Meet Yam Yam, 'Survivor's 1st Out Gay Winner of Color

Yam Yam has just made ‘Survivor’ history!

Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho has officially won Survivor 44 by a jury vote of 7-1-0, beating fellow finalists Heidi Lagares-Greenblatt and Carolyn Wiger at the grand finale.

Viewers got to know Yam Yam as a 36-year-old salon owner from San Juan, Puerto Rico. From the start, Yam Yam talked about his experiences as a gay man who came from a family of very athletic men. He struggled during some of the physical challenges in the competition, but still won the grueling “Last Gasp” challenge on his own and participated in group wins for the Tika tribe earlier in the season as well.

On the show, Yam Yam talked often about his husband and had great conversations with other LGBTQ+ contestants about being queer. He also revealed in interviews that he loves doing bearded drag for Halloween. Otherwise, Yam Yam also talked about being a huge fan of Survivor who started watching the show when he was just 13 years old.

At the grand finale, Yam Yam received seven of the eight available jury votes to win Survivor 44, taking home the grand prize of $1 million. He is the first out gay man of color to win Survivor, and the first out gay man to win the show since Todd Herzog in season 15 (Survivor: China).

Congratulations, Yam Yam – we love and celebrate you!

Scroll through to see pictures of Survivor 44 winner Yam Yam, and make sure to follow him on Instagram at @yamilpr.