"Didn't see it coming" — Survivor fans react to Kyle's head-turning immunity win

Survivor season 48 released episode 6, titled Doing the Damn Thing, on April 2, 2025. The segment saw the 13 castaways merge at the Lagi beach and compete for their first individual immunity. Although each put their best foot forward to secure that immunity and evade elimination, one contender outperformed the rest. Kyle Fraser outshone his competitors to become the first individual to win immunity.

The previous season of the survivalist series had also seen a Kyle, namely Kyle Rhen Ostwald, win the first immunity after the merge. He went on to win multiple consecutive immunities but was ultimately evicted the one time he was not immune.

Season 48 saw his namesake remove himself from the chopping block by winning the first challenge after the merge. For the task, the castaways were divided into two teams and informed that the winning team would get the opportunity to compete for the individual power. Kyle's team won and entered the second stage of the race.

In the second round, Kyle managed to overwhelm his teammates and emerge victorious, earning the immunity necklace and the new blue buff. Survivor season 48 fans commented on Kyle's victory on X. While many related him to Kyle of season 47, others congratulated him on his win.

"Kyle wins immunity. Didn’t see it coming," a fan wrote.

"Idk…the immunity necklace just fits Kyle’s aesthetic. Like…it looks GOOD on him. Almost looks designed for him," another fan wrote.

"We have now had 2 individual Immunity Challenge winners at the Final 13 of New Era. 100% of them are named Kyle," a netizen tweeted.

Many Survivor fans were pleased with Kyle's immunity victory.

"Let’s go, KYLE!! First Individual Immunity win of the season!!" a user reacted.

"Super impressive win by Kyle and nice fight by Star. To last and stay focused that long is insane," a person commented.

"Kyle really is the complete package: killer strategic mind, great social game, and a well-rounded challenge competitor. He’s gonna need that loyalty and integrity alliance because the target on him just keeps getting bigger and bigger," another fan wrote.

Other Survivor fans correlated Kyle's victory with Kyle's from season 47.

"If I had a nickel for every time someone named Kyle won the first individual immunity in a new era season while covered in mud, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice," one user posted.

"Why do Kyle’s always win mergatory immunity?" a person reacted.

"Sue watching another Kyle win first immunity," another netizen commented.

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What happened during the Survivor season 48 immunity challenge?

Before the challenge commenced, the Survivor castaways received a sign that asked them to locate a hidden advantage that would help them in the immunity task. After a foot race between Sai and Charity, Sai grabbed the advantage before Charity, earning herself the opportunity to skip the first round of the challenge and head to the endurance round with the winners of the first round.

She was also allowed to advance right to the merge feast. At the challenge, the players were randomly divided into two teams of six players. The orange team comprised Charity, Eva, Shauhin, Cedrek, Mitch, and Joe, whereas the purple team had Mary, Chrissy, Kamilla, Kyle, David, and Star.

For the obstacle round, the Survivor contestants had to complete a muddy obstacle course and then go up a ramp to unlock puzzle pieces. The purple team finished first, removing the orange team players from the race to immunity. The second round, the endurance task, commenced immediately after.

It required the castaways to balance a ball on a pole, whose length would be increased as the challenge progressed. Chrissy lost first, followed by Kamilla, Mary, Sai, and David. Kyle and Star went head to head, however, Kyle won when Star lost her balance. With that, host Jeff Probst placed the immunity necklace around Kyle's neck.

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Survivor releases new episodes every Wednesday at 8 pm ET exclusively on CBS.