CBS Jeff Probst on the set of 'Survivor'
A reliable “Survivor” spoiler account dished the dirt recently about which castaways production really wants to get back for the next returning players season. Here are the top picks and when we might next see returning players.
The Top Castaways Include Natalie Bolton, Shane Power, and Teresa Cooper
According to SpoilerGirl1 on Twitter, which is a reliable source for “Survivor” and “Big Brother” insider info, the top castaways that production would like to bring back are:
- Domenick Abbate, 2nd place, “Ghost Island,” season 36
- Natalie Bolton, 4th place, “Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites,” season 16
- Janet Carbin, 5th place, “Island of the Idols,” season 39
- Teresa Cooper, 5th place, “Africa,” season three
- Chrissy Hofbeck, 2nd place, “Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers,” season 35
- Christian Hubicki, 7th place, “David vs. Goliath,” season 37
- Angelina Keeley, 3rd place, “David vs. Goliath,” season 37
- Devon Pinto, 4th place, “Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers,” season 35
- Shane Powers, 5th place, “Panama — Exile Island,” season 12
- Davie Rickenbacker, 6th place, “David vs. Goliath,” season 37
- Jay Starrett, 6th place, “Millennials vs. Gen X,” season 33
That is the start of a pretty strong cast. A lot of those people had good strategy and went deep into the game. We would also like to toss out there Elaine Stott and Jamal Shipman from “Island of the Idols,” Sabrina Thompson from “One World,” Hannah Shapiro from “Millennials vs. Gen X,” and Sean Rector from “Marquesas.” Like one Twitter commenter suggested, we would also love to see Kellee Kim from “Island of the Idols” get another chance, but SpoilerGirl wrote to that suggestion, “I don’t see it. They do not want any Dan reminders,” in reference to Dan Spilo being removed from the game.
Season 44 Is the Earliest We Would See Returning Players
Season 43 likely to be newbies. The plan at the moment is for second chance 2 to be the next returning player season but could change. #Survivor
SpoilerGirl recently said that CBS wants to revive one of its classic “Survivor” themes — “Second Chances,” “Fans vs. Favorites,” or “Blood vs. Water.” As of right now, they are leaning toward “Second Chances 2,” hence the cast above where no one has played more than once already.
We already know that seasons 41 and 42 are all new players and SpoilerGirl said that season 43 is “like to be newbies” as well, so the earliest we would see a returning players season is season 44, which would air spring 2023.
That makes sense. In the first 20 seasons of “Survivor,” there were only four seasons with returning players, but since then, there have been nine seasons out of 20 with returning players, so they do that every few seasons — nearly every other one. The show going three full seasons without returning players would be quite remarkable at this point.
But also, potential returnees could emerge from the three seasons of all newbies, so that might help round out a cast of “Second Chance” players. We also hope CBS seriously considers another “Blood vs. Water” season, whether with returning players, as they did the first time, or with all new people, as they did the second time. If they did returning players, a lot of classic players now have children old enough to play and the parent-child dynamic is arguably the most interesting one on a “Blood vs. Water” season. We would love to see some players return with their offspring.
“Survivor” returns on Wednesday, September 22 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
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