Survivor: Winners At War

Pre-Season Stats Part 2

A special edition of Survivor Stats continues…

Photo: CBS

Inside Survivor’s resident stat-man Rob Brodeur continues to break down the various stats, figures, and trivia for the upcoming all-winners season.

Check out Part 1 here.

Cast/Season

  • Every returning player season has had at least one previous season with exactly four representatives.
    • All-Stars – Four players from Borneo.
      • Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Sue Hawk, Jenna Lewis.
    • Heroes vs. Villains – Four players from All-Stars.
      • Rob Mariano, Rupert Boneham, Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey.
        • Heroes vs. Villains also had four players from Micronesia.
          • Parvati Shallow, Cirie Fields, Amanda Kimmel, James Clement (coincidentally, they were all members of the Malakal tribe).
    • Cambodia – Four players from Cagayan.
      • Woo Hwang, Kass McQuillen, Spencer Bledsoe, Tasha Fox.
    • Game Changers – Four players from Kaoh Rong
      • Aubry Bracco, Tai Trang, Debbie Wanner, Caleb Reynolds.
    • Winners at War – Four players from Heroes vs. Villains
      • Sandra Diaz-Twine, Parvati Shallow, Rob Mariano, Tyson Apostol.
        • Coincidentally, all four were members of the Villains tribe.
  • Yul is the first returning player from Cook Islands from the Puka Puka tribe.
    • Parvati, Penner, and Candice started on the Rarotonga tribe.
    • Ozzy started on the Aitutaki tribe.
      • Nobody from the Manihiki tribe has returned.
  • 5/10 men on the season are from the 30s seasons, while only 2/10 of the women are from the 30s seasons.
    • The only two women to win in the 30s seasons (Michele & Sarah) are on Winners at War.
  • If Sarah wins Winners at War, she’ll be the first female winner since herself.
    • She won Game Changers and a woman hasn’t won since.
  • Every season with all-returning players has had at least one player from Pearl Islands on the cast.
    • All-Stars – Rupert.
    • Heroes vs. Villains – Rupert & Sandra.
    • Cambodia – Savage.
    • Game Changers – Sandra.
    • Winners at War – Sandra.
      • 2 out of 3 of the half-returnee/half-newbie seasons also had a player from Pearl Islands, with Caramoan being the only exception.
        • Micronesia – Fairplay.
        • Blood vs. Water – Rupert.
  • The average age of the cast is 37.95
  • This will be the first season that Ethan, Amber, Danni, and Yul will be on that was shot in High Definition (HD).
    • Gabon was the first season that was shot in HD.
      • They’re also the only four players this season whose last appearance was pre-Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Sandra and Rob are tied for having been on the most all-returning player seasons of any Survivor contestant with three.
    • Sandra was on Heroes vs. Villains, Game Changers, and Winners at War.
    • Rob was on All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, and Winners at War.
  • In all three seasons that Sarah and Tony have been on together, the seasons have been six seasons apart.
    • Cagayan – Season 28.
    • Game Changers – Season 34.
    • Winners at War – Season 40.
  • Unless Sandra wins again, someone will be tying her record of most Survivor seasons won with two.
    • If one of the two-time players wins, they will have the highest placement average of any returning Survivor player with an average placement of 1.
      • This record previously belonged to Sandra before Game Changers.
  • Sandra is the only winner to return three times after winning.
    • She won Pearl Islands, then returned for Heroes vs. Villains (and won again), Game Changers, and Winners at War.
  • Sophie is the only player this season to never participate in a tribe swap/dissolve.
  • Rob and Amber are the fifth married couple to compete on Survivor together. The others are as follows:
    • Brad & Monica Culpepper.
    • Candice & John Cody.
    • Rupert & Laura Boneham.
    • Val & Jeremy Collins.
      • They’re the first married couple to compete together in a non-Blood vs. Water season, and the only Survivor married couple to compete together who have previously played Survivor before being on the same season as a married couple.
  • Both Asian-American Survivor winners (Yul and Natalie) are on Winners at War.
  • Danni and Sarah are the only winners on Winners at War who didn’t vote for the person who was eliminated at the first merged tribal council of their winning season.
    • In Guatemala, Danni voted for Jamie, and Brandon went home.
    • In Game Changers, Sarah voted for Michaela, and Hali went home.
      • The only other winners to do this are Chris Daugherty and Bob Crowley.
  • Sandra is the only 4+ time player to play each season in four different Survivor “decades.”
    • 1-9: Season 7 – Pearl Islands.
    • 20-29: Season 20 – Heroes vs. Villains.
    • 30-39: Season 34 – Game Changers.
    • 40-49: Season 40 – Winners at War.
      • The only “decade” Sandra didn’t play in was 10-19, however, she won Pearl Islands so she was ineligible to compete in the season with returning players during this time (Micronesia).
    • Every other 4+ time player played at least two seasons in the same “decade.”
      • Rupert, seasons 7 & 8, seasons 20 & 27.
      • Ozzy, seasons 13 & 16.
      • Parvati, seasons 13 & 16.
      • Tyson, seasons 20 & 27.
      • Cirie, seasons 12 & 16.
      • Rob, seasons 4 & 8, seasons 20 & 22.
  • Every winner from an all-returning player season is returning this season.
    • All-Stars – Amber.
    • Heroes vs. Villains – Sandra.
    • Cambodia – Jeremy.
    • Game Changers – Sarah.
      • All of them won on their second time playing (in Sandra’s case it was also her second time winning).
      • Jeremy is the only one of the four to win on a season that didn’t have any returning winners.
  • Every season Rob has played on was even-numbered.
    • Marquesas – Season 4.
    • All-Stars – Season 8.
    • Heroes vs. Villains – Season 20.
    • Redemption Island – Season 22.
    • Winners at War – Season 40.
      • Every one of the season numbers is a multiple of four with the exception of Redemption Island.
        • Coincidentally it’s the only one he won (that has aired already).
  • This will be the first out of four reality competition shows that Natalie isn’t playing with her sister Nadiya.
    • They did two seasons of The Amazing Race together and were on San Juan del Sur together.
  • Prior to this season, Jenna Morasca is the only returning winner to never be voted out of the game.
    • Depending on the members of the Final Tribal Council this season, she could be joined by other players.
  • As of this season, only 12 out of 38 winners have not played again after winning.
    • Vecepia Towery – Marquesas.
    • Brian Heidik – Thailand.
    • Chris Daugherty – Vanuatu.
    • Earl Cole – Fiji.
    • Todd Herzog – China.
    • Bob Crowley – Gabon.
    • Natalie White – Samoa.
    • Fabio Birza – Nicaragua.
    • John Cochran – Caramoan.
    • Mike Holloway – Worlds Apart.
    • Chris Underwood – Edge of Extinction.
    • Tommy Sheehan- Island of the Idols.
      • Vecepia Towery and Natalie White are the only female winners to not return for another season.
      • John Cochran is the only winner who won as a returning player that hasn’t returned to play in another season.
  • As of this season, Caramoan, Edge of Extinction, and Island of the Idols are the only seasons to never have any of their first-time players play again.
  • Mike is the only winner that won on a three-starting tribe season who isn’t returning for Winners at War.
    • Amber – All-Stars – Mogo Mogo, Chapera, Saboga.
    • Denise – Philippines – Matsing, Kalabaw, Tandang.
    • Tony – Cagayan – Aparri, Solana, Luzon.
    • Michele – Kaoh Rong – Gondol, Chanloh, Totang.
    • Ben – Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers – Yawa, Levu, Soko.
  • Cambodia is the only all-returning player season to only have one representative (Jeremy) on Winners at War.
    • All-Stars: Amber, Ethan, & Rob.
    • Heroes vs. Villains: Parvati, Rob, Sandra, & Tyson.
    • Game Changers: Sandra, Sarah, & Tony.

  • 11/20 winners on this season have never been voted out of Survivor.
    • Every winner who is playing for their third time has been voted out at least once.
    • Tyson is the only winner playing for a fourth time who has been voted out more than once.
    • Boston Rob and Tyson have been voted out the most times out of any of the winners on this season with two times each.
      • JT has also been voted out twice.
      • Ethan, Jeremy, Parvati, Amber, Sandra, Sarah, and Tony have played more than once but have only been voted out once.
  • Sarah is the only winner who won an all-returning player season who swapped tribes pre-merge.
    • All-Stars – Amber stayed on Chapera despite there being a dissolve and swap.
    • Heroes vs. Villains – Sandra stayed on Villains as there was no swap.
    • Cambodia – Jeremy stayed on Bayon despite there being an expansion and swap.
    • Game Changers – Sarah started on Nuku, swapped to Tavua, then swapped back to Nuku.
  • 11 players have voted for two Winners at War castaways to win their original seasons.
    • Cirie voted for Parvati to win Micronesia and Sarah to win Game Changers.
    • Big Tom & Lex both voted for Ethan to win Africa and Amber to win All-Stars.
    • Ciera voted for Tyson to win Blood vs. Water and Jeremy to win Cambodia
    • Andrea voted for Rob to win Redemption Island and Sarah to win Game Changers
    • Keith voted for Natalie to win San Juan del Sur and Jeremy to win Cambodia.
    • Candice voted for Yul to win Cook Islands and Sandra to win Heroes vs. Villains
    • Kass voted for Tony to win Cagayan and Jeremy to win Cambodia.
    • Abi-Maria voted for Denise to win Philippines and Jeremy to win Cambodia.
    • Zeke voted for Adam to win Millennials vs. Gen X and Sarah to win Game Changers.
    • Rupert voted for Sandra to win both Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains.
      • He voted for Rob to win All-Stars, although Rob didn’t win that season.
  • Other than the one-time winners that are returning, who all have one for their placement average:
    • Parvati has the best placement average of all the returning winners with 3.
      • Cook Islands – 6th Place.
      • Micronesia – 1st Place.
      • Heroes vs. Villains – 2nd Place.
    • Tony has the worst placement average of all the returning winners with 10.
      • Cagayan – 1st Place.
      • Game Changers – 19th Place.
    • Sarah and Ethan have the same placement average with 6.
      • Both players won a season and placed 11th in another season.
        • Ethan won his first season and placed 11th in his second season, while Sarah placed 11th in her first season and won her second season.
  • Ethan is the only person from All-Stars who won pre-All-Stars and is returning for Winners at War.
    • Richard, Tina, and Jenna aren’t on Winners at War
  • Sarah and Wendell are the only winners to be a member of the expanded tribe.
    • Sarah was on Tavua in Game Changers.
    • Wendell was on Yanuya in Ghost Island.
      • They’re also the only two players in Survivor to be the highest placing member of three different tribes.
        • Sarah was the highest placing member of Nuku, Tavua, & Maku Maku.
        • Wendell was the highest placing member of Naviti, Yanuya, & Lavita.
  • Natalie and Michele are tied with 13 challenge wins for most challenges won by a female winner.
  • Amber is the second player to return to Survivor with a different last name after being married.
    • The first is Candice Cody (formerly Candice Woodcock).
      • Both times this happened it was between their second and third seasons.
        • Candice’s last name changed between Heroes vs. Villains and Blood vs. Water.
        • Amber’s last name changed between All-Stars and Winners at War.
          • Coincidentally, they both played with their husbands in their third season.
  • Sandra, Yul, Tony, Sarah, and Ben never won an individual immunity challenge.
  • The only starting tribe color from past seasons to not be represented by winners this season is brown, as Tom would be the only winner to have worn a brown buff (Koror in Palau).
    • Red
      • Parvati, Rob, Tyson, & Sandra (Villains in Heroes vs. Villains).
      • Amber & Rob (Chapera in All-Stars).
      • Sandra & Tony (Mana in Game Changers).
    • Orange
      • Rob (Ometepe in Redemption Island).
      • Tony & Sarah (Aparri in Cagayan).
      • Adam (Vanua in Millennials vs. Gen X).
      • Nick (David/Vuku in David vs. Goliath).
    • Yellow
      • Ethan (Boran in Africa).
      • Rob (Maraamu in Marquesas).
      • Ethan (Saboga in All-Stars).
      • Danni (Nakhum in Guatemala).
      • Tyson (Galang in Blood vs. Water).
      • Michele (Gondol in Kaoh Rong).
    • Green
      • Amber (Ogakor in The Australian Outback).
      • Yul (Puka Puka in Cook Islands).
    • Blue
      • Sandra (Drake in Pearl Islands).
      • Parvati (Rarotonga in Cook Islands).
      • Sophie (Upolu in South Pacific).
      • Kim (Salani in One World).
      • Denise (Matsing in Philippines).
      • Natalie & Jeremy (Hunahpu in San Juan del Sur).
      • Sarah (Nuku in Game Changers).
      • Ben (Levu in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers).
    • Purple
      • Parvati (Malakal in Micronesia).
      • Wendell (Naviti in Ghost Island).
    • Pink
      • Jeremy (Bayon in Cambodia).
    • Black
      • Tyson (Timbira in Tocantins).
  • Blue is the most represented starting tribe color this season with 9/20 players having been on a blue starting tribe.
  • Hunahpu (San Juan del Sur) and Aparri (Cagayan) are the only starting tribes from newbie seasons with more than one representative this season.
    • Villains (Heroes vs. Villains), Chapera (All-Stars), and Mana (Game Changers) have multiple representatives, but they’re from returning player seasons.
      • Coincidentally, all three are also red tribes.
  • Nobody from a red starting tribe in a newbie season is returning this season.
    • Chris Daugherty, Todd, JT, and Cochran were all on red starting tribes in their original season, and none of them are returning for Winners at War.
      • Sandra in Heroes vs. Villains is the most recent winner to start the season on a red tribe and go on to win the season.
  • Ethan, Sandra, and Rob are the only winners this season to have been on the same starting tribe color more than once (prior to Winners at War).
    • Coincidentally, it was red for both Rob and Sandra (Villains & Mana for Sandra, Chapera & Villains for Rob).
    • Ethan was on a yellow starting tribe twice (Boran & Saboga).
      • Ethan is also the only player this season to be on multiple seasons and only be on one starting tribe color.
        • He’s also the only winner in Survivor history to have done this.
  • Parvati is the only previous winner to lose at FTC against another previous winner.
    • Rob lost against Amber in All-Stars, but he didn’t win until Redemption Island.
  • Rob has the most days played out of any winner with 117.
    • Parvati has the second most with 114.
      • Rob set his record in four seasons while Parvati set her record in only three seasons.
      • Rob and Parvati are the only winners who have played for more than 100 days.
        • Amanda, Andrea, Cirie, Ozzy, and Rupert are the only other players who have played more than 100 days.
  • Sandra has the most days in a row played for a winner without being voted out with 94 days.
    • She made it to day 39 in both Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains and was voted out on day 16 of Game Changers.
  • Mogo Mogo is the only starting tribe in All-Stars where none of their original players are represented in Winners at War.
    • Ethan was on Saboga.
      • Ethan was swapped to Mogo Mogo after Saboga was dissolved.
    • Amber and Rob were on Chapera.
      • Rob was swapped to Mogo Mogo after the second tribe swap of the season.
        • Amber is the only player from All-Stars to be on Chapera for the entire pre-merge.
  • Danni is the first returning player from Guatemala who was a newbie that season.
    • The only other Guatemala returning player is Stephenie LaGrossa who was originally on Palau.
  • Richard, Tina, Jenna, Aras, Tom, JT, and Cochran are the only winners who have played more than once and aren’t returning for Winners at War.
    • Tina and JT are the only ones to play three times.
    • Tom and JT are the only winners that were on Heroes vs. Villains that aren’t returning for Winners at War.
      • Coincidentally, they’re the only winners that were on the Heroes tribe.
    • JT is the only winner from Game Changers that isn’t returning.
      • Sarah, Sandra, and Tony are returning for Winners at War.
  • Danni, Sophie, and Denise all beat a returning player at the Final Tribal Council.
    • They also all won the game with six votes.
      • None of the winners of the original seasons that their FTC loser was on are playing on Winners at War.
        • Danni won against Stephenie, who was originally on Palau, which was won by Tom.
        • Sophie won against Coach, who was originally on Tocantins, which was on by JT.
        • Denise won against Skupin, who was originally on The Australian Outback, which was won by Tina.
  • The following players previously voted for fellow Winners at War players:
    • Parvati
      • Cook Islands – Voted for Yul in episode 11.
      • Heroes vs. Villains – Voted out Tyson in episode 6.
      • Heroes vs. Villains – Voted out Rob in episode 7.
    • Yul
      • Cook Islands – Voted out Parvati in episode 14.
    • Tyson
      • Heroes vs. Villains – Voted for Parvati in episode 6.
    • Tony
      • Cagayan – Voted out Sarah in episode 6.
    • Sarah
      • Cagayan – Voted for Tony to win in episode 13.
      • Game Changers – Voted out Sandra in episode 5.
    • Jeremy
      • San Juan del Sur – Voted for Natalie to win in episode 14.
        • Despite being on tribes with the most Winners at War players, Sandra never cast a vote against any of them.
  • Every winner (with the exception of Cochran and Chris Underwood) who won a season with a mixed (returning players & newbies) cast is returning this season.
    • Guatemala – Danni Boatwright.
    • Micronesia – Parvati Shallow.
    • Redemption Island – Rob Mariano.
    • South Pacific – Sophie Clarke.
    • Philippines – Denise Stapley.
    • Blood vs. Water – Tyson Apostol.
  • Cirie, JT, Rupert, Ozzy, Colby, and Jerri have the most connections with the cast with six each.
    • Cirie: Parvati, Rob, Sandra, Rob, Tyson, Tony, Sarah.
    • JT: Tyson, Parvati, Rob, Sandra, Tony, Sarah.
    • Rupert: Sandra, Amber, Rob, Ethan, Tyson, Parvati.
    • Ozzy: Yul, Parvati, Sophie, Sandra, Tony, Sarah.
    • Colby & Jerri: Amber, Ethan, Rob, Sandra, Tyson, Parvati.
      • Ozzy is the only one to not play with Rob or Tyson.
      • All six of them have played with Sandra & Parvati.
      • Jerri and Rupert are the only ones that have been on a tribe with all six former Winners at War cast members they’ve played with.
        • Jerri and Rupert were also on a tribe with Tina, Richard, and JT at one point.
          • Rupert has been on a tribe with the most winners, as you can add Tom and Aras to his count, making it 11.
          • The only winner that Rupert shared a season with but didn’t share a tribe with was Richard Hatch on All-Stars.
          • The only winner that Jerri shared a season with but didn’t share a tribe with was Tom on Heroes vs. Villains.

Hidden Immunity Idol/Advantages

  • Amber and Ethan are the only players to play in a season where hidden immunity idols were not a part of the game.
  • Yul was the first winner to find a hidden immunity idol.
    • Parvati was the first female winner to find a hidden immunity idol.
      • Both of them played for the first time on Cook Islands.
  • There have been a total of 21 hidden immunity idols found by the 20 winners that are on the cast.
    • Ben in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers and Tony in Cagayan have the most with three hidden immunity idols.
  • 13/20 winners have found at least one hidden immunity idol.
    • Ethan, Amber, Danni, Sophie, Denise, Michele, and Sarah are the only winners on Winners at War to not find an idol.
      • Ethan is the only male on the cast that hasn’t found an idol.
  • Kim and Yul are the only winners to be in possession of an idol but never use one.
  • Every male that is on Winners at War that played in a season where idols were present found at least one idol.
  • Denise is the most recent winner this season to not have any kind of idol or advantage during the season they won.
    • Ethan, Amber, Danni, Sophie, and Denise are the only winners this season to not have an advantage or hidden immunity idol.
      • Nick – Idol & Vote Steal.
      • Wendell – Idol.
      • Ben – Multiple Idols.
      • Sarah – Legacy Advantage & Vote Steal.
      • Adam – Idol.
      • Michele – Juror Removal Advantage.
      • Jeremy – Multiple Idols.
      • Natalie – Idol.
      • Tony – Multiple Idols.
      • Tyson – Idol.
      • Kim – Idol.
      • Rob – Idol.
      • Sandra – Idol.
      • Parvati – Idol.
      • Yul – Idol.
        • Technically Danni won an advantage during the auction which allowed her to switch places with someone during the upcoming immunity challenge, but it doesn’t really fall under the “modern advantage/game power” as the others do.

Written by

Rob Brodeur

Rob hails from Boston, MA. He studied Architectural Engineering at college and has been following Survivor since the first season. Rob is married and has a dog named Snoopy. He also used to host Survivor ORGs (Online Reality Games) on Facebook. Rob writes Inside Survivor’s weekly Survivor Stats feature.


2 responses to “Pre-Season Stats Part 2”

  1. Since the current record for a returning player’s placement is I think Parvati (I think Tai is 3.5), wouldn’t any of the current two-time players just need to get 5th or higher to beat her record?

    ‘The only other winners to do this are Chris Daugherty and Bob Crowley.’

    While a technicality, Chris Underwood would fall under this as well, since he wasn’t present at the first merge tribal. He did, however, correctly vote out the person at his first merge tribal (Victoria).

  2. Cirie, JT, Rupert, Ozzy, Colby, and Jerri have the most connections with the cast with six each.

    Cirie: Parvati, Rob, Sandra, Rob, Tyson, Tony, Sarah.

    Hi there, you listed Rob twice

    By the way, I always love reading all these stats! Thank you for providing us these cool facts.

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