Kaleb Gebrewold is making his mark on season 45 of Survivor. After losing the majority of the pre-merge challenges, the 29-year-old made it to “Mergatory,” where he was targeted by the rest of the final 13 for being a big threat. However, Kaleb saved himself at tribal council by playing the Shot in the Dark correctly — a move that officially put Kaleb in the Survivor history books. As he moves forward as the underdog in the game, here’s everything you need to know about Kaleb.
Kaleb is from Canada.
Kaleb is the only Canadian on Survivor 45. He’s the first contestant to live in British Columbia at the time of filming. Only a handful of Canadians have played U.S. Survivor, including season 41 winner Erika Casupanan and season 42 winner Maryanne Oketch.
Kaleb studied business in college.
Kaleb attended the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, according to his LinkedIn. He was awarded the Simon Fraser University Dean’s Excellence Entrance Scholarship.
Kaleb was a lifeguard.
Kaleb had a side job as a lifeguard before he went to college. He continued to lifeguard from 2012 to 2013 during the school year and over the summer at Simon Fraser University. Kaleb told Parade he became a lifeguard without passing any swim lessons.
“I took the lifeguard certification courses. But if you’re athletic enough, you can kind of get by on not actually knowing how to tread water,” he said in the interview.
Kaleb works in marketing.
Kaleb’s job was in software sales when he filmed Survivor in the spring of 2023. According to his LinkedIn, Kaleb currently works in strategy marketing at Breakthrough Physical Therapy Marketing. In his description for his job, Kaleb wrote, “I help PTs by analyzing their practice and their online marketing strategy, showing them opportunities that will get them more patients, more time, and more money through direct access and automation.”
Kaleb already made Survivor history.
On episode 6 of Survivor 45, which aired on November 1, Kaleb broke Kelley Wentworth‘s record for the most votes negated at tribal council, with 11. He used his Shot in the Dark to cancel out every single person’s vote against him, leading to a revote where J. Maya was eliminated unanimously.
