CEBU, Philippines - Brazilian-Japanese model Akihiro Sato was named firstever Celebrity Sole Survivor of “Survivor Philippines” during the live voting and announcement done last Dec. 3. Akihiro, called as Aki by his tribemates, went home with the P3 million cash prize. He got three votes from the jury, which consisted of castaways, including sexy star Aubrey Miles who was eliminated and named the 7th jury, minutes before the winner was announced.
Akihiro turned emotional when he was finally declared as the Celebrity Sole Survivor. Three votes declared him winner over Solenn Heusaff and Ervic Vijandre, who both got two votes.
For commercial model-fashion designer Solenn Heusaff, she said she went through a lot before reaching the Final 3. “I came from a broken tribe, I broke a lot of my alliances, and I’m the only Magan standing… I’m in every Tribal Council of this season except one, and I’m the only last girl standing,” she said.
When the votes were finally cast, Aki got the votes of Elma Muros, Aira Bermudez and Jon Hall. Moi and Aubrey voted for Ervic, while Ahron and Michelle for Solenn.
Akihiro earlier told The Freeman in an interview that he had no strategy going into the competition. “When I joined, I didn’t know how ‘Survivor’ was. I just thought I had to be near to those who were strongest,” he said.
