It all comes down to this, as the “Survivor” season 49 finale has arrived. We have made it down to the final five castaways on “Survivor” 2025. They all want to make that final Tribal Council and plead their case to the jury tonight on the Survivor Finale. Host Jeff Probst will then tally the votes, and the winner of “Survivor” season 49 will be crowned. Find out who won “Survivor” tonight with us during our “Survivor” live recap below.
Who Wins ‘Survivor’ Tonight?
We all want to know the answer to that question tonight on “Survivor” season 49. As we see in the sneak peek from CBS, Sage thinks Rizo is a “turd.” He lied about having to play his Hidden Immunity Idol last week. Now he has to play it at the final five, so he guaranteed himself a spot in the final four.
Can he turn that into a spot in the final Tribal Council? We made our predictions earlier today, but watch with us tonight as these castaways fight to be named the winner of “Survivor” 2025. Follow along with our Live Recap below!
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD: THIS LIVE RECAP WILL BE UPDATED THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE, SO DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ SPOILERS.
December 17 Live Recap – Finale
KEEP REFRESHING THE PAGE FOR THE LATEST “SURVIVOR” LIVE RECAP UPDATES.
Finale Night Is Here
We start with Jeff talking, letting us know it’s all up in the air. Time to get this started.
We then go back to last week’s ending. The final 5 are in place. Sage says Rizo is a turd for lying about the idol needing to be played that night. Now he has a spot in the final 4, for sure. Then Sophi talks about how she screwed up the Knowledge is Power, and the curse continues.
Immunity Advantage
A boat arrives the next day, and it’s time for a challenge. The castaways need to collect five bags around the island, which contain puzzle pieces. They have to collect one at a time. Once all the pieces are collected, they need to put the puzzle together. The puzzle will give them a clue to where the advantage is on the island. They have to go find the advantage after done.
It’s a lot of running, but Savannah gets the puzzle done first. She heads out, and Rizo then copies her puzzle to finish it faster. We see Rizo and Sophi join Savannah, all digging, trying to find the advantage. Sage then joins them on the search, as Kristina is still trying to finish her puzzle.
While they were all digging and looking, Sophi thought it had to be in the air. She sees it in a tree, so she gets a bamboo stick and knocks it out. She now has an advantage in the next Immunity Challenge.
Immunity Challenge on ‘Survivor’ 2025
The final five of “Survivor” 49 have arrived. Jeff lets them know that for this challenge, they will work their way through a series of obstacles. They will grab a bag of puzzle pieces along the way. Get to the end, put the puzzle together first, and win immunity. In addition, the winner will be taken to the sanctuary for steak, mashed potatoes, red wine, and carrot cake for dessert.
For her advantage, towards the end, they have to maneuver the bag up a series of rods. Sophi’s bag will already be halfway up the pole for her advantage.
It’s a battle between Rizo and Savannah as they both get to the puzzle at the same time. Sophi has been at the back of the pack, but she gets to her advantage and makes up some time with that. Kristina is far behind, as the other four are all working on the puzzle.
Savannah pulls ahead and never looks back. She gets her puzzle done first, and she ties a record with her fourth individual Immunity Challenge for a woman. She wins immunity and the reward, which she picks Sage to join her.
May the Best Woman Win
Since Savannah has immunity and Rizo has his idol, then it’s down to Sophi, Kristina, and Sage. Kristina knows they won’t vote for Sophi, so it’s Kristina is making her case to Sophi and Rizo to keep her over Sage.
Rizo is thinking endgame, so they need to think of the Final 3. He wants Kristina to stay and vote Sage out of the game. He thinks they can beat Kristina in the end.
At the sanctuary, Savannah and Sage talk. They know Kristina is good at making fire, and Savannah doesn’t want her in the Final 3. Back at camp, Tres Leches disagrees. Rizo and Sophi want Sage out, but Savannah wants Kristina out. She knows they can’t beat her in fire, which makes sense.
Sophi is on the fence and talks with Sage. She thinks Sage is a strategic player and thinks she can beat Kristina in a Final 3. Sophi said she is going to decide at Tribal. And Rizo gets emotional again.
First Tribal Council
The Final 5 arrive at Tribal Council. Savannah talks about how she can’t celebrate the fourth immunity win, as she came to be the Sole Survivor, and she is still focused on that. It then turns to a battle between Kristina and Sage, as they both know they are on the line. We get emotional, as Sage gets emotional talking about being expendable at home, and this game brings that out. They are both very well spoken, but it all comes down to what Tres Leches (and Sophi) decided on. It’s time for the vote!
RESULTS: Jeff tallies the votes. Rizo finally plays his idol, so he is safe tonight. Jeff reads the votes: Sage, Kristina, Kristina, and Kristina. They decided to go with her, so Kristina has been voted out and joins the jury!
CBS9:00 p.m. – CBS is taking a break from the Survivor Finale for the president’s speech. We will resume as soon as the speech is complete. I will keep you updated.
9:17 p.m. – The President is still speaking, so the delay continues.
9:22 p.m. – The speech is done, so the Survivor Finale will resume shortly.
Final Immunity Challenge
The Final 4 is here, and Jeff says who could’ve imagined this being the final four castaways this season? This will be the final Immunity Challenge of the season. For this challenge, they will be working through a series of obstacles to gather two balls. They will then put a table together and work the balls through a maze. Get both balls in place, and they win immunity on “Survivor” season 49 and a guaranteed spot in the Final 3.
Rizo gathers the two balls first and is now working on putting the table track together. They need to assemble the track, which will then guide the balls to the targets. Savannah and Sage are working on the table now, as Sophi is in dead last. Rizo is struggling, yet again, with a puzzle.
Sophi finally gets the two balls, but then gets to the table and quickly builds the track. She is in second place, but then quickly lands her first ball. Sage has her table done, so she is working on the balls. Rizo still doesn’t even have his table done. Sophi does it with ease, as she then lands the second ball, and she has won her first individual Immunity Challenge, and she has a spot in the Final 3, and gets to decide who will be sitting next to her.
The Big Decision
Sophi said she has no idea what she is going to do, and she needs the day to think about. She said no matter what they say, it won’t convince her, and she needs to decide on her own. Sophi told them all to work on building a fire, as she is unsure.
This upsets Savannah, as she thinks she should be able to plead her case and talk with her about how it should be Tres Leches in the Final 3. It seems more that Savannah has never built a fire, and is worried. She has to know she is a threat, so why bring her to the Final 3? Rizo gets pooped on by a bird and feels that’s a sign he is going to win.
Rizo talks with Sophi, tells her he wants to go against Savannah in fire, if she doesn’t bring him along without having to do fire. The pressure is on, as Sophi is still unsure.
Tribal Council on ‘Survivor’ 49
The Final 4 arrive at Tribal Council. They say Sophi didn’t let them know of anything, and she took time to figure it out. Rizo says he wants to make fire, which then Savannah said she would gladly sit it out, if Sophi wants to.
Sophi said she needs to do what’s best for her game, so she is going to bring Sage to the Final 3. That means Savannah and Rizo will be competing in fire, which Sophi said is best for her game.
Fire-Making Challenge: They get started, and both seem so calm. They both get flames, but can’t get them to stick. Savannah gets a fire going and keeps it going. She is building it up strong, as Rizo finally gets a flame. He seems to suffocate it with sticks, which puts it out. Savannah’s fire is very strong, as it breaks the rope, and she is in the Final 3. That means Rizo has been eliminated. He gives an emotional speech before leaving. Jeff calls him RIZGOD, as he snuffs his torch!
CBSAll-Female Final 3
The ladies wake up the next, and sing “Three girls on a beach,” in honor of being in an all-female finale. The women then get their final breakfast, as they talk about the jury and their relationship with them.
They all try to tell us why they deserve to win. They each have a plan in place and how they can get the jury to pick them as the winner of “Survivor” season 49. MC said she wants to see them go at each other’s throats!
Final Tribal Council on ‘Survivor’ Season 49
The Final 3 have arrived, and now everything lies in the hands of the jury.
Rizo gives them all words of affirmation. Sophi talks about having a social game. Savannah said she won the immunity challenges for herself, but also thought it was a shield for the Tres Leches alliance to keep them safe. Sage shares that she was in the Army and in intelligence, so she was strategic, and Jawan was social in their duo.
Jawan asks about their whys. Then Kristina calls out Savannah, saying she doesn’t think she got to know any of the other castaways besides the ones she was close with. She asks her to name a family member or partner of each jury member. Savannah cannot do it, so it gets awkward!
We have some tension between Savannah and Sophi about their selections for the Final 3, as Savannah said she is loyal to the soil and wanted to sit next to Rizo and Sophi in the end. The jury has finished their questions and time for the final statements.
Sophi talks about being at the bottom and making it all the way to the finale, and she earned her spot here. Savannah talks about how she was a threat and needed those immunity wins to make it here. Sage talks about how she talked a lot about strategy, but then also had a social game.
The Winner of Season 49 Announced
Time to vote for the jury. We see some of their votes, as MC voted for Sophi, Steven voted for Savannah, and Jawan voted for Sage. All the votes have been cast, and Jeff tallies them!
RESULTS: Time for the votes: Sophi, Savannah, Sage, Sophi, Savannah, Savannah, and Savannah. That is enough, so Savannah is the winner of “Survivor” season 49!
CBS‘Survivor’ 49 After Show
Time to talk to the jury, as we see Jawan voted for Sage, Kristina and MC voted for Sophi, and the rest voted for Savannah. Sage said she predicted Savannah was going to win, so she feels like she should get some credit for that, too.
Sophi then talks about the merge tribe name and lying to them about what it meant. It actually translates to grandma or highest-ranking woman in the village, so it seemed fitting that the Final 3 were all women. Jeff is teasing that there will be a first look at Season 50 tonight.
Idols & Advantages – Jeff brings up the idols and advantages this season. All of them were used, but never needed. Rizo talks about his idol and how he was able to keep it all season and never needed to use it.
It was very hot this season, which actually even got to Jeff. They then talk about Jake Latimer and his evacuation this season. As they are talking about it, Sage gets emotional. Jeff asks why, and she says she feels emotional and bad about how she may have hurt people in the game (I think that the champagne is kicking in). Back to Jake, but Jeff lets them know he made it home for the birth of his son.
‘Survivor’ 50 Preview
“Survivor” 50 is coming next, which is being turned over to the fans. It allowed the fans to vote on things, to design a game they want to see. Jeff then shares a first look at the new season, which is definitely going to be an intense one. Of course, we see Savannah and Rizo in the mix, which the rumors said was going to happen. MrBeast also makes an appearance. It’s going to be a good one and will premiere on Wednesday, February 25, 2026.
Jeff says in the two weeks leading up to that premiere, CBS will air episodes of Survivor from the previous 49 seasons. These will feature iconic episodes with members of the season 50 cast, reminding fans of why these castaways are being brought back.
That’s it. The finale is done. What do you think of tonight’s results?
vvvv
Why are you interrupting survivor to listen to a lying convicted felon? You just lost a fan.
it’s got nothing to do with Survivor. it’s got to do with the network. everyone has the speech on apparently. I decided to read rather than listen to him blather on for God only knows how long
I totally agree with you! People seem to be blind.MartM Why doesn’t open their eyes. He is a mean s
No…should have been Sage!