Favorite Survivor Players from Each Season who Never Got a Second Chance (And probably never will)

Survivor over the years has done a great job at bringing its best characters and players back for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th times.  But unfortunately, they cannot bring everyone back.  I'm going to pick my favorite player from each season who never got to play again.  Some declined, some wanted to but couldn't, and some we may never know about.  I'll give a quick word about them as well.  Obviously, full returnee seasons will not be considered since everyone on those seasons was already playing their 2nd time at least.

Borneo: Greg Buis
Greg was a hoot.  He makes Borneo fun.  It's a shame, they brought back the Tagi 4 plus Jenna and Gervase, but not Greg.  

Australian Outback: Nick Brown
I'll even admit, Nick is one of the most boring characters on this season.  But, he's also one of the sanest members of the Kucha tribe.  Plus, him being the first contestant from Washington state meant a lot to me back then and still does.  I bet he could've done more with a second chance.

Africa: Theresa "T-Bird" Cooper
It's a shame.  She's still a huge part of the Survivor community, and I believe she was on the Second Chance ballot but didn't make it.  

Marquesas: Vecepia Towery
There's not really anyone else, except maybe Sean Rector.  The unfortunate thing is I think "V" has never been brought back because Jeff referred to as one of their most boring winners.  I don't agree.

Thailand: Jake Billingsley
He's basically the only person from this cast that's somewhat likable.  Robb is endearing in his own way, but he's kind of a douche.  Jake's one shot would've been All Stars considering his age.  I wonder if he would've replaced Rudy if Rudy couldn't have made it?

Amazon: Heidi Strobel
I've vouched for Heidi for a while.  They bring Jenna back but not her?  She's still in great shape.  It's not too late.

Pearl Islands: Burton Roberts
Burton was an interesting character and I would've liked to see him come back.  He and Fairplay formed a formidable duo.

Vanuatu: Chris Daugherty
The second winner on this list.  I would've loved to see Chris back.  He was such a good B.S.'er.  But I think he never was asked because Probst had beef with him.

Palau: Ian Rosenberger
Ian may have played the most notable game of anyone to have not played a second time.  He's up there.  I know he was asked back but declined.  Shame.

Guatemala: Judd Sergeant
Shoutout to Brian Corridan for being a pre-merge boot I'd like to see back, but Judd hasn't been back, either, and he was one of the old-school era's most notable characters.

Panama: Shane Powers
Is there any question?  Shane was on the Second Chance Ballot but didn't make it.  He should've made it over Vytas, at least.  One of the most interesting characters in Survivor history only got one chance.  And he almost had one in Heroes vs. Villains before they bumped him for Russell.  

Cook Islands: Cao Boi Bui
I almost went with Nate, but Cao Boi has to be mentioned.  Yes, he's a pre-merge boot, but he made a notable impact.  Interesting character and he came up with the split vote method to flush idols.

Fiji: James "Rocky" Reid
I almost said Earl, but then I remembered Rocky.  He was an interesting character that was screwed over by an awful twist.  Had he been on a decent tribe, he might've made a bigger impact.

China: Todd Herzog
I did say the winner here though in Todd.  His battle with alcoholism is well-documented, but he has since recovered.  He played such a great game--would love to see how he'd play nowadays, but that'll probably never happen.

Micronesia: Natalie Bolton
Shoutout to Tracy Hughes-Wolfe, but Natalie outlasted her.  Also, Natalie's the only member from the Black Widow Brigade to not have played again since this season.  They almost had the entire BWB on Heroes vs. Villains, but she just missed the cut for that.

Gabon: Matty Whitmore
I liked Matty.  He survived the terrible Fang tribe and was mostly well-liked.  His reaction to Marcus's blindside is still iconic.  

Tocantins: Taj Johnson-George
Yes, she and her husband, Eddie, have money, but she was like a Cirie 2.0, so she should've been brought back.

Samoa: Jaison Robinson
Hard to say this season.  They even brought back Monica from this season.  But I'd say Jaison.  He was an interesting dude that kinda got screwed over.

Nicaragua: Marty Piombo
I'll never get over the fact that Marty never returned.  He was the only player from the older tribe that could really play.  

Redemption Island: Ralph Kiser
I like good ol' southern boys on Survivor.  Big Tom, James from Palau, and Ralph.  They make great TV.  Ralph could've shined on a returnee season, giving us more "Krasta"s and "Ressell"s.  RIP.

South Pacific: Jim Rice
It was either Jim, Christine, or Stacey.  I'll go with Jim, who most have forgotten about by now, but I haven't.  He was a decent player screwed over by Cochran.

One World: Greg "Tarzan" Smith
He delivered some great soundbites and was the last man standing.  "The game is afoot".  I also loved how moved he was to spend the loved one's visit with his wife and how he saved his auction money because his car needed new shocks.  Haha.

Philippines: Jeff Kent
I don't think we've had any minor celebrities return to play again (ones who were celebrities before playing).  But Jeff Kent would've been a good one to bring back to see if he could get the $1 million, or 600 grand by the time Obama takes it.

Caramoan: Reynold Toepfer
The Fans tribe this season was quite lackluster, but Reynold stood out to me.  I'd have loved to see him again, but it wasn't meant to be.  

Blood vs. Water: Hayden Moss
Still boggles my mind they brought Ciera back twice but not him.  Hayden was the one who convinced Ciera to go to rocks.  

Cagayan: Brice Johnston
So many from this season have returned, so I went with Brice, a pre-merge boot.  He's still a huge part of the Survivor community, hosting events with Wendell.  He deserves another shot.

San Juan Del Sur: Jon Misch
Not the greatest cast in the world, but I'd like to see Jon Misch back.  He was fooled by Natalie a couple times, but perhaps he's learned a bit.  

Worlds Apart: Carolyn "Mama C" Rivera
She didn't align herself with the most decent people, but she was a good player.  She executed an idol play and I know she wants to play again.

Kaoh Rong: Cydney Gillon
I almost chose Julia because of my crush on her, but I'll go with Cydney, who was a decent player and kind of almost won.  She's way into bodybuilding now so I don't think she'll ever play again.

Millennials vs. Gen X: Jay Starrett
He's been on The Challenge, so you know he's cool with keeping himself busy with shows.  But would Survivor bring him back?  Hard to say at this point.  

Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers: Chrissy Hofbeck
She's owed one by the show.  She's the only player who went into her season not knowing about the F4 firemaking twist.  She did surprisingly well in challenges, too.

Ghost Island: Dominick Abate
The only player to ever lose in a tiebreaking final vote still has not returned.  Shame.  

David vs. Goliath: Christian Hubicki
I'm not sure if he even wants to play again, but I know most fans would want to see him back.

Edge of Extinction: Rick Devens
No surprise here.  Such a personable and great for TV character.  He even co-hosted the On Fire podcast, which I think is a good sign for his future chances.

Island of the Idols: Janet Carbin
Another player screwed over was Janet (Idol Nullifier--dumb twist IMO).  She was very likable and handled the Dan incident well.  Perhaps the show wants nothing to do with this season ever again, though.

And now with the New Era seasons, I'm going to pick the player from each season I'd like to see return but I don't think ever will.  So these are not the players I most want to see back; just the ones I'd most like to see back that I'd bet won't come back.

41: Sydney Segal
Yet another player screwed over, this time by the Hourglass Twist.  She's easy on the eyes, but I don't think enough people remember her gameplay.  

42: Tori Meehan
She was surprisingly adept, just got dealt a bad hand.  Imagine her with stronger allies.  She was good in challenges, so I say bring her back.  But I don't think it'll happen.

43: Owen Knight
He may return, but I have a feeling casting might stay away from Final Tribal Council losers, at least the ones who got 1 or 0 votes.  He was good all-around, and he might have much more success given a different opportunity.

44: Matt Blankinship
As you can tell, I like to pick players who were screwed over.  Matt was screwed over by the split tribal, where all of his allies were on the other team.  Shame.  

45: Emily Flippen
I pick Emily because I think she said she wouldn't play again, but she definitely would be good TV again.  

46: Tevin Davis
He certainly made for good TV, but I feel he'll get overshadowed by Q, given their similar demographics.  I wouldn't be surprised if they passed over him.  

47: Rome Cooney
Rome was an interesting player and a good villain.  I wasn't a fan of how he "bulled" Sol, but nothing was personal--it was all part of the game.  But after he leaked the boot order, he's likely not getting asked back again.

Ranking the Potential Type of Returnee Season for Survivor Season 50

 Jeff Probst recently announced that Season 50 of Survivor will be returning players, but that was not much surprise to anybody.  We had a feeling they'd have to do something special for Survivor's 50th season.  And it will not come too soon, as it's been since Season 40 that we had a season with multiple returning players.  That is the longest such stretch in Survivor history without multiple returning players.

So after this announcement, a lot of speculation has happened among Survivor fans as to what kind of cast it will be.  There are a few different ways they could go with this, and I'm going to rank them 10 to 1 based on how well each theme would work out and be received by the Survivor fanbase as a whole.  Keep in mind Jeff did not explicitly state that it would be all returning players, so there are a couple of previously used themes potentially in play.  Here are the possible themes ranked:

10. First Boots
What's so special about first boots?  I have no idea.  Could they even get 18 or 20 of them?  Are there really 18 or 20 first boots we want to see again?  I don't think there are.  There are certainly a handful, such as Zane, Jelinsky, Zach Wurtenberger, and possibly even Francesca, but the list grows short after that.  

9. Fans vs. Favorites 3
Yes, they could do a Fans vs. Favorites 3, which would only be 1/2 returnee players.  I highly doubt they will do this since fans want to see a full returning players season, and this would definitely enrage the fanbase a bit.  

8. Blood vs. Water 3
Again, it would only be 1/2 of the cast, but we could see 10 new-ish era players with their loved ones.  I highly doubt they'll do this again, but Jeff does love this theme, I know that.  Again, Jeff did not explicitly say it would be all returning players.

7. Regular All-Stars Type Season
Like All-Stars in Season 8 or Game Changers in Season 34, this would be a regular cast of All-Stars, with winners allowed and no clear theme for the division of the tribes.  One small negative I see to this is it would allow the showrunners to have three tribes of six (AGAIN), which has become a New Era staple.   But also, this theme would be so bland and generic, and while any returning player season would be fun, not having any kind of theme would instantly make it a bit lame. 

6. Rivals
A Rivals-type season has been long-talked about, but never happened.  So it would be like Blood vs. Water, but the opposite, I guess.  10 players and 10 of their rivals.  Domenick and Chris Noble?  Shan and Ricard?  Katurah and Bruce?  Liz and Q?  There are a few ideas.  The issue would be casting them so there are even number of men and women.  But I like this idea a lot, because I bet there'd be a lot of drama and there'd likely be a rival pairing or two that would actually want to work together, since no one would expect them to. But Rivals seems like a bit of a kind of lamer season, so it's here at number 6.

5. New Era vs. Old Era 
I don't think it'd be called this (New School vs. Old School?  Battle of the Ages/Eras?), but this is one I could see happening that wouldn't excite the fanbase too much, but maybe enough to keep the ratings up.  They'd have to settle on a demarcation point as to what constitutes a new era and what constitutes an old era player.  My suggestion is Season 25 as the demarcation point, since that'd be halfway at this point.  But I do see the issue with trying to find 8-10 old era players that would be willing and able to keep up with the new era players.  They key being if they're able to.  Not many would.  Alternatively, they could make this a three-tribe format, with 6 old era players (1-19), 6 "middle" era players (21-39), and 6 New Era players (41-49).  But again, I'd worry about the old era players keeping up.

4. Outwit vs. Outplay vs. Outlast
What would be a good way to culminate 50 seasons of Survivor?  By having six players that have excelled in outwitting, six players who excelled in outplaying, and six players who excelled in outlasting others.  Again, this would be another three tribe, six player start, but I would be okay with this one.  It would be interesting to see who would be on which tribe.  I would worry about the Outplay tribe possibly dominating challenges, but that's where they'd have to cast a couple of players who excelled more in finding idols rather than challenges.  One thing I'd say about this season's cast: No losing finalists.  If they truly excelled at "out"-whatevering, then they would've won their season.  

3. Heroes vs. Villains 2
I'm a huge fan of this theme, and I think the fanbase as a whole would really like it.  However, the line between hero and villain has certainly gotten blurred over the years in the game of Survivor.  Maybe they could do Heroes vs. Villains vs. Anti-Heroes?  That would be a bit easier for them to cast for.  Either way, the theme of good vs. evil is always entertaining.  A good story has a good villian to root against and a good hero to root for.

2. Legends vs. Rising Stars
This is a theme I'm putting forth, and I think it would work.  First off, a tribe of legends.  Who wouldn't want that?  No restrictions on how much they've played or if they've won or not.  Just 8-10 legends of the game--some of the biggest names in Survivor history.  We certainly have plenty of those.  Then, on the other tribe, you have 8-10 up-and-comers.  Rising stars, if you will.  These would be players who made a big name for themselves their first time playing and are determined to do so again.  It would be like having a baseball game of future Hall of Famers against future All-Stars.  Wouldn't that be fun to watch?

1. Second Chances 2
Let the fans decide again.  Why not?  There are a lot of ways to run the voting, and who wouldn't love to have a say in the cast again?  Potential players could run campaigns, trying to establish trending hashtags for their support.  The previous time we had the fans vote, social media was not the thing it is today.  Yes, this would only be players who have played once before, but that's fine--we've got plenty of those.  I do worry that the showrunners/producers would find a way to force a minimum number of New Era (41+) players in the game, but even if that happened, there are plenty of those who we'd love to see again as well.  Also, I must add, it'd be hard to enforce the diversity mandate.  They couldn't split them up into whites vs. minorities.  But I'm sure they could find a way.  Perhaps fans could pick their favorites from a list of 100, and the producers choose from there.  Just an idea.

Top 10 Survivors Who Never Got a Second Chance

Survivor has been played by over 600 players.  Some have come back to play a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, or even 5th time!  But then some never played again.  In fact, a large majority of players only play once.  But there are ten I can pick out that I wish had played again.  These ten players Survivor really missed out on by not casting them again while their seasons were still fairly recent.  These ten will likely never play again, so there's no one past season 30 on here.  So this is my tribute to them.  My ten favorite one-time players who will likely never play again.  Here they are:

10. Carolyn Rivera ("Mama C") - Worlds Apart
Mama C was a very good player, and she was fairly likable.  I wasn't a huge fan of who she aligned with, but she played a good game, nonetheless.  A part of me feels she deserved the win over Mike, since Mike had to immunity and idol his way to the end.  She voiced on the Top 100 players of all time video on Russell Hantz's YouTube channel that she wants to play again, but I feel like it's too late, as she was already in her early 50's when her season aired.  

9. Ian Rosenberger - Palau
How can we not want to see a guy who voluntarily stepped down from the longest challenge ever back?  And he did so to save face and have a decent relationship with Tom and Katie after the show.  But I believe he has been approached about playing again, but he turned down producers.  I'm sure if they gave him enough of an appearance fee, he would've played again.  Oh well.

8. Taj George - Tocantins
Being a minor celebrity, Taj probably doesn't want to play again.  But she was like a second Cirie Fields.  She was likable, and if not for JT and Stephen, she might have won.  Well, she would've needed to outlast the Timbira members.  Anyway, I wish she had maybe played Blood vs. Water with her husband, former NFL running back Eddie George.  That would've been cool.

7. Hayden Moss - Blood vs. Water
Hayden clearly showed he was a gamer, and his skills from Big Brother translated fairly well to the game of Survivor.  I wish we had seen Hayden on Second Chance or Game Changers.  He would've been a more interesting player on GC than Caleb.  I loved his ability to convince Ciera to force a rock draw with Tyson.  

6. Cao Boi - Cook Islands
The man that came up with the splitting the votes tactic!  Plan Voodoo!  How could we not have seen Cao Boi back?  I honestly think I would've preferred him on Micronesia over Yau Man (especially considering how early of a boot Yau Man was).  Maybe they didn't bring him back because of his racial insensitivity (to his own race, mind you), and also maybe the fact he didn't make the merge.  

5. Earl Cole - Fiji
Earl is the one winner on this list, and man, I would've liked to have seen him back.  He was such a likable guy on a season that isn't particularly likable.  He would've made a good Hero on HvV or probably a more interesting player on Blood vs. Water (with his wife?) than Aras, and he certainly would've been a welcome addition on Winners at War.  Unfortunately, he had to turn it down due to his wife recently giving birth.  

4. Theresa "T-Bird" Cooper - Africa
Each time I watch Season 3, Africa, I like T-Bird more and more.  I like how she wasn't intimidated by Lex at all.  I like her southern accent.  And she's just a sweet, southern lady.  I would've much preferred her on All-Stars over Tina or Jenna Lewis.  They could've had four from Africa on All-Stars as they had four from Australian Outback (Tina, Colby, Amber, Jerri).

3. Marty Piombo - Nicaragua
Marty was a gamer.  He was incredibly smart and was voted out way too soon.  He was maybe (even at the time) ahead of his time.  He should've come back to show his full potential.  But by this point, it's probably too late.  If he was originally cast on a more memorable season, we might've seen him back.

2. Heidi Strobel/Hamels - Amazon
When you think of Survivor Amazon, who are the first players that come to mind?  For me, it's Rob C, Jenna, and Heidi.  And let me also ask you this.  What Survivor player in history best fulfills the dumb blonde stereotype?  You probably think Heidi.  Yet she has never played again.  Such a shame.  Again, she easily could've replaced her friend Jenna on All-Stars, and should've, given Jenna's mom's health at the time.  

1. Shane Powers - Panama/Exile Island
Such a shame that a character like Shane never played again.  And he was willing to, too.  He was on the HvV cast until he was cut for Russell Hantz at the last minute.  He was on the ballot for Cambodia: Second Chance, but somehow missed the cut (come on, people!).  By this point, it's probably too late.  He's probably also given up on reappearing as well.  Shane's just a unique, fun character to watch, and one that you hardly ever see on Survivor.  Again, such a shame.

Top 20 Survivor Players who (still) deserve a second shot

Survivor is my all time favorite reality show.  They've now gone on for 40 seasons and 20 years.  There have been 487 different players in Survivor's 20 year run.  103 have played multiple seasons.  Of the remaining 384, there are certainly some who deserve a second shot.  Some are interesting characters and some are actual good players.  I have come up with 20 players who deserved a second shot.  I even went to the trouble to make it 10 men and 10 women, with some diversity as well, as if this could be a future season of Survivor.  And to make it even more interesting, I divided them into two tribes: Characters and Players.  

The ten on the character tribe are known more for their interesting personalities than being good players.  This certainly would be an interesting and fun to watch tribe.  Would they struggle?  Probably.  But it would be so much fun to watch.

Characters:

Shane Powers (Exile Island/Panama)
I believe Shane was in the running to be a Villain on "Heroes vs. Villains", but was a last minute cut, probably for Russell Hantz.  Who knows if he even is on good terms with CBS, but it still would be interesting to see Shane return.  He might be on the cusp of being too old, but we've seen older returning players.

Nate Gonzalez (Cook Islands)
Nate was sure fun to watch and I liked his personality.  He also gave us some of the best jury member reactions we've still ever seen.  I would love to see Nate brought back, if just for his reactions as a jury member.

Erik Cardona (Samoa)
Erik would definitely be a "villain" type of player.  He did, however, do his best to persuade the jury to vote for Natalie to win over Russell, which may have resulted in Natalie's victory.  He would have been a great player that could have potentially stopped Russell Hantz had he not been blindsided when he was.  

Dave Ball (Samoa)
Yet another male player from Samoa, and they were on the same tribe, too.  Dave was an interesting character, and he had some great one-liners.  My favorite was "He [Erik] got clotheslined... by the clothesline!"  They should bring Dave Ball back.  Mostly because Jeff often used his full name.

Hayden Moss (Blood vs. Water)
Hayden finished with the 2nd best position of any "loved one" on Blood vs. Water, yet he has never been brought back.  He played a hard game and even managed to sway Ciera to his side to force a rock draw.  I loved his banter with Tyson about "russelling feathers".  He would be an interesting character to bring back.

Heidi Strobel (Amazon)
I'm surprised they brought back Jenna but never Heidi.  Heidi was just as interesting of a character, if not more so.  I still think Heidi could come back, but instead of being the hot, ditzy blonde she's the hot, ditzy mom.  She stays active as can be gathered from her posts on Instagram.  Her being married to a famous baseball player (Cole Hamels) would probably work against her, though.

Michelle Yi (Fiji)
Fiji actually had a pretty good cast, despite only one player (Yau Man) ever returning to play again so far.  There's only a small handful that could work in bringing them back, and one of them is Michelle.  Michelle was screwed over by a twist in the game, which was an impromptu tribal council with a group of random players in which she was on the wrong side of the numbers.  She was adorable and also started fire with basically nothing, so she would be awesome to have back.

Natalie Bolton (Micronesia)
Natalie was definitely a villainess on her season, which didn't really show until after the merge and the Black Widow alliance formed.  She was the one who got the immunity necklace from Erik.  She also gave some confessionals to show her true colors.  I'm a bit surprised she was never brought back.  I'd love to see her back.  

Alicia Rosa (One World)
Sure, Alicia said some mean things and didn't seem like a good person, but she still made for an entertaining villain.  She went through breast cancer and a double mastectomy in the past few years, which probably made her appreciate the smaller things in life more.  I'd love to see her given a second chance.    

J'Tia Taylor (Cagayan)
She may have dumped out her tribe's rice, but I'm sure she's matured since then.  She has since gotten married.  Perhaps with a second shot, her tribe would do better?  Probably not, but it would be interesting to see her again.

Players:

Jonas Otsuji (One World)
Jonas was well-liked, which ultimately was the reason for his demise.  The guy reminded me of a good-natured Boston Rob.  I always thought he deserved a second shot.  He gave some pretty funny confessionals, too.

Ian Rosenberger (Palau)
I think Ian is someone CBS has definitely wanted back, and he was asked back for Cambodia: Second Chance but he declined.  He's still fairly young and could come back if he changes his mind.  

Rafe Judkins (Guatemala)
I thought Rafe was playing the best game of his season, and I'm a bit surprised he never played again.  He's a television writer now, so it's unlikely he'd ever leave that comfortable job to play Survivor again.  But Rafe seems like someone intelligent enough to adapt to the faster-paced game.

Kenny Hoang (Gabon)
Kenny was undoubtedly playing the best strategic game in Gabon.  He tried to make Bob out to the be the bad guy, but it backfired.  I would love to see him given a second shot.  I could see him controlling a game if he was brought back.

Reynold Toepfer (Caramoan)
Reynold was a huge part of the Three Amigos alliance.  He became a force in challenges as well.  He just got on the wrong side of the numbers.  He seemed like a strong and vocal player who was in hot water the entire game.  Yet he made it a lot further than people were expecting.  It might be hard to bring him back as Reynold has settled down and started a family.

Darrah Johnson (Pearl Islands)
I loved Darrah on Pearl Islands.  She wasn't a very vocal or strategic player, but she went on immunity run semi-late into the game, which once it ended, resulted in her being voted out.  She's still under the age of 40.  She also was the Morgan tribe member that got the furthest in the game before being voted out for the first time.  

Sherea Lloyd (China)
I remember Sherea being the strongest female of her struggling Zhan Hu tribe.  When the tribes had to pick the other tribe's two strongest players they'd like, Sherea was chosen.  Yet, she has never returned to play again.  I think she could still be a force.  

Ashley Underwood (Redemption Island)
Of the two girls under Boston Rob's wing, Ashley was definitely the stronger player, which resulted in Natalie making it to the end and not her.  She started being a huge force in challenges late in the game.  If she had somehow managed to take out Boston Rob and went to the end with Natalie and Phillip, I think she wins.  I would like to see her given a second shot.

Chelsea Meissner (One World)
I think Chelsea played a pretty darn good game.  It's just that Kim Spradlin was controlling everything and was playing an even better game.  I'd love to see Chelsea given a second shot if she wanted.  I think she would learn to be more vocal and more aggressive.

RC Saint-Amour (Philippines)
The funny thing is, RC was supposed to be on "Blood vs. Water" with her dad, but he had a medical issue and they couldn't go and were replaced by Candice and John.  So CBS has definitely wanted her back, yet she still has yet to come back.  She's still fairly young, so why not?