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‘Survivor One World’ Finale: Predicting The Winner

Former ‘Survivor’ contestant Rob Cesternino weighs in on the final five contestants vying for the title of Sole Survivor. By Josh Wigler Kim Spradlin on “Survivor: One World” Photo: CBS A foulmouthed special-ed teacher, a medical-sales-repping Southern belle, an indecisive career consultant from Hollywood, a sneaky bridal shop owner and a high school teacher from Brooklyn: These are the women competing for the million-dollar prize on Sunday night’s (May 13) “Survivor: One World” season finale. In a season dominated by just one contestant — 29-year-old Kim Spradlin, who has won numerous immunity challenges and forged multiple alliances to get to the endgame — predicting the “One World” winner isn’t quite as challenging as it’s been in “Survivor” seasons of yore. But this is “Survivor” we’re talking about, and twists are the name of the game. There’s no shortage of curveballs that could be thrown at the final five contestants in tonight’s race for the Sole Survivor title. As we’ve done all season long, MTV News joined forces with two-time “Survivor” contestant and regular commentator Rob Cesternino once again for his final “One World” predictions. Most Likely to Win: Kim Spradlin ” Since the departure of Colton , ‘Survivor: One World’ has been the season of Kim,” Cesternino said. “She’s been in control of every single thing that’s happened the whole way. She’s had her finger on the pulse of the game. She played an amazing game and I think it would be almost criminal if she did not win — barring a total collapse during the finale.” Least Likely to Win: Christina Cha “Christina at no point in the game has been in a favorable position,” Rob reasoned. “It seems unlikely to think that she’ll run off with two consecutive immunity challenges here at the end, when she’s never even been in the mix to win one immunity challenge. She doesn’t have the respect of the jury, considering some of those people were terrified by the possibility of going home before Christina. She hasn’t done anything to get there.” Dark-Horse Pick: Sabrina Thompson “I think she is very savvy,” the former player said. “I also think she’s well-liked by the jury. I think she could be an alternative to Kim in the finals, where she’s able to sit there and say, ‘Look, I didn’t lie to you, and I didn’t backstab you. That was all Kim. All of that bad stuff? Kim. I was here the whole way, and I was tough.’ Sabrina is someone who could at least get a couple of votes in the finals. Maybe, if the jury goes anti-Kim, she could potentially squeak out a victory.” Worst-Case Scenario: Bitter Jury Syndrome “I think it would be a shame if Kim makes it all the way to the finals and ends up losing the jury vote just as a way of getting back at her for voting out all of the men in the game,” Rob said. “It’s happened before on ‘Survivor,’ where the jury is bitter. I don’t think Kim’s social game has been lacking. It would be good to see someone who plays the best game get rewarded by the jury. Otherwise, as Russell Hantz has said before, the game would be flawed.” Biggest Possible Surprise: Kim Goes at Four “The most surprising thing that could happen at the end of the season, for me, would be that one of these players smartens up and realizes that Kim has had the immunity idol and can’t play it once she hits the final four. If she doesn’t win that immunity challenge, the smartest thing that any of them can do is to take her out,” Cesternino said. “If I’m Chelsea, and if I’m Sabrina, I don’t know how I’ve gone this far without ever trying to take out Kim. It kills me to see these players roll over and die and give this game to Kim as they’ve done all season. If they turned on her at the final four, I would be very surprised.” Get more of Rob’s thoughts on “Survivor” by following him on Twitter . Previously on MTV News’ “Survivor” coverage:

‘Survivor: One World’ Pits Girls Against Boys

‘I feel like this may be one of the more scandalous seasons in ‘Survivor’ history,’ two-time former contestant Rob Cesternino tells MTV News. By Josh Wigler Survivors on the first episode of Survivor: One World Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS Two tribes, one beach. That’s the setup for the new season of “Survivor,” titled “One World,” premiering Wednesday (February 15). For the third time in “Survivor” history, the line will be drawn in the sand between one tribe of men and one tribe of women … except this time, in a new twist, both teams will be forced to coexist on the very same beach right from the start. So what happens when 18 men and women are forced to live together in the same tropical paradise while competing for a million-dollar prize? According to longtime “Survivor” commentator and two-time contestant Rob Cesternino — often described as “the smartest player who never won the game” — the end result could well be “one of the more scandalous seasons in ‘Survivor’ history.” “You have all these guys and girls living together on one beach, and somebody is bound to hook up … and that’s going to create problems, because that’s the other team,” Cesternino predicted to MTV News about the two same-sex tribes. “Not only are guys and girls going to hook up, but let’s say that the guys catch a bunch of fish and the girls don’t. They have to sit there and watch you eat. What if one of the guys has a girlfriend? Is he going to be sneaking off to give some of the guys’ food to the girls? There’s a lot of possibility for drama and conflict on this season.” Cesternino knows a thing or two about surviving a battle of the sexes. His debut season of “Survivor” was also the one that introduced the men-vs.-women twist, and he emerged in the end with an impressive third-place prize. But “One World” presents a very different challenge from Cesternino’s “Amazon” days, as the men and women are forced to cohabitate in the same exact space this time around. But looking past the gender lines, Cesternino believes the new season of “Survivor” presents a very powerful opportunity for some lucky players. “It seems like the players fit into one of two categories: people who look like popular kids in your high school, and the people who don’t fit that description,” he observed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these young, good-looking guys band together and start hanging out with the young, good-looking girls on the other tribe, and have some sort of super-alliance. ‘You keep those guys together, you keep those girls together.’ Normally you have alliances of four or so people promising to go all the way. Now there’s a chance to merge with [an alliance of] eight people. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a high school alliance here.” Of course, nothing in “Survivor” is ever stable. Despite the initial men-vs.-women setup, Cesternino predicts an eventual tribal switch will shake up each team’s roster. “The switch has become a little pass