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!
The top 20 finishers:
So that’s...
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:
*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.
[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.
And before we get to the leaderboards by season, some fun-fact-ish notes on the vote totals:
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) |
Anthony (aka beatles20147) is a longtime Survivor fan and former Survivor Historian, who also holds the vaunted distinction of being the only Survivor Sucks poster to whom Jeff Probst has ever responded. (He posted logical, constructive criticism about the Redemption Island format after Redemption Island aired; Probst posted a response, saying he understood his concerns, then promptly put RI right back in for South Pacific, because he's Jeff Probst, and he does Jeff Probst-y things.)