CURLY Ethan Zohn, the 27-year-old pro soccer player from Lexington, Mass. – and the popular favorite to win – took home the $1 million prize on last night’s finale of “Survivor: Africa.”

“I couldn’t have gotten here without everyone else,” he said. “Having faith in others, there were so many times when things could have gone in other directions, but I stayed true and I think that’s what got me to the end.”

The reading of the final vote took place on live TV in a Los Angeles studio, but viewers were led to believe that the contestants were still in Africa.

Kim Johnson, a 57-year-old grandmother from Oyster Bay, NY, snagged two consecutive immunity challenge wins preventing the other players from voting her out of the game and giving her a strong edge going into the final round of “Survivor.” But in the end though, she fell in the vote to Ethan.