Mormon on 'Survivor' almost voted off

One Mormon on "Survivor: South Pacific" had immunity by winning a challenge, but the other was almost voted off the island during Wednesday's episode of Days 19, 20 and 21 of the reality show on CBS.

Dawn Meehan, a BYU English professor from South Jordan, won one of two immunity necklaces during the individual challenge. Each contestant had to stand on a board and hold a coconut suspended on two ropes. The man and the woman who lasted the longest without falling or dropping their coconut through each round won.

Rick Nelson, 51, a rancher from Aurora, looked surprised when his name was pulled out of the urn during tribal council. He and Keith Tollefson, 26, were tied during the first and second rounds of voting, and Tollefson ended up with one more vote and was sent to Redemption Island.

Previously, both Meehan and Nelson hadn't been in danger of being voted out of the game, which is about winning challenges and forming alliances while surviving on an uninhabited island.

The Savaii and Upolu tribes merged into the Te Tuna Tribe this episode, an event the former Savaii Tribe members were counting on.

In last week's episode, Savaii Tribe member Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth, 30, of Venice Calif., made a bold move when he wanted his tribe to vote him off to Redemption Island, where he would have to beat Christine Shields Markoski, 40, at a one-on-one challenge for a chance to stay in the game and strengthen his tribe for when they merged. Markoski had beaten five others at one-on-one challenges.

For their one-on-one challenge, Lusth and Markoski each had to make a pole by lashing sticks together, using the pole to retrieve three key chains and then using the keys to open the locks and step through their now unlocked door.

Lusth won and returned to the game just before the tribes merged. He also won immunity in the individual challenge.

Just because the tribes merge, however, doesn't mean they all get along. Generally the former tribe members vote as a block, which in this case would result in a deadlock as there were six members from each tribe in the group. Anyone not happy with their former tribe members could swing their vote to the other side, tipping the balance.