James Thomas Jr. (born June 23, 1984) is an American television personality known for his appearances as a contestant on the American television show Survivor. He first appeared in the 18th season, Survivor: Tocantins in which he won the title of Sole Survivor and the grand prize. Thomas later appeared as a contestant in the 20th season Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, finishing in tenth place. He returned to play for a third time on the 34th season: Survivor: Game Changers where he placed 16th. Early life Thomas was raised in Samson, Alabama, graduated from Troy University as a business marketing major, and currently resides in Mobile, Alabama. Survivor Tocantins On May 17, 2009, it was revealed that he had been voted the winner of Survivor: Tocantins, having received all seven jury votes (cast by Brendan Synnott, Tyson Apostol, Sierra Reed, Debbie Beebe, Benjamin "Coach" Wade, Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George, and Erinn Lobdell), beating out corporate consultant and friend Stephen Fishbach. In addition to his million-dollar win, Thomas also won the $100,000 prize for Sprint Player of the Season, beating out fellow fan favorites Johnson-George and Reed. Thomas was the sixth person to win Survivor's million-dollar prize without ever having any votes cast against him at Tribal Council—preceded by Tina Wesson (The Australian Outback), Ethan Zohn (Africa), Brian Heidik (Thailand), Sandra Diaz-Twine (Pearl Islands), and Tom Westman (Palau). He was also the second person to win the million-dollar prize as a result of a unanimous vote—preceded by Earl Cole (Fiji), and the second consecutive person to win both the million dollars and the $100,000, preceded by Bob Crowley (Gabon). Thomas is the first player ever to win Sole Survivor by a unanimous vote while never receiving any votes against him during the entire game. The only other two Survivor castaways to accomplish this feat are John Cochran in Survivor: Caramoan and Jeremy Collins in Survivor: Cambodia. However, neither Cochran nor Collins won the $100,000 prize for Sprint Player of the Season (it had been discontinued by the time Collins won Sole Survivor), and Collins received votes against him which were nullified by a hidden immunity idol. Thomas also performed with distinction in the challenges. During the reward challenge in Episode Four, Thomas carried 220 pounds before dropping out, tying the record previously set by Pearl Islands contestant Rupert Boneham, who had also carried 220 pounds before dropping out. At the immunity challenge