Listen to this articleAt 22, Todd Herzog has become the youngest winner in the history of Survivor. The flight attendant from Pleasant Grove, Utah bested 26-year-old Courtney Yates and 23-year-old Amanda Kimmel with four votes.
Herzog said he wasn’t the strongest or smartest, "But I was definietly the most strategic."
Herzog said that he learned from watching other episodes how to work the system by lying and scheming, which allowed him to leave with the $1 millon prize.
The 15th edition of Survivor was staged in China and lasted 39 days. The openly gay Mormon credited his success in part to watching the previous 14 seaons of Survivor and being a "slippery little sucker."
Herzog knew that it was a game that had to played just right and that meant not playing fair. "I had to hurt people that I cared about," he said. "I knew that the second that I got out there that, no matter what it took, I would do everything that I possibly could to be sitting right here," Herzog said referring to the winner’s circle.
Survivor: China had top rankings for its Thursday night prime time slot and CBS hopes to have similar ratings when its new season begins in February. The new installment, set in Micronesia, will pit former players against fans.
