Survivor: All-Stars

Survivor: All-Stars is the eighth season of Survivor

In a change to previous installments, those competing would be selected castaways from the first seven 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 The Australian Outback, who had recently taken a job as a co-host of 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." There has also been speculation that Survivor: Thailand 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. Survivor: Pearl Islands winner Sandra Diaz-Twine also confirmed that she turned down an offer to join the show, saying that she was still recovering from parasites that she received from her first season. Survivor: Marquesas winner Vecepia Towery was pregnant at the time of the show, so she couldn't make it. Jon Dalton from Survivor: Pearl Islands has claimed that he also turned down an offer to appear. Jenna Morasca, winner of Survivor: The Amazon recently stated that her fellow tribemate Heidi Strobel had also turned down the offer to appear on the show.

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."

Twist/Changes

 * Expanded Cast/Returning Players: For the first time in the series, there were eighteen contestants who competed, deviating from the standard sixteen.
 * Immunity Idol: With three tribes vying for immunity, the tribal Immunity Idol will be split into two parts, thus giving immunity to both winning tribes.
 * Three Tribes: Another first was the existence of three starting tribes.
 * Tribe Dissolve: Before the Day 13 Reward Challenge, it was announced that the last placing tribe 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 be immune and may skip Tribal Council.
 * Tribe Switch: Instead of having a merge with ten members, the castaways were stunned that the tribes will be mixed up.
 * 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: Three days after the tribe shuffle, a late merge took place with only nine remaining players.
 * Dual Immunity Necklaces: For the first time, there were two Immunity Necklaces available, meaning two players will earn immunity. This was available only at the first individual Immunity Challenge. After then, the second necklace was discarded.

Season Summary
The eighteen returning castaways are divided into three competing tribes, Chapera, Saboga, Mogo Mogo. The survivors only wear the clothes on their back and 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, winning challenges in first place, 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 and Rudy, Jenna and Jerri, both of whom had a mutual distaste for the former winners Ethan and Tina, 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. This reflected at their second successive Tribal Council, where an injured Rudy was eliminated instead. Despite not yet visiting Tribal Council, Mogo Mogo lost their first member, as Jenna M. announced that she wanted to quit because she became more curious of what is happening to her mother, who was ailing with cancer. Her assumptions were indeed correct, when her mother lost the battle with the disease with Jenna by her side, eight days after she left the competition. Despite being the most dominant of the three tribes, Chapera received its first immunity loss when Saboga finally won immunity, along with Mogo Mogo. Rob C. was considered a threat, and was next to go.

At the Day 13 Reward Challenge, Jeff announced that the losing team will be "dissolved" and its remaining members will be absorbed by the other two tribes. Mogo Mogo secured their existence, with Chapera. 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 challneges, bagging immunity. Mogo Mogo planned to vote out Ethan as a past winner. However, Richard decided that Colby should go, due to being likeable and that he could go on with another immunity streak come post-Merge. In the end, Richard's plan backfired, with the others considering him being the show's first winner. Despite enjoying their winning streak, Chapera received a heavy blow, when an enraged Susan wanted to leave the game after feeling sexually offended by Richard during the last Immunity Challenge. In spite of Susan's departure, Chapera went on to dominate the game, winning three consecutive challenges, while Mogo Mogo suffered successive losses since Saboga's dissolution. They lost Colby and Ethan in back-to-back Tribal Councils.

With ten players remaining, a tribal 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, with the net effect of having Amber forced into the old Mogo Mogo tribe under the Chapera name, much to Rob M.'s dismay, as he expressed his affection to his tribemate. When "Chapera" lost the next immunity challenge, Rob M. whispered a deal to Lex 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, and Rob found it necessary to vote off Lex, much to the latter's anger. Kathy was next to go and felt betrayed by Rob, being a fellow tribemate in Marquesas. This left Shii Ann 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. Alicia was eliminated by Rob's doing, despite initially thinking that Amber might be playing him. After not winning the next Immunity Challenge, Shii Ann, the last former Mogo Mogo, was voted out. When down to five players, Rob M., Amber, Rupert, Jenna L., and Tom, Rob M. incited an argument between Rupert and Tom, ultimately leading to Tom getting eliminated, but not before giving a bad stare to Rob M.

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 since a tie vote had not occurred since), Jenna L. decided to vote Rupert, thinking that she cannot beat him at the Final Tribal Council. Rob M. would later win the next Immunity Challenge, and decided to eliminate Jenna L., the last remaining Saboga member.

On their final day, Amber and Rob M. enjoyed romantic moments, with the camp entirely to themselves for the taking. At the Final Tribal Council, most of the Jury members expressed their disgust toward Rob M. for his numerous deceptions, while Amber was castigated for riding Rob M.'s coattails. Nonetheless, the Jury was torn between Rob M.'s dominance in challenges and brilliance in strategy and Amber's under-the-radar gameplay.

At the live show, prior to the reading of the votes, Rob M. surprisingly proposed to Amber for her hand in marriage, which she accepted. In the end, Amber was hailed as the All-Star Sole Survivor with 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 Survivor: Nicaragua for the most players to quit with 2.
 * This is the second season to have a merge outside the top ten mark, following Survivor: Thailand.
 * This is the first season to have the tribes merge with 9 players remaining, it would be followed by Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Gabon.
 * But out of these seasons, this is the only to have two people at Final Tribal Council.