Survivor: Fiji finally found its winner in the form of Ear Cole, the first African-American male to win Survivor and the first to win the crown with a unanimous vote. In an interview with BuddyTV, Cole talked about his Survivor journey.



Initially, he was cast for another reality program called Amazing Race. But after discovering his partner, he decided to decline his participation.

Fortunately, there was a spot available for Survivor, which he obviously took.

Upon joining Survivor: Fiji, Cole did not have a game plan in mind. And since he wasn't really a fan of the show, he just took his time in observing and examining the people and how the game flowed. Nevertheless, he was able to perceived each person very well, labeling who was dominant, lazy, smart, and so on.

As far as alliances are concerned, Cole became very close to Yau-Man. And apart from having many things in common with him, both of them respected each other, which played a very important role in their friendship.

But despite the bond forged between him and Yao-man, Cole still had to strategize his moves in order to win Survivor. And since Yao-man was very visible, he was eventually voted off the game that led to Cole being up against Cassandra and Dre, which became highly advantageous for Cole. In the end, Cole claimed that it was every man for himself and that he had to play smart in order to end up as the sole Survivor.

Cole, a 35-year old native of Kansas City, had worked as an advertising executive prior to his inclusion on Survivor. Previously, he studied business at the University of Washington and was awarded with a National Scholastic Achievement Award. As a musician, he also became exposed to different instruments and various genres of music.