The news that Survivor 50 would be an extravaganza with returning players was hardly surprising, but when Jeff Probst revealed it to a crowd of fans back in April, it fired up the community, fueling an unprecedented level of speculation and campaigning for contestants ranging from legends to fan favorites to “not a chance in hell” players Probst probably couldn’t pick out of a police lineup. (Let’s hope Erin Collins is never convicted of shooting a puppy.)

In the interest of painting a fuller picture of who fans wanted to see again, I created a comprehensive survey with every living player to determine whether or not they merited inclusion on this sure-to-be-disappointing legendary season. It didn’t matter if they were a faded pre-merge boot Probst blocked on Twitter (hi, Shannon Elkins) or a five-timer who won the game once and made it to the finals another time (you know who I’m talking about). Everyone was included.

Likewise, it didn’t matter if you were a beloved cancer survivor who started a charity to raise HIV awareness in Africa (hi, Ethan Zohn) or, to quote Wikipedia, “a convicted fraudster and child sex offender” (you know who I’m talking about, for better or ... no, just for worse). If a contestant was alive when the poll launched, they were included. (Sadly, Kim Johnson passed away about halfway through the survey’s window; she would have ranked #425 with a rating of 1.571428571).

While the response was not as much as I hoped, we still had 187 fans complete the survey and share their feedback. Jeff Probst, take note!

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The top 20 finishers:

So that’s...

• 4 winners; 6 finalists; 10 players who made the jury
• 18 one-time players; 2 two-time players
• 8 pre-Heroes vs. Villains players; 4 post-HvV/pre-Winners at War players; 8 new era players
• 12 men; 8 women
• 11 white players; 9 POC players

In order to get a balanced cast of men and women, we replace Charlie and Yam Yam with Dee Valladares (Survivor 45) and Teresa Cooper (Africa)*. But in order to meet CBS’s diversity initiative, Teresa loses her spot to Maryanne Oketch (Survivor 42).

That leaves us with:

• 5 winners; 5 finalists; 10 players who made the jury
• 18 one-time players; 2 two-time players
• 8 pre-HvV players; 4 post-HvV/pre-WaW players; 8 new era players
• 10 men; 10 women
• 10 white players; 10 POC players

*Alternatively, we could retain Yam Yam and remove Shane, but I don’t think that man can handle another round of losing his cat-and-mouse game of returning to Survivor.

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[Ed. note: And now ... here is a massive table of the leaders from the voting, with footnotes! (Reminder: Scoring ranged from a low of 1 to a highest possible score of 5.)]

Category	Highest (Score)	Lowest (Score)	Average
Winner (1)	Todd Herzog (3.99)	Ben Driebergen (1.71)	2.86
Finalist	Carolyn Wiger (4.39)	Mike Skupin (1.11)	2.61
Losing Finalist	Carolyn Wiger (4.39)	Mike Skupin (1.11)	2.46
Fallen Angel	Jesse Lopez (4.11)	Angela Perkins (1.38)	2.68
Jury (2)	Christian Hubicki (4.34)	Brandon Hantz (1.19)	1.69
Pre-Jury	Natalie Cole (2.75)	John Raymond (1.09)	1.49
First Cycle Elim. (3)	Reem Daly (2.86)	John Raymond (1.09)	1.49
Medevac (4)	Jonathan Penner (3.35)	Mike Skupin (1.11)	1.66
Quit (5)	Jenna Morasca (2.97)	Gary Stritesky (1.16)	1.64
One-Time Player	Carolyn Wiger (4.39)	Dan Spilo (1.09)	1.89
Two-Time Player	Rob Cesternino (3.99)	Mike Skupin (1.11)	2.42
Three-Time Player	Malcolm Freberg (3.61)	Jeff Varner (1.18)	2.72
Four-Time Player	Cirie Fields (3.55)	Ozzy Lusth (2.66)	3.09
Five-Time Player	Boston Rob Mariano (2.37)	Boston Rob Mariano (2.37)	2.37
Six-Time Player	There hasn’t been one yet, although as long as Boo Bernis is living and breathing, there’s hope.

The important footnotes:

1. Each player was only categorized based on their highest finish. For example, Coach was counted as a finalist because of South Pacific even though he only made the jury on his previous appearances.

2. Despite not actually serving as jury members, Neal from Kaoh Rong and Dan from Island of the Idols are included in this category because they made it to that stage of the game.

3. If someone was eliminated in the first episode of the season, they were counted here – with the exception of players eliminated in the second half of a two-episode premiere. For example, Wanda, Jonathan, and Jolanda from Palau are all counted here, as are Abraham and Sara from 41; Jacob from Ghost Island is not.

4. Players who were removed at the discretion of the Survivor medical team. Players like Matthew in 44 and Gary in Fiji were cleared to continue but chose to exit the game and are officially categorized as “quits.” Players pulled by production for non-medical reasons (Dan in Island of the Idols and Terry in Cambodia) are not included here.

5. Only players who voluntarily left the game without the formality of a Tribal Council vote are counted in the interest of objectivity. Players who asked to be voted out, such as Ian in Palau and Sean in 45, are not included.

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And before we get to the leaderboards by season, some fun-fact-ish notes on the vote totals:

• Vanuatu, China, and One World are the only seasons where the finalists were the top-rated contestants (all also in finishing order, coincidentally).
• The Australian Outback and South Pacific are the only seasons where both the highest- and lowest-rated contestants played more than once.
• David vs. Goliath is the only season with multiple contestants rating above a 4.
• One-time players ranked at the top for 30/41 seasons and at the bottom for 39/41 seasons.
• Nine winners ranked as the top selection for a season (all of them for the season in which they won).

Finally, here are the highest and lowest scores by season (players were listed by the season in which they first appeared for voting purposes):

Season	Highest (Score)	Lowest (Score)	Average (Rank)
S1: Borneo	Greg Buis (3.41)	Dirk Been (1.26)	2.243 (4th/41)
S2: The Australian Outback	Jerri Manthey (3.41)	Mike Skupin (1.11)	1.915 (27th/41)
S3: Africa	Teresa Cooper (3.59)	Carl Bilancione (1.18)	1.965 (22nd/41)
S4: Marquesas	Sean Rector (3.85)	Patricia Jackson (1.17)	2.092 (13th/41)
S5: Thailand	Shii Ann Huang (2.88)	John Raymond (1.09)	1.673 (40th/41)
S6: The Amazon	Rob Cesternino (3.99)	Janet Koth (1.20)	1.989 (19th/41)
S7: Pearl Islands	Sandra Diaz-Twine (3.19)	Shawn Cohen (1.30)	2.006 (15th/41)
S9: Vanuatu	Chris Daugherty (3.35)	John Palyok (1.20)	1.870 (30th/41)
S10: Palau	Ian Rosenberger (3.28)	Ashlee Ashby (1.17)	1.875 (29th/41)
S11: Guatemala	Rafe Judkins (3.03)	Jim Lynch (1.12)	1.867 (31st/41)
S12: Panama	Shane Powers (3.72)	Ruth Marie Milliman (1.23)	2.065 (14th/41)
S13: Cook Islands	Jonathan Penner (3.35)	Cecilia Mansilla (1.24)	1.961 (24th/41)
S14: Fiji	Earl Cole (3.92)	Gary Stritesky (1.16)	1.823 (33rd/41)
S15: China	Todd Herzog (3.99)	Leslie Nease (1.32)	2.185 (7th/41)
S16: Micronesia	Natalie Bolton (3.71)	Kathy Sleckman (1.37)	1.974 (19th/41)
S18: Tocantins	Taj Johnson-George (3.30)	Carolina Eastwood (1.21)	2.112 (12th/41)
S19: Samoa	Natalie White (3.04)	Ben Browning (1.10)	1.785 (36th/41)
S21: Nicaragua	'Fabio' Birza (3.07)	Shannon Elkins (1.11)	1.862 (32dn/41)
S22: Redemption Island	Andrea Boehlke (2.71)	TIE: Krista & Sarita (1.27)	1.720 (37th/41)
S23: South Pacific	Sophie Clarke (3.22)	Brandon Hantz (1.19)	1.813 (35th/41)
S24: One World	Kim Spradlin (3.07)	Nina Acosta (1.20)	1.685 (39th/41)
S25: Philippines	Malcolm Freberg (3.61)	Roxy Morris (1.22)	1.971 (21st/41)
S26: Caramoan	Reynold Toepfer (2.50)	Julia Landauer (1.28)	1.608 (41st/41)
S27: Blood vs. Water	Hayden Moss (2.85)	Rachel Foulger (1.36)	1.940 (24th/41)
S28: Cagayan	Kass McQuillen (3.48)	Lindsey Ogle (1.24)	2.128 (11th/41)
S29: San Juan del Sur	Natalie Anderson (3.20)	John Rocker (1.14)	1.998 (16th/41)
S30: Worlds Apart	Carolyn Rivera (2.99)	Will Sims (1.12)	1.719 (38th/41)
S32: Kaoh Rong	Cydney Gillon (3.49)	Anna Khait (1.21)	1.895 (28th/41)
S33: Millennials vs. Gen X	Jay Starrett (3.01)	Paul Wachter (1.14)	1.971 (20th/41)
S35: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers	Chrissy Hofbeck (3.70)	Katrina Radke (1.23)	1.926 (26th/41)
S36: Ghost Island	Domenick Abbate (4.05)	Stephanie Gonzalez (1.36)	1.813 (34th/41)
S37: David vs. Goliath	Christian Hubicki (4.34)	Jessica Peet (1.25)	2.308 (3rd/41)
S38: Edge of Extinction	Rick Devens (3.42)	Keith Sowell (1.20)	2.212 (5th/41)
S39: Island of the Idols	Janet Carbin (3.41)	Dan Spilo (1.09)	1.961 (23rd/41)
Survivor 41	Shan Smith (3.55)	Eric Abraham (1.14)	2.189 (6th/41)
Survivor 42	Omar Zaheer (3.83)	Marya Sherron (1.28)	2.168 (9th/41)
Survivor 43	Jesse Lopez (4.11)	Nneka Ejere (1.22)	2.169 (8th/41)
Survivor 44	Carolyn Wiger (4.39)	Helen Li (1.42)	2.168 (10th/41)
Survivor 45	Emily Flippen (3.93)	Sean Edwards (1.18)	2.419 (2nd/41)
Survivor 46	Q Burdette (3.91)	Tim Spicer (1.43)	2.454 (1st/41)