Survivor: Guatemala

Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire (mostly known as Survivor: Guatemala) is the eleventh season of the US reality show, Survivor.

Production/Casting
Applications were due on January 14, 2005. Around March 2005, 800 applicants were selected for an interview by CBS. Out of these 800, 48 semi-finalists were selected to go in Los Angeles sometime around April 2005. From these semi-finalists, 16 were chosen to participate the show between June to August 2005.

This season also features the return of Survivor: Palau fan favorites Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard, thus raising the cast roster to 18. Other notable castmembers include former beauty queen and model-turned radio announcer Danni Boatwright and ex-NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom. Tina Scheer, a contestant on Survivor: Panama, was slated to be on this season; however, her son had been killed in a car accident and she backed out. After the accident, she was given opportunity to compete for the next season. She was replaced by Amy O'Hara.

Twists/Changes

 * Two Returning Contestants: Two former contestants return for another chance to win. This practice would be repeated for and.
 * Tribe Switch: On Day 8, the two tribes were shuffled.
 * Double Tribal Council: Both tribes were told of a double elimination, the tribe who wins Reward would compete for individual immunity and then that person would observe the losing tribe's Tribal Council and vote for one person to be immune from the vote.
 * Hidden Immunity Idol: Located around the Xhakum campsite is a small wooden totem that can be used as a form of individual immunity, clues were given to winners of challenges to find it and play before the vote to detract particular voting blocs from targeting him/her. Once the idol is played, it is retired.

Trivia

 * With their inclusion this season, Stephenie and Bobby Jon are the second and third players to compete in back-to-back seasons, the first being Rupert Boneham.
 * This is the first season of Survivor to include both new players and returning players.
 * This is the first season of Survivor to include the Hidden Immunity Idol.
 * This was the first season to feature two returning contestants where both players made the merge, followed by Survivor: South Pacific.
 * This is the first season that had new constestants in which none of them has returned to play on a future season, followed by.
 * This is the only season to include two returning players to have a tribe swap and a final 2.
 * Wanda Shirk, Jonathan Libby, Michael Skupin, and Rodger Bingham were each considered to return until the decision was made for Stephenie and Bobby Jon to return.