Parvati Shallow/Winners at War (2024)

Parvati Shallow is a contestant from Survivor: Winners at War.

The winner of Survivor: Micronesia and a regarded legend of the game, Parvati played a relatively subdued game compared to her previous outings, being a key member of the old-schoolers' alliance on the Sele tribe. Despite putting up a valiant effort after losing her allies early and being outnumbered following a tribe switch, Parvati's reputation was too obvious to ignore, and she was voted out on Day 16 and sent to the Edge of Extinction. Parvati endured the physical and emotional hardships that came with staying on the Edge, but ultimately lost both return challenges and was eliminated from the game on Day 35.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Current residence: Los Angeles, California
Previous seasons: Survivor: Cook Islands (Season 13), Winner of Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites (Season 16), Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (Season 20)
Occupation: Yoga Teacher, Life Coach, and Speaker
Hobbies: Posting photos of my baby on Instagram and yoga retreats.
Pet peeves: Heavy breathing.
Three words to describe you: Survivor, champion, goddess.
When did you first watch Survivor? When Stephenie LaGrossa crushed Palau.
Do you still watch Survivor? I do.
Who is your inspiration in life? One time I met a man in the Atlanta airport who had two prosthetic legs. He was in a wheelchair and traveling with an infant and his toddler—and zero support crew. He was smiling. That man blew my mind.
What does Survivor mean to you and your family? Survivor is my family. My husband competed on Season 29^[sic], and I thought he was cute when I saw him on TV. Then we met in real life at a Grassroot Soccer charity soccer tournament hosted by Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa. And now we have a Survivor baby. It's kind of absurd, really.
What is one way that playing Survivor changed your life? It opened up the competitive beast within, and it also gave me the opportunity to host TV shows, travel around the world as a journalist, and take pics with really excited fans at airports. I played three seasons when I was in my 20s and then processed my experiences for the last decade. I think the main reason that I am able to help people with my work as a life coach and yoga teacher is because I came through such intense experiences playing and winning Survivor and then afterward with the criticism and reality TV fame. I know what it's like to go after a goal with everything I have. I know in my bones how hard it is to be judged and found lacking. I know the sting of betrayal, and I also know that miracles happen all the time. No matter what it looks like, there is a way through every block.
As Survivor approaches Season 40 and celebrates 20 years on television, what does it mean to be a part of the legacy? I am pumped. I thought I was done, but this opportunity to compete with the best of the best is too good to pass up. The game has changed. It's faster, more complex, and people are bolder. I'm excited to get into this more dynamic arena and win a totally new game.
How will you play differently than you have in your past seasons? I'm sure I will be targeted again right away, like I was on Heroes vs. Villains. So, this time I will have to take into consideration that I may be on the outside looking in at first. There also may be some people playing with me that I have history with—probably not good history—and I will have to clear my mind and see them as totally new, like we're meeting for the first time. I plan to be more aggressive and sneaky in hunting idols, distributing misinformation, letting other people lead and take credit, and really play up that I'm a new mom. I'm definitely not in as good of physical shape as I was the last few times I played, but I have a new stamina and capacity that comes from knowing that I can survive six months of sleep deprivation with a newborn. And, I know that I can connect with people in a completely different way as a mother.^[1]

Survivor[]

Assigned to the Sele tribe, Parvati aligned with fellow early winners, Danni Boatwright, Ethan Zohn, and former Heroes vs. Villains rival Rob Mariano. After Sele's loss at the Day 1 Reward/Immunity Challenge, both Parvati and Rob were certain they were early targets given their reputations. However, the chaos at camp ultimately led to the blindside of Natalie Anderson the next day. Sele later won the Day 3 Immunity Challenge, saving Parvati. Over the days, Parvati built a lasting friendship with Ethan; with Parvati teaching Ethan how to lie, though Ethan, who won his season for his congeniality, appeared to fail in his attempts, much to Parvati's amusem*nt.^[2]

In the coming days, Sele found itself in a losing streak. Danni attempted to throw Parvati under the bus to save herself as the old schoolers were still outnumbered, but Parvati and her remaining allies worked with the rest of the tribe, unanimously voting Danni out on Day 8 for playing both sides. Millennials vs. Gen X winner Adam Klein was the next to target Parvati and lobbied to Rob to be onboard with the plan. This backfired as the rest of Adam's allies caught wind of his plot and was seemingly next to go. However, Michele Fitzgerald and Jeremy Collins saw this as an opportunity to further weaken the old schoolers and pacify Adam and secretly targeted Ethan instead. At Tribal Council, despite receiving a vote from Adam, Parvati was spared, but at the cost of Ethan's blindside. On Ethan's way to the Edge of Extinction, Parvati received his Fire Token. Sele finally broke its losing streak by winning the Day 11 Immunity Challenge in an upset, keeping Parvati safe from elimination.

On Day 10, a Tribe Switch separated Parvati from Rob, who was moved to a new tribe, Yara. She stayed on Sele with Michele and was joined by fellow Cook Islands castaway Yul Kwon, Nick Wilson and Wendell Holland. Outnumbered, Parvati and Michele were at the mercy of their new tribenames, with the situation being further complicated by Michele and Wendell having dated in the past. The new Sele won the next Immunity Challenge; a hollow victory for Parvati as Rob was voted out that night, but not before receiving Rob's two Fire Tokens. The next day, Parvati was offered by Tyson Apostol, who was already on the Edge of Extinction, an Idol Nullifier in exchange for a Fire Token. Having four Fire Tokens, Parvati paid one to purchase the advantage as a possible leverage down the line.

On Day 16, Sele lost a high-stakes Immunity Challenge where only one tribe won and the two losing tribes sent to separate Tribal Councils. Still outnumbered, Parvati and Michele were certain either one of them will go next. Wendell offered to flip in exchange for her only Fire Token. Unconvinced, Parvati declined and instead went to Nick to discuss Wendell's plot, implying Wendell had wavering loyalties. At Tribal Council, Parvati attempted to out Wendell for his duplicity, but Wendell rebutted that by exposing him, she was not trustworthy either. In the end, Parvati was voted out, 3-2, flushing out her Idol Nullifier. She bequeathed her three Fire Tokens to Michele before heading to the Edge of Extinction.

Parvati failed to obtain any Fire Tokens prior to the first return challenge, thus she was unable to win any advantage and had to run the full course. Parvati lost the challenge on Day 19 and was sent back to the Edge of Extinction. On Day 22, Parvati, with the help of Danni, found a 50/50 Coin Advantage which if played at Tribal Council and landed on "heads", will give its user immunity similar to a Hidden Immunity Idol. Parvati sold the advantage to Michele, knowing she had the amount needed and was willing to pay for it. With all four of Michele's Fire Tokens, Parvati paid two of them for a jar peanut butter.^[3] On Day 24, both active and eliminated players were paid a visit by their loved ones where Parvati was reunited with her then-husband and their infant daughter for the day.

On Day 28, Natalie found an Extortion Advantage which she can use to force one of the remaining players in the game to cough up a certain amount of Fire Tokens or else that player will be disqualified from the next Immunity Challenge and lose their vote at the next Tribal Council. Parvati had a hand in Natalie's decision to use the advantage against Tony Vlachos and extort him six Fire Tokens, which he was able to pay. A grueling effort task on Day 29 required the eliminated players to collect as much coconuts as they can from the other side of the Edge until sundown, in which Parvati was one of the first six to succeed and received two Fire Tokens as a reward. She paid two tokens to buy another jar of peanut butter offscreen. With a total of two Fire Tokens, Parvati was able to purchase one advantage at the next and final return challenge on Day 35, but was unable to win, eliminating her from the game and making her a member of the Jury.

At the Final Tribal Council, Parvati appeared most impressed by Natalie's gameplay, commending her for dominating the Edge of Extinction challenges. Though Parvati voted for Natalie to win, Tony ultimately became the Sole Survivor by a 12-4-0 vote.

References[]