| Creator: | Kelly Slater |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Composer: | Raney Shockne |
| Producer: | Jessi Miley-Dyer Dave Prodan Courtney Clark Beba Rodriguez Tova Kaplan |
| Location: | Lemoore, California |
| Cinematography: | Jason Hafer |
| Camera: | Multi-camera |
| Network: | ABC |
The Ultimate Surfer is an American television surfing competition show that aired on ABC from August 23 to September 21, 2021. In March 2022, the series was canceled after one season.
The Ultimate Surfer, an eight-episode series, gathers some of the world's best amateur surfers to live and train together as they battle it out on the consistent and perfect waves created at the "Surf Ranch" in Lemoore, California. The contestants compete in team and individual challenges, focusing on specific elements of surfing, such as, barrels, cutbacks, turns, and front and back-side surfing where they will compete for the highest score by the judges.
Weekly eliminations will leave two men and two women as finalists. They can either form alliances or rivalries by sending their fellow surfers into a "surf-off", where they must surf at nighttime to get the best score to move on in the competition.
The winner's prize is $100,000 and an opportunity to compete on the WSL Championship Tour, the pinnacle of professional surfing, as well as earn the title of "The Ultimate Surfer".[1]
On November 13, 2019, it was announced that ABC had ordered the series, with Kelly Slater as special correspondent. Craig Piligian, Erik Logan and Dana White served as executive producers.[2] On April 7, 2021, it was announced that the series would premiere on August 16, 2021,[3] later being rescheduled to August 23, 2021.[4] On May 6, 2021, it was announced that Jesse Palmer would host the show, with Erin Coscarelli and Joe Turpel serving as commentators.
On March 30, 2022, it was announced that the series has been cancelled after one season.[5]
The surfers were revealed on May 6, 2021.[6]
| Surfer | Age | Residence | Status | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin Clouseñ | 26 | Jacksonville Beach, Florida | Eliminated 1st | |
| Luke Davis | 27 | Los Angeles, California | Eliminated 2nd | |
| Anastasia Ashley | 34 | Miami Beach, Florida | Eliminated 3rd | |
| Bruna Zaun | 30 | Eliminated 4th | ||
| Mason Barnes | 26 | Venice, Los Angeles | Eliminated 5th | |
| Juli Hernandez | 22 | Costa Mesa, California | Eliminated 6th | |
| Alejandro Moreda | 34 | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Eliminated 7th | |
| Kayla Durden | 27 | Jacksonville Beach, Florida | Eliminated 8th | |
| Malia Ward | 22 | San Clemente, California | Eliminated 9th | |
| Kai Barger | 30 | Haiku, Hawaii | Eliminated 10th | |
| Koa Smith | 25 | Sunset Beach, Hawaii | Runner-up | |
| Brianna Cope | 25 | Koloa, Hawaii | Runner-up | |
| Zeke Lau | 26 | Honolulu, Hawaii | Winner | |
| Tia Blanco | 24 | Oceanside, California | Winner | |
| Contestants | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan | Tia | Safe | Nom | Nom | Nom | Safe | Safe | Win | Winner | ||||
| rowspan | Zeke | Nom | Win | Win | Safe | Safe | Win | Win | Winner | ||||
| rowspan | Brianna | Safe | Safe | Safe | Win | Safe | Nom | Nom | Runner-up | ||||
| rowspan | Koa | Safe | Safe | Safe | Nom | Safe | Nom | Nom | Runner-up | ||||
| rowspan | Kai | Safe | Safe | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | In | Safe | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||
| rowspan | Malia | Nom | Win | Win | Safe | Safe | Win | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||
| rowspan | Kayla | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="3" | In | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||||
| rowspan | Alejandro | Safe | Nom | Nom | Win | Safe | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||
| rowspan | Juli | Safe | Safe | Safe | Elim | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | ||||
| rowspan | Mason | Safe | Safe | Safe | Elim | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | ||||
| rowspan | Bruna | Safe | Safe | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | ||||
| rowspan | Anastasia | Win | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||||
| rowspan | Luke | Win | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | |||||
| rowspan | Austin | Elim | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="3" | Out | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="2" | bgcolor=#A9A9A9 colspan="1" | Guest | ||||||
The contestant won the competition.
The contestant came in second place in the competition.
The contestant won the surfing competition with their partner.
The contestant was nominated to surf in the surf off.
The contestant was eliminated in the surf off.
The contestant won their way back into the competition.
The contestant failed to return into the competition.