Mike Gabler Crushes Competition to Win ‘Survivor 43’

Five castaways competed for the top spot on the finale episode of hit CBS reality show, Survivor 43, and 52-year-old heart specialist, Mike Gabler walked away the winner. The “Alligabler” crushed the competition at the end of the day — winning over Cassidy Clark and Owen Knight in a 7-1-0 jury vote. Gabler received no votes during the entire game as his co-competitors seemingly viewed him as a non-threat. Gabler stayed under the radar, scoring alliances along the way.    

Karla Cruz Godoy was eliminated in fifth place after losing out on immunity to Charlie Brown/Owen Knight. Cassidy won the final stacking bowls immunity contest and accepted Gabler’s request to take out Jesse in fire making. Cassidy apparently did not believe that Gabler’s likely victory would be enough to bring about her own elimination. Gabler set a new fire record of four minutes and nine seconds, sending Jesse packing. 

Gabler, Owen, and Cassidy faced off as the final three, and Gabler took control after Cassidy was called out for taking credit for eliminating Ryan Medrano. Owen’s strategy also fell flat. 

Gabler pointed out during his plea that he had no votes cast against him. He added that he helped pull off Elie Scott’s demise at the merge. 

Gabler vowed to donate his million-dollar prize to the Veterans In Need Foundation. 

Gabler, a Houston native, currently lives in Meridian, Idaho. He has worked as a heart valve expert for 20 years, currently in an operating room at Edwards Lifesciences. 

Gabler spoke to KREM2 after 21 days on the island, before heading into the finale episode.

“I don’t have that much in the tank, but I got to find more because I think I’ve got a strong chance of winning if I can get to final three,” Gabler said. “I’m the guy hiding in plain sight, I’m the assassin. One by one my opponents are falling and I’m continuing to move forward.”

Gabler stated that he was prepared to move into the final three, noting—”there’s no breaks in season 43.”

After his victory, Gabler told EW.com, “My game the entire time was a relationship game. And the edit showed a lot of it but also left out a lot of it. I actually thought the season’s edit was fantastic because it left everybody guessing. No one knew exactly who was gonna go into it.”

“That’s right. It’s nuts. It is absolutely nuts,” Gabler said of pulling off an almost perfect game. “I mean, to play the game of Survivor is a lifelong dream of mine. They’ve done such a great job evolving this show and keeping it relevant over 43 seasons, 20-plus years. And to be a part of that history, it’s humbling. I don’t know what to say. It’s amazing.”

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