Survivor Africa second-place finisher Kim Johnson has passed at the age of 79

[Brian Smith]

Sad news from Mike Bloom via Ethan.

Ethan Zohn has announced on Instagram that #Survivor Africa second-place
finisher Kim Johnson has passed at the age of 79

RIP to the oldest woman to win the final Immunity Challenge and be a
finalist, who fought against a 3 vs. 1 battle to emerge from Africa
$100K richer

Source: https://x.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1817975947792118132

[Brian Smith]

Post by Brian Smith
Sad news from Mike Bloom via Ethan.
Ethan Zohn has announced on Instagram that #Survivor Africa second-place
finisher Kim Johnson has passed at the age of 79
RIP to the oldest woman to win the final Immunity Challenge and be a
finalist, who fought against a 3 vs. 1 battle to emerge from Africa
$100K richer
Source: https://x.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1817975947792118132

Dalton's written an article on Kim's passing.

Survivor: Africa runner-up Kim Johnson dies at 79

Johnson remains the oldest female finalist in franchise history.

By Dalton Ross

Updated on July 29, 2024 03:21PM EDT

Kim Johnson, the former schoolteacher who competed on Survivor: Africa
and was the season's runner-up, died July 23 after a long bout with
cancer. She was 79.

Johnson's three children, Wendy, Kerry, and Teddy, confirmed the news to
Entertainment Weekly and said in a statement, "Our mom leaves a legacy
of strength, resilience, kindness and generosity. She wore her
rose-colored glasses right up until the end. She was the coolest mom and
grandmother in the world. We will miss her forever…"

Survivor: Africa winner Ethan Zohn also paid tribute to Johnson in a
heartfelt Instagram post Monday. "Rest in peace Kim Johnson," he wrote,
alongside a montage of highlight clips featuring his tribemate from
season 3 of the reality show. "It was a blessing to call you my friend
and a privilege to experience the final tribal council with you. I will
forever have that planters punch in your honor!"

A retired elementary school teacher from Oyster Bay, N.Y., Johnson was
56 when she competed in Kenya on the red-hot reality franchise back in
2001. While she thought she would be the first person eliminated,
Johnson made it all the way to the final four, and then surprised
everyone by winning the final two immunity challenges. That included the
last one in which the three players remaining had to stand on two uneven
poles and hold on to a totem for as long as possible in 104-degree heat.
Johnson outlasted both Zohn and Lex van den Berghe, winning after more
than three hours and 20 minutes in the blazing sun.

Johnson — who then lost to Zohn in a 5-2 jury vote at the final Tribal
Council — is not only the oldest Survivor contestant to win a final
immunity challenge, but she also remains the oldest female finalist in
franchise history.

According to her CBS bio going into the Survivor: Africa season, Johnson
was born in Cleveland, grew up in Annapolis, Md., and then moved to New
York. She attended Dickinson College and Monmouth University, receiving
a bachelor of science degree in elementary education.

Her bio also noted, "In her free time, Johnson enjoys exercising
(running, tennis and free weights), camping, hiking, fishing, sailing,
golfing, horseback riding, thoroughbred horse racing and playing games
of any kind. She describes herself as nutty, logical and determined. She
is extremely proud of her family; she is especially proud of being the
grandmother of two, with another one on the way. She is fluent in sign
language, and has volunteered her services over the years for the blind
and deaf."

After her triumphant final endurance victory in Africa, Johnson spoke
about what led her to the big win. "The final immunity challenge was not
luck, was not being nice, was not any of the things I had done so far,"
she said. "That was something that came out of me, inside of me — a
determination that haven't seen in me, maybe ever."

Source: https://ew.com/kim-johnson-dead-survivor-africa-runner-up-79-8685457

[Rick]

Post by Brian Smith
Sad news from Mike Bloom via Ethan.
Ethan Zohn has announced on Instagram that #Survivor Africa second-place
finisher Kim Johnson has passed at the age of 79
RIP to the oldest woman to win the final Immunity Challenge and be a
finalist, who fought against a 3 vs. 1 battle to emerge from Africa $100K
richer
Source: https://x.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1817975947792118132

In fairness, one of her final two immunity wins was tainted by Lex giving
what was ruled an incorrect answer to the question about which female
contestant lacked body piercings. Kim said Kelly Goldsmith, which was
correct, and Lex was ruled incorrect with his answer of Lindsay Richter,
which made Kim the winner of the challenge. But it turned out that Lindsay
also lacked piercings, which means Lex should have been allowed to continue
in that challenge, which means the results of the challenge could have been
different. Had Lex won that challenge, Kim would likely have been voted
out and Tom would have made final three with Lex and Ethan. The error was
not discovered until the live finale when Lindsay was in the audience
watching along with other players and informed producers that she also
lacked piercings. As a result, the show decided to award both Lex and Tom
$100,000 second-place money in addition to Kim. The show was lucky that Tom
and Lex both accepted this settlement, since technically there is no way to
know who would have won the final three challenge if Tom had been included
and not Kim, and who would have been voted out. In theory, either Tom or
Lex could have won the million if Ethan had been voted out at final three.

My only real memory of Kim J (aka "Big" Kim because there was also a shorter
Kim in the cast)was how she paraded around at age 56 in a thong looking very
much like a 56-year old woman in a thong. At the time I thought it was
pretty gross; I might feel differently today.





--

[Brian Smith]

Post by Rick

Post by Brian Smith
Sad news from Mike Bloom via Ethan.
Ethan Zohn has announced on Instagram that #Survivor Africa
second-place finisher Kim Johnson has passed at the age of 79
RIP to the oldest woman to win the final Immunity Challenge and be a
finalist, who fought against a 3 vs. 1 battle to emerge from Africa
$100K richer
Source: https://x.com/AMikeBloomType/status/1817975947792118132

In fairness, one of her final two immunity wins was tainted by Lex
giving what was ruled an incorrect answer to the question about which
female contestant lacked body piercings.  Kim said Kelly Goldsmith,
which was correct, and Lex was ruled incorrect with his answer of
Lindsay Richter, which made Kim the winner of the challenge.  But it
turned out that Lindsay also lacked piercings, which means Lex should
have been allowed to continue in that challenge, which means the results
of the challenge could have been different.   Had Lex won that
challenge, Kim would likely have been voted out and Tom would have made
final three with Lex and Ethan.  The error was not discovered until the
live finale when Lindsay was in the audience watching along with other
players and informed producers that she also lacked piercings.  As a
result, the show decided to award both Lex and Tom $100,000 second-place
money in addition to Kim.  The show was lucky that Tom and Lex both
accepted this settlement, since technically there is no way to know who
would have won the final three challenge if Tom had been included and
not Kim, and who would have been voted out.  In theory, either Tom or
Lex could have won the million if Ethan had been voted out at final three.

You just laid out another good reason to read the votes immediately
after FTC and do the "reunion" right after that. In this case, it would
have given Lex a very strong case to either ask for more money or to do
another comp and redo FTC. I think the three of them could have all
asked for $200K and CBS would have agreed.

Post by Rick
My only real memory of Kim J (aka "Big" Kim because there was also a
shorter Kim in the cast)was how she paraded around at age 56 in a thong
looking very much like a 56-year old woman in a thong.  At the time I
thought it was pretty gross; I might feel differently today.

That's more than I got when it comes to Kim. I do recall S3 being more
than a bit of a let down after the first two seasons. The location was
too brutal and I didn't get much enjoyment out of watching a rather
lethargic cast playing in a penned off area.

I wonder how long it will take Jeff and CBS to acknowledge Kim's
passing? They seem very disconnected with past players unless it's
someone very iconic such as Sandra or Boston Rob.