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.

Top 10 Things We Have Yet to See on Survivor (But May Someday)

 I do a lot of blog posts on one of my favorite TV shows ever, Survivor.  I enjoy how the game has evolved over the years, and new things are happening all the time with its evolution.  We had a fan-favorite player get eliminated by default with Cirie in Game Changers.  We had a tribal in Second Chance where idols negated every vote.  But some instances or occurrences have never happened in Survivor history.  With all the new advantages and the numerous idols put into play by the showrunners, not only are some of these things likely to happen, but I think they (Jeff included) want them to happen.

10. A "No Vote" Tribal Council
One thing I'm not a fan of in recent seasons is how easy it is to lose your vote.  In fact, in Season 44, just going to the summit meant you lost your vote, unless you got lucky and succeeded in that 1/3 shot of getting an advantage.  It's so dumb.  Anyway, with how easy it is to lose your vote, and with shots in the dark, and with how small tribes can get, I feel like a "no vote" tribal council may happen someday.  I'm sure they have a plan in place for this, but this "dramatic moment" would feel so contrived, as do a lot of them in recent seasons.  And by a "no vote" tribal council, I do not mean a tribal council where all votes are negated.  That's happened before.  I mean a tribal council where everyone present has lost their vote or chooses to lose their vote.  Very unlikely, but it's theoretically possible.

9. A plurality tie at Final Tribal Council
I have a feeling this could happen in 44 (Spoiler alert: It does not).  But given three finalists, a tie with a plurality vote is certainly possible.  With 8 jurors like 44 has, we could see a 3-3-2 final vote.  Or if they had 9 jurors, a 4-4-1, or do I even say a 3-3-3?  We've seen a tie before in Ghost Island, but in that case, Laurel did not receive a vote and ended up casting the tie-breaking vote.  So if there's a 3-3-2 tie, how is it broken?  Do the 2 people who voted for the 3rd place person and the 3rd place person themself break the tie?  We may get that answer someday.

8. "Everyone's Safe" Tribal Council
This is what I think Jeff and the producers want most.  A tribal council where everyone is safe via immunity, idol, advantage, or shot in the dark.  We were close to it with the Cirie elimination in Game Changers.  But what would happen here?  They just vote out two people next time?  Everyone's safety cancels out and gets removed?  Draw rocks?  They fight for it?

7. Someone puts themselves into final 4 fire making and loses
We've seen it only once before where the player who won final immunity put themselves into fire: Chris in Edge of Extinction.  He won his fire-making duel with Rick Devens and then won the game.  A few others have considered attempting it, some of them regretting not doing so.  I think we will see (and likely soon) someone put themselves into fire, but lose.  It's become a running trend that winning fire-making looks a lot better to the jury.  This would happen when someone needs a boost to their resumé and knows they have no shot at winning without it.

Update: Heidi in 44 put herself into fire making, but won the fire making over Carson.  However, she still did not win the game, the first to put themselves into fire making but lose the game.

6. Multiple fake idols played at one tribal council
Hard as it may seem, we've never seen multiple fake idols be attempted to be played at the same tribal council.  For the first time in 44, producers made and introduced fake idols into the game.  In the past, players always had to make them themselves.  I think we may soon see a tribal council where someone attempts to play an idol but it turns out to be fake, and someone else attempts the same, feeling like there is no way theirs could be fake as well.

5. A player gets all the way to the end without ever having been vulnerable at a tribal council
I'm sure there have been a few players who have been somewhat close.  But this may never happen.  However, it theoretically is possible that a player gets all the way to the end without having been eligible to be voted for.  Their starting tribe would have to win every immunity, and they'd have to win individual immunity or be separated into a group that doesn't go to tribal every vote until the Final 3.  This person would have to be godlike at challenges.  They'd have to be smart with puzzles and athletic for endurance challenges.  I wonder if this ever happened, would this make a jury want to vote for them or not?  

4. A rock draw on a plurality tie
We've seen some rock draws in Survivor history, from Marquesas to Blood vs. Water to Millennials vs. Gen X.  But we've never seen one when there's been a three-way tie (or more).  I believe Survivor has had a three-way tie before, but it's always been resolved on the revote.  You'd think perhaps there'd be a tribe of 6 people with three twosomes, the twosomes all targeting three different people.  But generally, two pairs of twosomes get together to target one of the two odd people out.  Or, if a tribe has three people, each one targeting someone else.  I thought we might've seen that on Tika in 44 when they had just Caroline, Joshua, and Yam-Yam.

3. Someone gives someone their immunity necklace who then in turn plays an idol for them
I just think this would be a cute moment if it ever happened.  Two players close in the game, both of whom would be vulnerable.  One has individual immunity, but they decide to see if they can throw off the opposition and they give their immunity to their ally.  Said ally then plays an idol they happen to have on the first player.  This has never happened before, since the second player could just play their idol, but I'd still love to see it for the drama and fireworks.  Plus, it's something players would have to come up with, not the producers.

2. A player votes out someone with their idol
Let me explain.  In 44, we saw the introduction of the "Control a Vote" where Heidi got to control Lauren's vote.  Also, players loan idols all the time, namely in recent years to avoid the Knowledge is Power advantage.  This could mean someone is forced to vote out someone who has their idol.  That would just be such a kick in the nuts.  

1. A rock draw for $1 million?!
Even with a final three, a deadlock tribal council is possible.  I believe, for this reason, the show tries to avoid a jury size that is a multiple of 3 (namely 9).  I don't believe they've had a jury where the final 3 could've each gotten the same number of votes.  But I could be wrong.  But surely they must have something in place for this in case it happens.  For example, in Winners at War, what if one more person had left the Edge (joining Sandra in doing so), and the 15 jurors split their votes 5-5-5 between Tony, Natalie, and Michele?  Surely they wouldn't do a rock draw for $1 million, right?  I guess they'd have the jury talk it over until they came to a consensus.  Or possibly re-vote until someone gets the majority.  

BONUS (Unlikely): A juror that never casts a vote
We saw in 44 how Matt got to the jury, despite the only time he ever cast a vote being the time he got voted out.  Well, with how much the producers love taking people's votes away in mind (and the Shot in the Dark), we could see a juror on Survivor who never casts a vote, not even for a winner.  This could only happen if they re-introduced the "Remove a Juror" advantage, as seen in Kaoh Rong.  That was only introduced because of the med-evacs and needing an extra challenge, but I feel like we potentially could see it again.  Imagine, you get on the jury, but you don't get to cast a vote all game.  We will probably see a juror at some point that the first time they put pen to paper is for the winner.

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.