Survivor Contestants who are Probably Ineligible from Becoming Returning Players

You might want an explanation as to what I mean by this type of post. I’m not entirely sure why I’m doing it, but I figure that I might as well come up with a post of some sort each week to keep fans of this show entertained while this show is on hiatus. I think that it might be notable to think of all of the past contestants who, for one reason or another, might be ineligible from playing again.

The one that is most obvious to me is that most quitters would be on the list. Maybe not all of them, but I’d think that Osten from Pearl Islands, Sue from Borneo and All Stars, Janu from Palau, Melissa from Fiji, Kathy from Micronesia, NaOnka from Nicaragua, Kelly Shinn from Nicaragua, Colton from Blood versus Water, Lindsey from Cagayan, Julie from San Juan del Sur, and Bi from David versus Goliath are more than likely not playing again in any future season. This doesn’t include all of the quitters as maybe some that aren’t listed would be considered to be brought back or are mentioned in a different group.

Next comes the group of those that were close to being quitters, but might not be considered that way to all, like me or others. I’ll explain more. They are Gary from Fiji, Dana from Philippines, and Terry from Panama and Game Changers. The first two were more like medical evacuations than anything else. It was the second one that retroactively changed the first one. But I don’t see them as true quits. Terry was an odd exit unlike any other. Still, it might be considered a quit to some. Whatever the reasons, if they are considered quitters to the producers, they won’t be coming back.

Speaking of people who would be considered quitters but might not be, there are a lot of people who had asked to be voted out. Some of these were stated by other players in interviews afterwards and might not be what some think they are. Thus, those players are Shawna from Amazon, Jonny Fairplay from Pearl Islands and Micronesia, Ashlee from Palau, Jeff Wilson from Palau, Willard from Palau, Chet from Micronesia, GC from Gabon, Jimmy Johnson from Nicaragua, and Zane from Philippines.

Now there are other people who for one reason or another would have been put on a hypothetical list of banned players to never be considered for playing again. I will go into what makes them unique and not to be grouped with the other players listed above.

If anyone were to start a banned players list, it would be Stacey from Borneo. After the show was over, she sued it, saying that the producers affected the game and convinced other players to vote her out instead of another player. I, personally, think she was out to make a quick buck and didn’t realize that she would be countersued by Mark Burnett for up to five million dollars. If you spoil any season, that is how much you would have to pay if they could prove that you did it. You would have to win the show 5 times just to break even. And nobody has played that much. Stacey is the reason that contestants are paid for being on the reunion show. Still, much mystery remains with the case that was settled out of court in some way. I just know that she ain’t coming back.

Something that I’m not quite sure of is if a member of a dream team can play Survivor as they might have insider knowledge on how challenges are played and know secrets about how to win them that ordinary contestants might not know. Hunter from Marquesas was once part of Survivor’s dream team. I do not know which season this might have been and it could have easily been more than one. So maybe he could play again, but I’m not entirely sure if he can.

Speaking of insider knowledge about the game, Jeff Probst once dated a contestant, Julie from Vanuatu. She has admitted that she thus knows more production secrets (whatever that means) than any other contestant on the show. Thus, she might not be able to play again.

There have been cases of contestants causing controversy whether they mean to or not. Denise from China caused issues when she said at the reunion show that she was demoted because of being on the show. Mark then gave her a special amount of money because of it. But it turned out that the change in her job was agreed upon before she left. She gave the money to charity as a result. Still, this whole mess of things, while brief, could make it unlikely that she could play again.

Sometimes, a contestant gets too full of themselves and very angry at things in general. One of the most notorious contestants in Survivor history was Russell Hantz from Samoa, Heroes versus Villains, and Redemption Island. I think that it is likely that he is banned now from the show. His family isn’t doing good on their reality show appearances. It is likely that they will part ways with him now as a result.

One of the most important rules of Survivor is that you can’t split winnings or potential winnings with other players in order to advance in the game. Sash from Nicaragua might have done that. But we do not know for sure if he did or didn’t as it all came down to he said/she said and apparently the cameras did not catch any potential real deal. Thus, it is likely that he might not come back as a result.

Here’s another example of something that might be based on conjuncture. There is a rumor that Steve from Redemption Island had thrown his duel. You’d think that intentionally throwing a duel would be considered a quit and thus, he wouldn’t return as a result.

One of the most explosive exits ever seen in Survivor history related to the departure of Brandon Hantz from South Pacific and Caramoan. The second time he played led to a meltdown that got him voted out after his tribe gave up immunity before any challenge took place. He might have been banned from the reunion show as a result, although I’m not entirely sure if he was or wasn’t. Still, a person of his quite bad temperament probably shouldn’t be on TV and given a platform. Have we learned nothing from the 2016 presidential election?

Another contestant who might have violated the rulebook was Bill from One World. For reasons that are unknown, he took Colton’s hidden immunity idol and threw it into the sea. The idol was returned to him as idols can’t be stolen and discarded of like that. Whether or not this lead to the now infamous giving up of immunity that production allowed, I’m not sure. (It was said to be why Colton hated Bill.) I do not think that they gave Bill much crap since he later hosted the Survivor live after show. But there is a huge difference between playing on the show and merely talking about it.

Regarding contestants who might have caused issues with production, Vytas from Blood versus Water and Cambodia accidently somehow spoiled that he was premerge on his second season. He thinks that it was a mistake that someone else had caused. Still, he was banned from the reunion show that season and it’s likely that he might not ever play again as a result.

Alec from David versus Goliath was the most recent person who caused issues with production when he had spoiled himself to be a contestant on that season and was banned by production. I do wonder if they are getting to be too serious at times, production, that is. Who knows? Maybe it won’t be too long before a contestant is officially expelled.

There might be more, but probably aren’t. These were all of the people that I could think of at least. I do not know much about who else I could have missed potentially. That’s actually a lot. There are more than you might think that there should be. In fact, probably no one should be on the list in the end. But there are a lot of people who might not be playing Survivor again.

Well, I need to give myself more time to write posts in addition to what’s going in the rest of my life and I can only hope that this blog can continue no matter what. I hope that you enjoyed this post and I will let you know if there are ever any changes in this blog. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.