As you may have seen over the weekend, Martin Holmes at Inside Survivor revealed a rumored cast list for season 40 of Survivor. And if the casting news is correct (and there’s no reason to believe it’s not), it confirms the season’s theme is in fact the rumored All Winners season. Fans have long been clamoring for the hit reality show to do a season comprised entirely of past winners. Inside Survivor also “confirmed” the season’s theme back in April.
While fans are sure to be excited, host Jeff Probst has been open about his reservations of doing an all winners season. He laid out his thoughts in an interview with Us Weekly last September, saying, “We can’t do all winners…As a producer, I would never suggest it. I would say it’s not a good idea.”
He went on to say, “We have 10 great winners that you’d want to see play again. We don’t have 20. We don’t have 18. Some of the winners don’t want to play again. Some of the greats are like, ‘No, we’re done.’”
Though he did acknowledge some of the CBS higher-ups were keen on the idea, adding,
“CBS wants to do it. They’re pitching me all the time. And I’m going, ‘I’ll sit down with you and show you the list!’ We don’t have it. And if I sat down and we wasted our time and I walked you through all our winners, you would say, ‘Oh, you’re right. You don’t have a season.’ We have a tribe of winners, that’s it. We could do winners versus another group. That’s an idea.”
I’m very curious to see if those comments come back around once CBS officially announces the theme and cast. You have to believe at least some of the contestants will have seen what he said. It might provide for some fun moments during the show if one or more call Probst out on it while in the game.
But without further ado, here are the contestants rumored* to be coming back for this historic season.
*I only say rumored because it’s far too early for CBS to confirm anything. But based on Holmes’ track record, you have to believe the information is accurate.
Amber Mariano: Won All-Stars, season 8
Danni Boatwright: Guatemala, season 11
Denise Stapley: Philippines, season 25
Kim Spradlin: One World, season 24
Michele Fitzgerald: Kaoh Wrong
Natalie Anderson: San Juan del Sur
Parvati Shallow: Micronesia
Sandra Diaz-Twine: Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains
Sarah Lacina: Game Changers
Sophie Clarke: Game Changers
Adam Klein: Millennials vs Gen-X
Ben Driebergen: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers
Ethan Zohn: Africa
Jeremy Collins: Cambodia
Nick Wilson: David vs. Goliath
Rob Mariano: Redemption Island
Tony Vlachos: Cagayan
Tyson Apostol: Blood vs. Water
Wendell Holland: Ghost Island
Yul Kwon: Cook Islands
Quick Thoughts
Skews very recent, as 14/16 winners from season 22-37 are back to play
Outside the game relationships could play a big part here
The obvious one is the married couple of Boston Rob and Amber
Rob and Tyson are good friends
Rob and Sandra are also friends, and will have just finished spending another 39 days together on the island for season 39, Island of the Idols
So excited to see Kim play again. One of the most dominant wire-to-wire wins we’ve seen.
Will be interested to see if Michele comes in with a chip on her shoulder, feeling like she has something to prove after her hotly debated win over Aubry
What’s Tony going to do? Played one of the more entertaining games while winning Cagayan, but then is voted out second in Game Changers
Similar to Kim, Yul is someone I’ve wanted to see play again for a long time
I cannot wait (obvious statement), but especially considering there are lots of personal favorites coming back for this one
Notable Absences
Sure, you can argue all absences are notable here, as they’re all Sole Survivors. But some certainly stand out more than others. And this might be a pointless exercise, as there are any number of reasons why these players aren’t playing again. But it’s fun speculation, so why not.
Richard Hatch: Borneo
You would think any season featuring all winners or even just one tribe of winners would surely include the man who won the first season. But here we at least have some clarity, as Hatch tweeted, “I wasn’t invited to play.”
Tina Wesson: Australian Outback
One of only four female winners not coming back for season 40 (Vecepia Towery, Jenna Morasca, Natalie White), Tina has already played three times, so maybe she’s had enough. But she always seemed well-liked, by other players and fans alike. She would have made a good addition to the cast.
Tom Westman: Palau
Tom led arguably the most dominant pre-merge tribe in Survivor’s history, en route to running away with the show’s 10th season.
Todd Herzog: China
This one makes sense. Todd’s struggles are no secret, and whether or not he was asked (I’m inclined to believe he was not), it’s probably for the best that he doesn’t play. But never forget how masterful his Final Tribal performance.
J.T. Thomas: Tocantins
Played fantastic in winning Tocantins, then kind of flamed out in his subsequent appearances on Heroes vs Villains and Game Changers. But the big moves he made still made for good TV. He would have been fun to see again.
Natalie White: Samoa
One of the more controversial winners in the show’s run. Many still think Russell played the better game, but the jury simply disliked him too much to vote for him. I would love to see Natalie play again and see what she still has left in the tank.
John Cochran: Caramoan
I’m surprised Probst didn’t make this a non-negotiable stipulation in putting together an all winner season.
Mike Holloway: Worlds Apart
This one I do not understand. He was on record as saying he wanted to become Survivor’s first three-time winner. It could be just talk, but I wouldn’t think someone would say that if they didn’t mean it. But it has been several years. Circumstances and priorities change. But I’d be very interested to see if he ever gives a reason as to why he’s not on this season.
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