Survivor: Philippines

''Survivor: Philippines'' is the twenty-fifth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series ''Survivor''. The season was filmed March 18 – April 25, 2012, and premiered on September 19, 2012, with a special 90-minute episode. It is the first season since ''Survivor: All-Stars'' to begin with three tribes and the seventh season overall to feature returning castaways.

Participants' applications were due on October 4, 2011, with approximately 800 chosen for interviews in various states. From there, 15 new contestants were selected. With filming beginning in March, it marked the earliest ''Survivor'' season filming to date since ''Survivor: Borneo''. The season featured the 15 new castaways competing with three returning castaways who were removed from their previous seasons due to illness or injury: Michael Skupin (passed out into a fire and suffered severe burns to his face and hands) of ''The Australian Outback'', Jonathan Penner (removed due to a serious infection to his knee) originally from ''Cook Islands'' and later evacuated in ''Micronesia'', and Russell Swan (removed after blacking out twice due to low blood pressure resulting from dehydration) of ''Samoa''.

Denise Stapley was named the winner in the final episode on December 16, 2012, defeating Lisa Whelchel and Michael Skupin in a 6–1–1 vote, marking the second time in ''Survivor'' history (after ''China'' exactly 10 seasons earlier) where all three finalists received at least one vote. Stapley is the oldest female winner in the show's history, and the only person to have attended and survived every Tribal Council in a single season. Whelchel won $100,000 as the "Sprint Player of the Season", narrowly beating out Malcolm Freberg by 0.7% of a voting margin; the closest margin in the history of the award. Provided by Wikipedia