Nick Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of theKentucky House of Representatives from the 82nd district | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Regina Bunch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Nicolas Joseph Caleb Wilson (1990-06-11)June 11, 1990 (age 35) |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Grisel Wilson |
| Education | University of Kentucky (BS) University of Alabama School of Law (JD) |
| Occupation |
|
| Committees |
|
Nicolas Joseph Caleb Wilson (born June 11, 1990) is an American politician currently serving as aRepublican member of theKentucky House of Representatives from Kentucky's 82nd House district. His district includesWhitley County and part ofLaurel County.[1][2] He also won the reality competition showSurvivor.
Wilson was voted the winner ofSurvivor's thirty-seventh season,Survivor: David vs. Goliath, in 2018, and returned in 2020 for the fortieth season,Survivor: Winners at War, to compete against former winners in theSurvivorfranchise,[3] where he would finish in seventh place.
Wilson grew up inWilliamsburg, Kentucky.[4][5] Wilson's parents divorced while he was growing up. His grandmother helped raise him and his four siblings while they stayed with their father. He became the first person in his family to graduate from college when he completed aBachelor's degree inpolitical science from theUniversity of Kentucky.[citation needed] At Kentucky, he became a member ofKappa Sigma (Beta-Nu) fraternity. He eventually went on to theUniversity of Alabama School of Law and graduated to become apublic defender.[citation needed] While at Alabama, his mother died due to a drug overdose.[6][7]
 | This sectioncontains an excessive amount of intricatedetail. Please helpimprove it by removing excessive detail that goes againstWikipedia's inclusion policy.(June 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
As part of the original David tribe, Wilson was initially seen as lazy but he soon became an aggressive alliance-builder, crafting one-on-one allegiances with several players in the game. A tribe swap occurred on Day Ten, putting Wilson on the Jabeni tribe with Torres and three former Goliaths: Natalie Cole,Mike White and Angelina Keeley. During his time on Jabeni, Wilson aligned with White and Keeley, which would become a crucial fulcrum in the rest of the season.
At the Final Six, Wilson won his first immunity challenge of the season. During this time, he strengthened his bonds with Keeley and White, agreeing to a Final Three deal. He went on to win the final immunity challenge of the season, becoming the only player from the season to win multiple immunities as well as guaranteeing his spot in the Final Tribal Council.
Since the introduction of the final four forced fire-making challenge, Wilson is the first castaway to win the Final Immunity Challenge, not compete in the fire-making tiebreaker, and go on to win the season.[8] During the Final Tribal Council, Wilson's impassioned speech swayed seven of the ten jurors to vote for him, giving him the title of Sole Survivor.[9][10][11] With his victory, Wilson became the ninth winner inSurvivor history to win the game while receiving zero votes cast against them the entire game.[12]
He returned to compete on the show's first all-winners season,Survivor: Winners at War.[13][14] Wilson was initially a part of the Dakal tribe. While he would receive one vote in both the first two Tribal Councils he attended, he was not voted out. At the merge, Wilson found himself on the bottom for the first couple of votes, before finding himself in a good spot. He won a crucial immunity challenge at the Final Seven, which was needed as he was the target. At the Final Six (before the last Edge of Extinction re-entry challenge), Wilson received an advantage fromNatalie Anderson (who was on Edge of Extinction), which allowed him to give another player a disadvantage in the immunity challenge, and he would need to pay eight Fire Tokens to purchase this. Wilson, who had six tokens, got two tokens fromMichele Fitzgerald and purchased the advantage. He used the advantage againstBen Driebergen at the immunity challenge. However, Wilson was voted out that night, asSarah Lacina felt that his underdog story made him a threat. Wilson was eliminated from the game after failing to win the final re-entry Edge of Extinction challenge.
At the Final Tribal Council, Wilson voted forTony Vlachos to win. Vlachos ended up winning in a 12–4–0 vote, making him the series' second two-time winner.[15]
His mother's death helped Wilson understand that he could use his platform as a public defender more than his own personal success. He felt a responsibility to return to his hometown and help his community. Upon graduation, Wilson became a public defender in his hometown. His main focus is fighting theopioid epidemic.[7] In January 2019, he started a new position with theKentucky Commonwealth's Attorney Office.[16]
In November 2021, Wilson announced that he was running for a seat in theKentucky House of Representatives, for the 82nd District, which includes his hometown of Williamsburg. Wilson, who is aRepublican, was endorsed by retiring incumbentRegina Huff.[17] Wilson was elected after running unopposed in the2022 Kentucky House of Representatives election, winning with 10,257 votes.[18] He ran unopposed for reelection in the2024 Kentucky House of Representatives election.[19]
On January 14, 2019, Wilson received the key to the city of Williamsburg and was given his own day, "Nick Wilson Day," on January 16.[20]
Wilson is married to Grisel Vilchez.[16]
| Preceded by Wendell Holland | Winner ofSurvivor Survivor: David vs. Goliath | Succeeded by Chris Underwood |