Survivor: All-Stars

Survivor: All-Stars is the eighth season of Survivor.

In a change to previous instalments, the contestants are returning "stars" from the seven previous seasons.

Production/Casting
Producer Mark Burnett has confirmed that two people turned down formal offers to appear on the All-Stars edition of Survivor — Elisabeth Hasselbeck from, who had recently started co-hosting The View, and Colleen Haskell of the show's premiere season, who "had moved on with her life and just genuinely didn't want to go through that again." winner Brian Heidik was asked to appear on the show, but he would only do so on the condition that he be paid a substantial sum for his appearance regardless of his standing in the game. winner Sandra Diaz-Twine also confirmed that she turned down an offer to return for this season, saying that she was still recovering from parasites that she received during her season. winner Vecepia Towery was pregnant at the time of the show, so she couldn't make it. Neleh Dennis from Survivor: Marquesas revealed that she went through the interviewing process and was set to go, but was ultimately cut at the last minute. Jon Dalton from has claimed that he also turned down an offer to appear. Jenna Morasca revealed that her fellow tribemate Heidi Strobel had also turned down the offer to appear on the show. Sean Rector has claimed that he went through the interviewing process and was set to go, but was ultimately cut at the last minute. Rodger Bingham also claimed that he and Michael Skupin were considered but not chosen.

Burnett jokingly said that "the casting was really, really scientific. I got a yellow legal pad and wrote down 24 names, and [then] cut down to 18. It was that quick."

Twists/Changes

 * Expanded Cast: For the first time in the series, there are eighteen contestants. They are split into three tribes.
 * All-Stars: All the contestants are players from previous seasons.
 * Tribe Dissolve: On Day 13 the tribe that loses the reward challenge will be dissolved, with its remaining members to be absorbed by the other two tribes.
 * Kidnapping: After Chapera won the Day 19 combined Reward/Immunity Challenge, they were given the option to pick one member from Mogo Mogo to join them in their reward. That player will also skip his tribe's Tribal Council.
 * Tribe Switch: A tribal switch right before the merge.
 * Pre-Merge Individual Challenge: On the Day 25 Reward Challenge, the two still-separate tribes competed in an individual Reward Challenge, where the winner may pick two people from either tribe.
 * Delayed Merge: A late merge with only nine remaining players.
 * Two Immunity Necklaces: For the first time, there were two Immunity Necklaces available at the first individual Immunity Challenge. One for a man and one for a woman.

Season Summary
The eighteen returning castaways are divided into three competing tribes: Chapera, Saboga, and Mogo Mogo. They were not given any additional supplies or food rations except for a machete and a cooking pot. They were also given no information about who will be their competition nor the existence of three tribes until the first challenge.

Since the beginning, Chapera proved to be a powerhouse, coming first in every challenge, while Mogo Mogo routinely came in second. Saboga on the other hand went to dissension due to losing challenges and being divided into three conflicting alliances (older members Rupert Boneham and Rudy Boesch, Jenna Lewis and Jerri Manthey, who wanted to get rid of the winners, and Tina Wesson and Ethan Zohn, who aligned due to obvious necessity). At their first Tribal Council, Tina was eliminated. Being in a precarious position for being a former winner, Ethan became indispensable for his needed strength in challenges. At Saboga's second successive Tribal Council, Ethan was spared, as the tribe chose to eliminate Rudy, who injured his leg and became a liability. Despite not yet visiting Tribal Council, Mogo Mogo lost their first member, as Jenna Morasca announced that she decided to quit because she became more concerned with her mother who was dying of cancer. Despite being the most dominant of the three tribes, Chapera lost Immunity for the first time at the fourth Immunity Challenge. Rob Cesternino was considered a threat, and was next to go.

At the Day 13 Reward Challenge, Jeff Probst announced that the losing team will be dissolved and its remaining members will be absorbed by the other two tribes. Mogo Mogo and Chapera secured their existence. Saboga lost for the final time, and was dissolved. Jenna L. and Rupert transferred to Chapera, while Jerri and Ethan moved to Mogo Mogo. Chapera proved that they were still strong in challenges, winning Immunity once again. Mogo Mogo planned to vote out Ethan because he was a past winner, however, when Richard Hatch decided that Colby Donaldson should go, the tribe turned against him and he was eliminated. Despite enjoying their winning streak, Chapera received a heavy blow, when an enraged Sue Hawk wanted to leave the game after feeling she was sexually abused by Richard at the previous Immunity Challenge. After Sue's departure, Chapera continued dominating the game, winning three consecutive challenges. Mogo Mogo lost Colby and Ethan in back-to-back Tribal Councils.

With ten players remaining, a Tribe Switch was held where players drew new buffs out of a pot. By chance, each player drew a buff of the opposite tribe color except Amber Brkich. This left her in the Chapera name, but with Mogo Mogo members, much to Rob Mariano's dismay. During their time on Chapera, Rob and Amber became close allies and fell in love with each other. When Chapera lost the next Immunity Challenge, Rob made a deal with Lex van den Berghe and asked him to save Amber, promising that he will make it up to him later in the game. Lex convinced the rest of Chapera to vote out Jerri instead of Amber.

On Day 26, the nine remaining players were merged under the tribe name Chaboga Mogo. Rob's first order of business was to dispose of Lex and his allies. Lex and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien were angered and felt betrayed by Rob. This did not stop the Chapera alliance to vote off Lex, and then Kathy, leaving Shii Ann Huang as the last member of Mogo Mogo. With Shii Ann as the next intended target, her impending elimination was postponed after she won the next Immunity Challenge, forcing the Chapera alliance to turn on each other. Rob targeted Alicia Calaway, sending her to the Jury. After not winning the next Immunity Challenge, Shii Ann, the last former Mogo Mogo, was voted out. The final five put Tom Buchanan in a the middle between two pairs - Boston Rob and Amber, and Jenna and Rupert. Rob incited an argument between Rupert and Tom, which created an excuse for betraying the farmer from Virginia.

Despite agreeing to end the vote in a 2-2 tie (even accepting the possibility of the still-probable existence of the infamous Purple Rock Tiebreaker from Marquesas), Jenna decided to vote Rupert, thinking that she cannot beat him at the Final Tribal Council. Rob won the last Immunity Challenge, and this sealed Jenna's fate in the game, as it was obvious he and Amber were inseparable.

At the Final Tribal Council, most of the Jury members expressed their disgust towards Rob for his numerous deceptions, while Amber was castigated for riding Rob's coattails. At the live show, prior to the reading of the votes, Rob surprisingly proposed to Amber, and she agreed to marry him. Eventually, Amber was crowned the All-Star Sole Survivor in a close 4-3 vote.

Trivia

 * This is the first season to feature returning contestants.
 * With eighteen castaways in its roster, Survivor: All-Stars is the first season to exceed the usual number of contestants (16).
 * This is the first season to feature three starting tribes at the beginning of the season. To follow this format, the tribal Immunity Idol needed to be split into two parts, to give the two winning tribes immunity.
 * This season is tied with for the most players to quit with 2.
 * This is the second season to have a merge outside the top ten mark, following.
 * This is the first season to have the tribes merge with 9 players remaining; it would be followed by and.
 * This season is tied with for the most winners playing at the time of production with four; namely, Richard Hatch, Tina Wesson, Ethan Zohn, and Jenna Morasca.
 * This season is also tied with Survivor: Heroes vs Villains for the most all time winners playing with six; that includes the sole survivor Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano.
 * This is the only season that three time players Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey, and Tina Wesson did not make the Merge.
 * Tina Wesson becomes the only player to become both a winner and first boot during her times played.
 * Amber Brkich (later Mariano) was the only player to stay on her original tribe through both tribe shuffles and make the merge.
 * Jenna Lewis and Rupert Boneham landed on all four tribes during their time in the game.
 * Oddly, both Jennas playing (Jenna Morasca and Jenna Lewis) after their exit, were immediately followed by someone named Rob (Rob Cesternino and Rob Mariano).
 * This season marks the first time that the jury doesn't start on Day 24.
 * Alicia Calaway, Shii Ann Huang, Rupert Boneham, Jenna Lewis, Rob Mariano, and Amber Brkich (comprising six of the final 7 of the season) are the only contestants to place higher then they did in their original season.
 * This season features more than two tribes for longer than any other season
 * The returning castaways from Africa were eliminated in reverse order this season as opposed to in their original season (Africa: Tom, Lex, Ethan; All Stars: Ethan, Lex, Tom).
 * The final six are all returning players that played in different past seasons.
 * Lex stated on Rob Has A Podcast that before Survivor All-Stars began filming all of the contestants were filmed having their torches snuffed to prevent spoilers.
 * This season is tied with Survivor: Redemption Island for having the lowest placing representative return for a future season.
 * This is the only season to have more than two starting tribes and not have black as the merged color.
 * Every former Survivor player was called for the possibility of appearing on All-Stars. 
 * This is only returning players season to feature players from Africa, Thailand and The Amazon.
 * This season has the most episodes of any season at 16.