Always & Forever

Yeah, that’s how I felt!

She just did not appeal to me & I'm so glad she didn’t win. She didn’t even get 1 vote & she was the one who had earned her spot in the final 3. None of the jury even talked about that or took that into consideration. I utterly detest final 3, because the 3rd person is always irrelevant and never gets any votes, or only 1 vote. Has there ever been a 3rd placer who got at least 1 vote in the final TC. I can’t recall.

Noura just kept talking and never made any sense. And when she tried to explain her reasonings so it made sense, it still didn’t make sense. I heard someone describe it perfectly: She talked too much without saying anything at all.

What did y’all think about Lauren going off crying? Was she justified in that or just acting like a big cry-baby?

Amber & Ethan are the “oldest” winners that are playing. No one from Season 4, 5, & 6 is returning. And Richard & Tina aren’t there. Neither of them have played since Season 8 All-Stars, which was over 15 years ago, so it’ll be interesting to see how they adapt to all the different changes and nuisances that Survivor has had over the years. I’m sure they’ve seen it on TV while watching, and I’m sure Rob has filled in Amber on some things, but I’m sure it won’t be the same when they’re actually there experiencing it.

Butterfly85

I've said it many times but I hate many things about the finales now: The Final 3 (yeah, usually the third person gets NO VOTES so them being there is always pointless. I miss the final 2's) the bs fire making challenge, and the jury not asking their individual questions. I think Tina was on one of the Blood and Water seasons with her daughter. I forgot the full list coming back for winners, but I expect a winner that hasn't played as much as some others (like Rob, Parvarti, and Sandra) to win, like Yul or Danni. I'm looking forward to seeing them again since they only played once. I remembered liking Yul and think he played like a genius in his season. I always wanted him to come back. I love Sandra, but she will probably be on of the first to go. I mean, she won twice but she has this genius way of still slipping through the cracks. The last season she played she was sitting very pretty until the tribe swap so I won't be surprised if it shockingly happens again. I'll always love her though cause she's so funny and real. You also think they would take out Rob and Amber as soon as possible. She won All Stars cause everyone else was more pissed at Rob and it was the lesser of the two evils. I think that had to be the most vicious and bitter final tribal ever but man, Rob really screwed some of them over HARD so I can see why they were pissed lol. I can't wait for this season, an all winners season was a long time coming.

Always & Forever

Yeah, I think it would be great if one of them wins. There’s also Kim who I would love to see win again!

I’ll try to update the OP with the ones who are returning, so you can refer to it if you want to know who’s coming back!

Alexa

Dean was WAY too cocky in the end, glad he didnt win lol.

Dont even get me started on crackhead Noura. She HAS to be faking her entire personality, there is no way she can be that ridiculous.

MY BOY ADAM IS COMING BACK.

Butterfly85

Yeah, Dean was way too cocky (his OTT smiling is annoying as hell too) Tommy was an idiot to tell him about the clues at Island of the Idols. I know Nora is cuckoo but I don't get why she went out of her way so hard to be a huge b*tch to Lauren over the fire making challenge, even saying she would hide the machetes. Like WTF is her problem? Jealousy I guess. Her crazy ass wasn't going to win against any of them (evidenced by her unshockingly getting no votes) so her saying she couldn't beat Lauren was overdramatic and too personal.

Always & Forever

The new season premieres February 12th!

April7739

I’m excited for the all winners season. I feel like Yul can do well. Although he has virtually no connections since he’s pretty removed from the survivor community.

Always & Forever

We’ll see how well he does!

DigificWriter

I decided to try and watch or rewatch the 21 seasons that spawned Season 40's contestants, and am currently about halfway through Pearl Islands, which I think is a brilliant season for several reasons:
1) The pirate theme and the tribe names (I can trace my lineage through the maternal line back to Sirq Francis Drake, so having a Survivor tribe bear that name is just awesome

2) The Outcast Tribe twist (I'm kind of a sucker for second-chance stories and so things like Redemption Island and the Edge of Extinction are right up my alley)

3) I'm already familiar with Rupert, Sandra, Andrew Savage, and Jonny Fairplay, which makes seeing their initial forays into Survivor a lot of fun

The one thing that bothers me about the season is the double standard that watching it with spoilery foreknowledge creates, because if the season's Final Tribal happened nowadays, I think there's a very good chance that Sandra would go down in defeat because the way her Final Tribal opponent - Outcast Lillian - ended up playing the game after getting her second chance is absolutely a valid and deserving strategy.

Always & Forever

^That’s awesome!

I wish I had the time for that.

DigificWriter

Inspired by my falling in love with Lillian, as well as Winners at War, I started brainstorming ideas for a Returning Players season using Runners-Up, and made a cast list that I've decided to share:
Neleh Dennis (Marquesas)
Matthew von Ertfelda (Amazon)
Lillian Morris (Pearl Islands)
Twila Tanner (Vanuatu)
Becky Lee (Cook Islands)
Dreamz Herd (Fiji)
Susie Smith (Gabon)
Mick Trimming (Samoa)
Sash Lenehan (Nicaragua)
Natalie Tenereli (Redemption Island)
Albert Destrade (South Pacific)
Sabrina Thompson (One World)
Lisa Welchel (Philippines)
Sherri Biethman. (Caramoan) (Alternate)
Jaclyn Schultz (San Juan Del Sur: Blood vs Water)
Will Sims II (Worlds Apart)
Ken McNickle (MvG)
Ryan Ulrich (HvHvH)
Domenick Abbate (Ghost Island)
Mike White (DvG)
Gavin Whitson (EoE) (Alternate)
Noura Salmon (Island of the Idols)

Always & Forever

I have to be honest. I don’t recognize about half those names you posted. Some I do recognize, though, and agree with!

Nelah
Natalie
Lisa
Will
Gavin

and I would add Dean. Noura came in 3rd place, so she wasn’t Runner-Up, unless you were counting 1st AND 2nd Runner-Ups.

I still think they need to do a 1st voted out season.

DigificWriter

Here's how my list breaks down:
2nd-place Runners-up
Neleh
Matthew
Lillian
Twila
Susie
Sabrina
Lisa
Jaclyn
Domenick
Mike
Gavin

3rd-place Runners-up
Becky
Dreamz
Mick
Sash
Natalie
Albert
Sherri
Will
Ken
Ryan
Noura

I picked the castaways that I did because I very intentionally didn't want to use people who have already played the game multiple times.

Butterfly85

Ugh, seeing Dreamz name still pisses me off. I blocked him out, but seeing most of those names just reminds me of the good old days of Survivor.

April7739

That’s an interesting list, DigificWriter. You picked some people that, tbh, hardly anyone ever talks about returning.

I’d like a Second Chance 2. Give the viewers a chance to vote again.

Jess, I watched a vid recently about the possibility of a first boots season. I wouldn’t mind seeing it eventually. The problem is, it’s a lot of hassle to convince those people to play again, as many of them have definitely moved on from Survivor. And it doesn’t hold the same value for CBS that the all winners season does. So we’ll see if it ever happens.

So Carter Matt has been doing spotlight videos on each winner, and he’s got me worried about Amber now. Honestly, her biggest hurdle to overcome is . . . her own husband’s presence on the season. They might view her as more expendable than him.