At the time, Wesson was aged 40 thus she held the title of oldest female Survivor winner for 11 years (23 seasons, ten female winners) until Denise Stapley, aged 41, won Survivor: Philippines in 2012. Wesson became the first female Sole Survivor in a 4вЂ“3 vote, in which she gained the votes of Famie, Filarski, Manthey, and Alicia Calloway. In the final immunity challenge, Donaldson continued his winning streak and ultimately chose to sit next to Wesson at the final Tribal Council instead of the more hated Famie. Donaldson and Famie eliminated Bingham and then Filarski at the next two tribal councils.

With six contestants left, the main faction of the now Ogakor four joined Rodger Bingham and Elisabeth Filarski to vote out Manthey's old ally Brkich. Wesson and the four remaining Ogakors all made the merge.

The next time they lost immunity, Wesson managed to convince Donaldson and Keith Famie to force a tie between Olson (who was aligned with Brkich and Manthey) and Famie, whereby Mitchell would be voted off due to having a prior vote cast against him. Although Wesson caused the Ogakor tribe to lose the second immunity challenge, her alliance with Amber Brkich, Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey and Mitchell Olson voted out Kel Gleason and Maralyn 'Mad Dog' Hershey. As part of the Ogakor tribe, Wesson was not targeted in the beginning of the game, seeming to mesh well with all the contestants and was not seen as a physical liability. Wesson's first appearance on Survivor was in the show's second season, Survivor: The Australian Outback.

Tina wesson