When the vote came back tied
A tie forces a format to answer a question it usually gets to skip — what decides a deadlock once the vote itself has failed to. Some seasons draw rocks, some run a duel, some just refuse to choose and let both through.
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The 13, in order.
- #01
The Round Table produces the format's first tie
A vote deadlocks for the first time in the US edition. The two tied players get one last chance to make their case, then the table revotes with their own ballots excluded from the count. - #02
A fire-making duel replaces the rock draw for good
New Era opens with a rule change announced ahead of the premiere: a tied vote at tribal council now gets settled by two castaways building flame from scratch instead of a blind draw of colored rocks. - #03
The rock draw comes back at the merge, louder than before
One of the format's most talked-about invocations of the tiebreaker: a deadlocked vote gets settled by the same blind draw the mechanic runs on, right at the merge stage. - #04
A deadlocked tribal council gets settled by a blind draw
When the vote ties, the tribe draws colored rocks instead of voting again. Whoever pulls the odd one out leaves with no fire-making chance and no second ballot to fall back on. - #05
The host breaks a deadlocked vote with a coin flip
More than once this season, a nomination or jury vote ties, and TJ Lavin settles it the same way every time — a single toss, live, with real stakes riding on which side lands up. - #06
Two queens tie for the last semifinal spot, so both move on
The All Stars ruleset doesn't force a runoff when two queens land on the same points total for the final bracket slot. It advances both instead of picking one. - #07
The judges can't agree, so the Judges' Choice round expands
A semifinal deadlock between two acts triggers the panel's option to advance both, widening that week's finalist field instead of forcing a single pick. - #08
A finale panel splits 2-2, so a guest judge breaks the tie
Multiple courses come back deadlocked at the judges' table. Rather than let the panel argue it out, that week's outside visitor carries the designated tiebreaking vote. - #09
A tied kitchen challenge comes down to the perfect-score count
Two chefs finish level in a scored service. The show's stated tiebreak rule — most perfect scores awarded during the challenge — decides who gets first pick building a brigade. - #10
The tightest mat finish gets settled by film, not by eye
Two teams arrive close enough that race officials review footage and timestamps before finalizing the placement — the closest finish the format had produced to that point. - #11
A tied eviction forces the HOH's hand for the first time in years
The house hadn't needed a tiebreaking vote in five seasons. When a live eviction vote splits evenly, the standing house rule falls to the sitting Head of Household to decide. - #12
A Final 5 vote ties, and the house rule kicks in
With five houseguests left, an eviction vote splits evenly. Per the standing rule, the Head of Household casts the deciding vote — the rule this season puts directly to the test. - #13
The only tie in the franchise's history lands on the very last vote
Every other deadlock on this list gets settled somewhere on the way to a finale — a semifinal, a nomination, a revote. Season 4's tie happens at the final vote itself, the one round the format almost never leaves open. Still the only time it's happened, franchise-wide.
More lists in this vein
similar craft listWho actually got the voteEvery format claims the audience has a say. These are the seasons where that say stretched to casting the whole roster or writing the rulebook — and the ones where it vanished without warning.similar craft listThe judges picked a sideA judge's whole job is staying neutral — no favorite, no rooting interest, the same standard applied to everyone. These are the seasons that handed that authority to a coach instead, with real stakes riding on one roster over another.