you play the game most like? Any of the pretty-boy-challenge-beast-charmers, just take your pick: Jay, Joe, Devon. I think I'd play most like Jay, a fellow Florida boy, using physical powers to get me to the merge, but more importantly making strong bonds, charming all and secretly thinking hyper-strategically.
Why do you believe you can win Survivor? I will be the final Survivor because I'm the jack-of-all-trades and there's nothing in life that can stop me. If I'm not happy with my situation, I change it and shape the world the way I want to see it. I form deep bonds in every social sphere I encounter and live such a diverse life, there's no one I can't relate to and empathize with. I'm disciplined and won't rest until the million is mine, and no matter what I won't get complacent or cocky.^[3]

Survivor[]

Xander's game began on the Yase tribe, which started the season with a disastrous showing at the opening Reward Challenge. This forced the tribe to complete a "Savvy" or "Sweat" task to obtain their flint, and Xander eagerly volunteered to perform the physically demanding "Sweat" task where two members had to fill a barrel with seawater using only a pot. He used this task to align with David Voce, who was unwillingly roped into the task. Afterwards on Day 2, Xander attended the summit, during which he would earn an Extra Vote. When Yase lost the first Immunity Challenge on Day 3, Xander followed Evvie Jagoda's proposal and joined his tribe in voting out Eric Abraham.

On Day 4, Xander found and opened the Beware Advantage, causing him to lose his vote until his Hidden Immunity Idol was activated. He shared this with his allies Evvie and Voce, but Evvie decided to align with the women instead, targeting Xander for the advantage. When Yase lost yet another Immunity Challenge, Evvie disclosed Xander's idol to Deshawn Radden at the summit, but ultimately the Yase Alliance spared Xander and voted out Voce at Tiffany Seely's behest. The tides would change for Yase as they won the remaining tribal challenges. Xander was also finally able to activate his idol by Day 11. During this downtime, Liana Wallace grew increasingly frustrated with her tribe's previous decision to keep Xander over Voce; this would be the origin of their season-long rivalry. Regardless, the Yases hoped to enter the merge as a united four.

When the tribes merged on Day 12, Xander was initially part of the team that lost the Reward/Immunity Challenge. However, the Hourglass twist granted Xander (alongside Liana and Tiffany) immunity, leaving only his ally Evvie vulnerable. Before Tribal Council, the Yase Alliance discovered that Liana had defected to join Shan Smith in their All-Black Alliance. They also learned about Liana's Knowledge is Power advantage and realized that she would probably use it to steal Xander's idol, preventing him from protecting Evvie. The Yase Alliance devised a plan to counter the advantage that would come to fruition at Tribal Council. Though Xander left Tribal Council with his allies and his idol, he learned from Deshawn that Evvie had divulged information about the idol at their summit; this would cause Xander to lose trust in Evvie. Finding himself in the minority with a publicly-known idol, Xander disassociated from his alliance to focus on self-preservation; his reluctance to use his advantages for his alliance resulted in Tiffany and Evvie's eliminations at successive Tribal Councils.

At the final eight, Xander partook in Ricard Foyé's plan to blindside Shan, in the process joining his Final Four Alliance which then usurped control of the game. Xander's friendship with Ricard would push him to protect Ricard with his Extra Vote at the final seven, after which he decided that Ricard's threat status was insurmountable. When Ricard lost the Immunity Challenge at the final five, Xander learned that Ricard was expecting a child, then toyed with the idea of playing his idol for Ricard. At Tribal Council, Xander ended up playing his idol for himself, sending Ricard home.

Xander went on to win the Final Immunity Challenge. He then had to decide who to put up for the fire-making challenge. He misread the jury's reaction to Deshawn Radden's earlier "truth bomb" and decided to put him up, citing Deshawn's apparent positive perception in the eyes of the jury. Between Erika Casupanan and Heather Aldret, Xander saw Heather as the better fire-maker and also did not want Erika to potentially win the challenge and improve her case with the jury. Deshawn went on to win the fire-making challenge and joined Erika and Xander in the Final Three.

At the Final Tribal Council, the jury showed their appreciation for Xander's cordial personality, but disagreed with his judgment with respect to Erika and Deshawn's respective threat levels. The jury also took issue with his strategy of self-preservation, seeing it instead as passivity. For these reasons, Xander received no votes to win and finished Survivor 41 as the second runner-up.

Post-Survivor[]

• Xander previously dated fellow Survivor alum Andrea Boehlke.

Trivia[]

• Xander is the first contestant in Survivor whose name starts with a X.
• Xander, alongside JD Robinson and Liana Wallace, are the first Survivor castaways to be born in the 2000s. By extension, they are also the first castaways to be born after the initial airing of "The Marooning".
  • Xander is currently the youngest Survivor finalist by date of birth.
• Xander is the first castaway to find a Beware Advantage.
• Xander is the highest-ranking member of the Yase tribe.
  • Xander is the only member of the final four of Survivor 41 to not be an original member of Luvu.
• Xander is tied with Maryanne Oketch for the longest time in continuous possession of an Extra Vote, at 18 days.
• Xander is the youngest castaway to win the Final Immunity Challenge, being 20 at the time of Survivor 41.
• Xander is the fourth person to win the Final Immunity Challenge and finish as the second runner-up, following Amanda Kimmel in China, Russell Hantz in Heroes vs. Villains, and Noura Salman in Island of the Idols. They would be followed by Romeo Escobar in Survivor 42 and Ben Katzman in Survivor 46.

References[]

Survivor 41 Castaways
Abraham Yase	Brad Ua	Danny Luvu	Deshawn Luvu	Erika Luvu	Evvie Yase	Genie Ua	Heather Luvu	JD Ua
Liana Yase	Naseer Luvu	Ricard Ua	Sara Ua	Shan Ua	Sydney Luvu	Tiffany Yase	Voce Yase	Xander Yase