Returning Players

Returning Players
Survivor Gameplay
Description	Former castaways compete for another shot at winning the title of Sole Survivor.
Appearances	All-Stars Guatemala Micronesia Heroes vs. Villains Redemption Island South Pacific Philippines Caramoan Blood vs. Water Cambodia Game Changers Edge of Extinction Winners at War

Returning Player seasons offer the opportunity to former contestants to play the game of Survivor again.

Origins

The idea of former players returning originally occurred in Survivor: All-Stars. Executive Producer Mark Burnett wanted to showcase "The best of the best" after the ratings increase of Survivor: Pearl Islands. During pre-production for All-Stars, Burnett wrote down the series' most likable, villainous, and memorable players on a legal pad and shortlisted eighteen names within minutes.  

All-Stars

"All-Stars" seasons feature casts comprised entirely of returning players. The eponymous season, All-Stars, saw 18 returnees divided into three competing tribes. The All-Stars twist was revived for the ten-year anniversary season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. This season divided the returnees based on the heroic or villainous reputations.

Survivor: Cambodia featured a "second chance" theme, consisting of contestants who played only once and lost; and its cast was entirely chosen by viewers through an online poll. Survivor: Game Changers featured former contestants who contributed to the evolution of Survivor strategy and gameplay.

Fans vs. Favorites

Although initially intending to produce a second all-stars season, Burnett pushed for Survivor to experiment with different twists in their 16th season. The result was the "Fans vs. Favorites" twist that saw a tribe of ten returning players pitted against a tribe of ten "superfans". Survivor: Micronesia and Survivor: Caramoan both utilized this format.

One Returnee per Tribe

This format features two to three former castaways, each being assigned to a tribe of new players. Survivor: Guatemala, Survivor: Redemption Island, Survivor: South Pacific, and Survivor: Philippines followed this format.

Survivor: Edge of Extinction expanded on this format, bringing back four former castaways and assigning two to each tribe of new players.

Blood vs. Water

Another type of "Returnees vs. New Players" format is the couples format, where returnees would compete against people they personally know. It was first used in Survivor: Blood vs. Water, where ten returning castaways would compete against their loved ones, similarly to the "Fans vs. Favorites" format. However, each castaway would compete individually, so a castaway would still be in the game even after their partner was voted out. The twist would play its part when a castaway could opt to replace their partner on Redemption Island before a duel took place, thus allowing their partner to take their place on their tribe.

Returning Players by Season

Season	Returned to Future Season	Season	Returned to Future Season
			None
	None

Trivia

•  Of the 103 returnees: 73 have competed twice, 23 have competed three times, 6 have competed four times, and 1 has competed five times.
• Jenna Morasca, Michael Skupin, and Colton Cumbie are the only returning players to never be voted out.
  • Amanda Kimmel, Russell Hantz, and Sandra Diaz-Twine each played their first two seasons without being voted out, but were each voted out in their third season.
• On every season featuring an all-returnee cast, the eventual Sole Survivor was playing for the second time.
• Kelly Wiglesworth currently holds the record for the longest period between appearances on Survivor, with 30 seasons.

Seasons and Twists

• Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains currently has the most castaways return from it, with nine.
• Survivor: The Australian Outback has the most first-time castaways return from it, with eight.
  • The eight returnees from The Australian Outback have returned twelve times total, the most of any season.
• The final four of Survivor: Borneo, the final four of Survivor: Panama, and the final four of Survivor: Cagayan have all been returning players.
• All four returning players from Survivor: Tocantins have reached Final Tribal Council at some point in their Survivor careers.
• All the returnees from Survivor: Cook Islands have participated in the game at least three times, with Ozzy Lusth having competed four times. Cook Islands has introduced the highest number of three-time players, with four.
• Throughout his Survivor career, Ozzy Lusth is the only person to compete in all different styles of player seasons: an all-new players season, a season with half new players and half returnees, a one or two returnee per tribe season, and an all-returnees season. Ozzy has also been to both Exile Island and Redemption Island.
  • Aras Baskauskas and Candice Cody are the other two contestants who have been to both islands.
  • Of the three, Ozzy is the only person to return from Redemption Island.  
• Stephenie LaGrossa is the only female contestant to return in a season with one returnee per tribe.
• Every season prior to Survivor: Edge of Extinction has produced at least one returning player.
  • However, no players that debuted in Survivor: Caramoan have returned. The only returnees from Caramoan, Andrea Boehlke and Malcolm Freberg, were returnees themselves on this season.
• Prior to Survivor: Philippines, no contestant to place worse than 10th on their first season had returned. Philippines broke this pattern by having Michael Skupin (11th) from The Australian Outback and Russell Swan (14th) from Samoa return.
  • Russell was the first pre-merge returnee who failed to reach the merge twice. He was followed by Francesca Hogi, Colton Cumbie, and Caleb Reynolds.
  • Though he did reach the merge once, Jeff Varner competed thrice and missed a spot on the jury in all three of his seasons.
• In all three seasons where the tribes were divided as new players against returning players:
  • A Tribe Switch occurred, mixing the tribes between new and returning players.
  • Post-switch, the tribe originally consisting of new players won every Immunity Challenge.
  • The Sole Survivor and at least one runner-up were returning players, and no new players received votes from the jury.
• In every all-returnee season in which at least one previous winner returned, a winner was the fifth person eliminated.
• Among the eight seasons that featured a mix of new and returning players, Survivor: Edge of Extinction is the first and only season where all the returning players were voted out before the Final Tribal Council.
  • Due to the Edge of Extinction twist that allowed players to stay in the game after being voted out, all eight seasons have featured at least one returning player actively competing in the season finale.
• Andrea Boehlke has received more votes over her Survivor career than any other returning player, with 36 total votes.
• Cirie Fields and Aubry Bracco are the only contestants to successfully make it to the finale episode of a season on three separate occasions.
• On every all-returnee season that included at least one Tribe Switch, one tribe had no members remain on the tribe during its entire existence.