CBS' long-running competition series Survivor is known as one of the best reality shows of all time, helping to change the TV world forever after its 2000 premiere. The show is still wildly popular to this day, with Survivor even getting a surprise Emmy nomination after years. And since the show has been on for so long, plenty of promising contestants have been voted out early. And below is a list of 32 Survivor players who should have gotten further in their seasons.
Every new installment comes with fresh blindsides, as well as early boots whose potential was squandered by their placement. And here are some contestants who I wish made it further, for one reason or another... in no particular order. And obviously, there's a big spoiler alert for this list. Someone cue the theme song!
Corinne Kaplan, Survivor Caramoan
Survivor Caramoan is the 26th installment of the beloved series, and it brought back the idea of fans vs. favorites. Soundbite machine Corinne Kaplan was poised for a strong season but was unfortunately blindsided after trusting her secret plans with fellow returning player Dawn. What's worse: she made it to day 22 but somehow wasn't on the jury... which was doubly painful for audiences since her infamous jury speech from Gabon was truly iconic.
Malcolm Freberg, Game Changers
Malcolm Freberg debuted on Survivor Phillippines and instantly became a super popular player. He'd come back to play two more times as a result, but his final outing in Game Changers was disappointing. In a game full of strong players they took no chances with Malcolm and he was tragically voted off fourth.
Sandra Diaz-Twine, Winners at War
Sandra Diaz-Twine is known as the queen of Survivor and was the first player to win twice. Before killing it on The Traitors, she played the CBS game four times and also served as a mentor in Island of the Idols. That's why it was such a bummer when she was voted off early in Winners at War and then quit rather than trying to fight to get back in the game.
Francesca Hogi, Redemption Island and Caramoan
This one has always bothered me. Francesca Hogi is the only Survivor contestant to be voted out first...twice. And since she's an accomplished life coach who recently had her own Ted Talk, this seems like a missed opportunity. And yes, I blame Phillip Sheppard.
Brice Johnston, Cagayan
Brice might not have made it far on Survivor Cagayan, but he definitely made his impact. He was a soundbite machine, which led to him eventually getting his own Survivor podcast. And I still would like to see him get another chance at the game.
Stephenie LaGrossa, Heroes vs Villains
Stephenie Lagrossa is a bonafide Survivor legend, with her first season, Palau following her in one of the biggest losing tribes in the game's history. She still made it deep into the game, and came back to become a finalist in Guatemala. That's why her getting voted off so early in Heroes vs. Villains was such a huge bummer, and why she infamously plugged her restaurant during the Live Reunion.
Wanda Shirk, Palau
Survivor Palau stands out as the season where two contestants were voted off on Day 1, and without even getting their torches snuffed. 1/2 of the casualties was Wanda, a schoolteacher who came prepared with Survivor-themed covers of songs. And I wish she could have stuck around since she made for such wild TV.
Jennifer Lanzetti, Kaôh Rōng
Poor Jennifer's Survivor experience was a thing of nightmares. She had a bug crawl into her ear canal, experiencing a ton of pain in the process. And to add insult to injury, she went home second, despite being a strong physical competitor.
RC Saint-Amour, Philippines
RC's feud with the villainous Abi-Maria made for killer TV in Survivor Phillippines, and she seemed like a super-savvy player. And if her alliance/frenemy hadn't betrayed her, she probably could have made it farther.
Anh-Tuan "Cao Boi" Bui, Cook Islands
Cao Boi might have been voted out 6th during Cook Islands, but I think he had the potential for more. After all, he was the first player to come up with the idea of splitting votes, which has been used in pretty much every season since.
Shantel M. "Shan" Smith, Survivor 41
Survivor 41 was a great one and was the first to be filmed and aired post-COVID in the New Era. Shan showed herself as a great strategist from the beginning, but unfortunately, she was blindsided as a result. Ultimately she was the 11th voted out player.
Max Dawson, Worlds Apart
Max Dawson played on Worlds Apart, where the tribes were separated by their jobs. He showed himself to be wildly intelligent and a fan of the show, but unfortunately got voted out too quickly. And while he was in the running to come back for Second Chances, he wasn't voted in by the fans. We missed out on some A+ soundbites as a result.
Helen Li, Survivor 44
Helen is a New Era player who instantly impressed me on Survivor 44 after successfully winning her tribe's savvy task. But she trusted Carson, who ultimately would team up with Carolyn and make it deep into the game. As for Helen, she was the third person eliminated.
Brando Meyer, Survivor 45
Brando is a quintessential Survivor superfan, which seems to be the direction casting is going with in recent years. And seemingly because of this, he was voted out early in the game, on Belo's first trip to Tribal.
Monica Culpepper, One World
Monica Culpepper was part of the cast of Survivor One World, which I think is one of the best Survivor seasons for its drama alone. Monica was voted off 4th, which was a waste-- especially since she made it to the Final Tribal in Blood vs. Water.
Rob Cesternino, All-Stars
Rob Cesterino was considered the "smartest Survivor contestant who never won" by Jeff Probst, and understood the complexities of the game in a way that early-season players didn't. He was voted off for being a threat during All-Stars, and I still wonder what the future podcast mogul could have pulled off if he stuck around.
Chicken Morris, China
Some of the entries on this list aren't based on their potential as a Survivor player, but as someone who could make for great TV. China first boot, Chicken, had a truly iconic exit after being voted out, and I think we missed out on more viral moments thanks to his elimination.
Reem, Edge of Extinction
Reem was someone who I loved watching in Survivor. She was voted off first in Edge of Extinction and used the rage from that to make it on the titular edge until Day 35. She fought her way to the journey, but it would have been fun to see her with more agency.
James Clement, Micronesia
James Clement is one of the most iconic Survivor personalities of all time. The hulking physical competitor would play in three different seasons, each of which where memorable. He could have made it father in Micronesia but was medically evacuated due to an infection. The Black Widow brigade probably still would have voted him out, but we would have gotten more dynamic gameplay/TV.
Nadiya Anderson, San Juan del Sur
San Juan del Sur was Survivor's second go with a "blood vs. water" season, where pairs competed. Big Brother's Nadiya Anderson was the first boot, which fueled her twin Natalie all the way to the win. But it would have been interesting to see what Nadiya would have brought to the table.
Candice Cody, Blood vs Water
Candice Cody is another big Survivor icon, one who played three times over the years. Unfortunately, her most recent outing was her least successful, as she was an early boot in Blood vs Water. She was an outsider from the jump thanks to being an alternate, and it would have been nice to see her go further.
Jonny Fairplay, Micronesia
Jonny Fairplay is one of the most infamous players in Survivor history, going down in the TV record book for pretending his grandmother died on his first season Pearl Islands. The expectations were high when he returned for Micronesia, which is why it was so disappointing when he asked to leave after missing his family. And just like that he was the season's first boot.
Shirin Oskooi, Second Chance
Shirin is a Survivor superfan who made for explosive television on her first season, Worlds Apart, thanks to emotional confrontations with Dan and Will. She and her tribemates also are responsible for breaking the Auction Challenge, which was absent for years. Unfortunately, she was an early boot when she came back for Second Chance.
Tiffany Seely, Survivor 41
In some ways, Tiffany had the cards stacked against her for Survivor 41, thanks to being a last-minute alternate who got brought into the cast. She would find a way to recover and play hard enough to get to the jury, but I would have liked to see how she worked through the deeper stages of the game.
Lucy Huang, Millennials vs. Gen X
Lucy positioned herself into a strong place during Millennials vs. Gen X, orchestrating a blindside against fellow castaway Jessica. But when David used a Hidden Immunity idol to save Jess, Lucy became an early boot.
Russell Hantz, Redemption Island
Redemption Island's cast was mostly full of newcomers, with two big exceptions: Boston Rob and Russell Hantz. Unfortunately for the latter castaway, his fellow tribe mates were smart enough to know his reputation and vote out the villainous two-time finalist early.
Kass McQuillen, Second Chance
Chaos Kass was reality TV gold during her seasons on Survivor, and like so many of her Cagayan cast mates she would eventually return for another season. Unfortunately, her run in Second Chance was cut short, although she did get to be on the jury.
Hai, Survivor 42
Hai played on Survivor 42 and was clearly a strategist who knew the game well. It was touching to see him connect with Omar as two LGBTQ+ Survivor contestants, and I wanted to see more of him when he eventually got blindsided.
Sue Hawk, All-Stars
Sue Hawk instantly became a household name in the first season of Survivor, thanks to her trademark accent, brutal Final Tribal speech, and determination to find tapioca on the island. She was a perfect choice to return for All-Stars but quit after her infamous run-in with a naked Richard Hatch.
Yau-Man Chan, Micronesia
Yau-Man is a true innovator from Survivor history and is the first person to find a Hidden Immunity Idol and then create a fake one to throw off the competition. I was psyched when he returned for Micronesia but was unfortunately voted off early for being too big of a strategic threat.
Dawn Meehan, South Pacific
Dawn is perhaps best known for crying throughout her second season Caramoan, and for making it all the way to Final Tribal before being confronted by Brenda. She made some big moves, which is why it would have been nice to see her go further in South Pacific.
Val Collins, San Juan del Sur
Val and Jeremy Collins were on the tribe for Survivor: San Juan Del Sur aka the second Blood Vs Water season. And while Val's early elimination inspired Jeremy to eventually come back a second time and win the game, she was a likable and athletic competitor that we didn't get to see enough of.
