Bio
Stephenie LaGrossa was a contestant in Survivor: Palau and Survivor: Guatemala. In Survivor: Palau, she was the last Ulong member standing before she was subsumed into Koror.
She returned to the show in 2009 to compete in the 20th season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
She was also one of the most popular players ever to play the game, with her popularity peaking at 97% (her final popularity ended at 92%).
Stephenie is currently an In-Arena host for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.
One of five siblings born to Stephen and Marguerite, LaGrossa is the youngest and only girl of the family to grow up in Briarcliff, Glenolden, a suburb of Philadelphia.
She graduated from Archbishop Prendergast High School, where she played varsity lacrosse, field hockey and swimming.
After graduating, she attended Temple University in Philadelphia before transferring to Monmouth University in Long Branch, New Jersey. She played Division One Lacrosse at both universities and was a four-year starter.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing and management.
LaGrossa enjoys yoga, Pilates, water sports and going to the beach. She describes herself as relentless, persuasive, extremely competitive, dramatic and friendly.
She is most proud of being offered athletic and academic scholarships to two different universities and purchasing her own home when she was 23 years old.
An avid lacrosse player in college, LaGrossa won many awards signifying her outstanding athleticism and leadership. At Monmouth University, she was the team captain her senior year, made the NEC Academic Honor Roll and the Dean's List.
In addition, LaGrossa was a three-time NEC All-Conference selection, NEC Scholar/Athlete Award recipient and Female Athlete of the Year Nominee.
Survivor: Palau
She was the last member standing of Ulong when she defeated Bobby Jon Drinkard in an elimination challenge. After receiving instructions to do so, she brought the stuff from Ulong rowing to Koror. She then gave up her Ulong buff and got a new Koror buff.
She came extremely close to being voted out in Episode 10 when most of the tribe was conspiring to eliminate her, but she was spared elimination when in a shocking move, Janu Tornell laid down her torch and quit the game.
During the subsequent days, she, along with Jennifer Lyon and Katie Gallagher, floated the idea of an all-female alliance. This did not materialise because of Caryn Groedel, and at the following tribal council (in Episode 11), Stephenie was unanimously voted out, becoming the third member of the jury, eventually voting for Tom Westman for the title of Sole Survivor in the final Tribal Council.
In her final words, she said that she was "totally psyched", having made it to the final 7 when she thought she was a "dead man walking" coming into Koror.
But despite her seventh place finish, she was considered one of the most memorable and popular survivors, due to her physical strength, likeable character, and the fact that she outlasted an entire tribe.
Survivor: Guatemala
In one of the bigger twists of the 11th season of Survivor, Survivor: Guatemala, Lagrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard returned as players to the game. As the show progressed, viewers saw a less favourable view of LaGrossa as she took on a harsher strategy that required her to vote out some of her members in her alliance during the merger.
These members were Judd Sergeant, Jamie Newton, and Cindy Hall.
Despite this, LaGrossa remained incredibly popular among the viewers, as her popularity ratings were among the highest, beaten only by Bobby Jon Drinkard and Danni Boatwright in the later episodes.
In the final 3, Boatwright, who had won the immunity during an endurance challenge, chose to take LaGrossa instead of Rafe Judkins. Her decision, it seemed, was swayed by the fact that Judkins let her out of the promise that if Judkins could bring her to the final 3, they would take each other to the final 2.
Despite this, Judkins voted for LaGrossa to be the Sole Survivor and his vote turned out to be the one and only vote for her in the sea of votes that came from what viewers perceived as a rather bitter jury.
In what was probably the most memorable moment of the season, Judd Sergeant lambasted LaGrossa in his question to her on the 39th day in which the jury members were to ask the final 2 castaways a series of questions before they chose who was more deserving of the one million dollars.
He was quoted as saying that he "promise that I (Sergeant) would never vote for you (LaGrossa)", and sticking true to his words, he voted for Danni to win, as did the other 5 jury members.
LaGrossa finished as runner-up, losing by a landslide 6-1 vote to Boatwright in the final 2.