Who Gets Voted Out on Survivor?

Over two decades, courageous individuals-turned-castaways have traveled to remote destinations for Survivor: a reality game in which contestants must outwit, outplay and outlive each other to become Sole Survivor. Although the competition can be intense, rules exist to ensure players’ safety and fair play; executive producer Jeff Probst gave PEOPLE an overview of some of these rules from Season 31’s castaways assembled by him for PEOPLE coverage.

One of the core Survivor rules requires players to remain within their original tribe until voted out at Tribal Council, making forming strong relationships within your tribe essential. Though it might seem simple enough, many players still struggle with developing this aspect in such an intense environment as Survivor camp.

Due to the intense competition for three spots in the final three, final tribal councils of Survivor can often be both exciting and unpredictable. This season’s was no different; as players vied for control of their tribe. After much drama played out on screen, J.T. Thomas emerged victorious – earning every jury vote and becoming sole survivor for 32nd season!

Season One kicked off with an exhilarating opening challenge, where competitors had to navigate an intricate wooden structure while crawling. But the highlight was undoubtedly Bruce gashed his head against it during this test and required medical evacuation due to severe bleeding and head pain.

Even after such violence had ensued, players managed to come together and win an immunity challenge with everyone except Kane voting to boot Danny out (it helped that his name appeared twice on the chyron). Frannie ultimately beat Danny out for individual immunity; Tika trio kept their promise not to vote for him either.

Tika trio then used Sarah as a bait against Yam Yam and Carson. Carolyn and Josh discussed using their idols against Sarah; this could negate two votes cast against Sarah but this plan went off track, leading her to get voted out unexpectedly and become vulnerable against potential merge threats. Tika will need to work harder now to protect themselves against new merge threats – finding someone trustworthy who will act as their backer is now necessary.