CBS Amanda Kimmel's official "Survivor: China" cast photo (2007).
Four-time “Survivor” player and one-time winner Tyson Apostol spoke out recently about “Survivor” legend Amanda Kimmel, revealing that for a brief time, the three-time contestant believed she had won back-to-back seasons and had become the first two-time winner ever. Here’s what you need to know:
Tyson: Amanda Believed ‘Fully, 100% That She Had Won’ ‘China’ & ‘Micronesia’
YouTubeAmanda Kimmel in “Survivor: China.”
Amanda Kimmel first competed on “Survivor” at the age of 22 back in 2007, when she appeared on “Survivor: China.” There, she placed third, making it to the Final Tribal Council along with allies Todd Herzog and Courtney Yates, but only secured one jury vote. About three months after coming home, she was asked to return for “Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites” as a Favorite, despite the fact that her original season was only partway through airing. As a result, when she returned to the game, she did not yet know whether she had won “China.”
Of course, Amanda, along with Parvati Shallow, made it to the end in “Micronesia,” though Amanda once again came up short, again partly due to her legendary poor ability to perform well at the Final Tribal Council. She ended up losing to Parvati in a 5-3 vote.
In a recent episode of The Ringer’s The Pod Has Spoken alongside Parvati, Tyson, who only ever appeared on the same season with Amanda once, on “Heroes vs. Villains” (though they were never on the same tribe), revealed that he has it on “very good authority” that “as soon as the [Micronesia] Final Tribal Council ended, [Amanda] was of the belief for a duration of time that she had won a million dollars twice in one year … she believed fully, 100% that she had won [both] those seasons.”
This came after a comment by Parvati, in which she mentioned, “I don’t think [Amanda] knew that she hadn’t won ‘China'” after the season had completed airing.
Of course, Ozzy Lusth (with whom Amanda had a brief romance) mentioned during “Micronesia’s” Final Tribal Council that he was “glad I didn’t win” his original season, “Cook Islands,” so that he could have been on “Micronesia” and met Amanda, implying that winners were ineligible to come back on that season. It is unknown whether this was actually a decision made by production, but if Tyson is correct, clearly Amanda didn’t think so.
Parvati Corroborated That Amanda Believed She Had Won ‘Micronesia’
GettyAmanda Kimmel and Parvati Shallow at the “Survivor: Micronesia” reunion show (2008).
The “China” finale/reunion show aired on December 16, 2007, and filming for “Micronesia” wrapped up on December 6 of that same year, meaning that if Tyson is indeed correct, there would only have been a ten-day gap in which Amanda would have had the opportunity to believe that theory.
Parvati also mentioned in the podcast that “everyone messed with us,” referring to how many of the jury members would lie to the finalists for fun, making the winner nervous, and perhaps giving the runner-up false hope. Parvati went on, calling out Eliza Orlins (who ended up voting for Parvati) in particular:
After that [Final] Tribal Council, I felt that I had won, because I knew I outperformed Amanda … but afterwards, everyone was trying to mess with me, and Eliza and people were like, ‘Oh no sorry, these people voted for whoever,’ and then I just didn’t talk to anyone really.
Parvati went on to confirm that Amanda indeed thought she had won “Micronesia” after filming, though this was likely after it was revealed she lost “China.” “And Amanda thought she had won,” Parvati said, “and so I was like, ‘This is gonna be weird when I win, and Amanda thinks she won.’ That’s what I thought.”
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. Be sure to catch the two-hour season 42 premiere, which airs this Wednesday, March 9.