Welcome to Inside Survivor’s 50 For 50, a semi-regular feature highlighting 50 former castaways who we think should be considered for a spot on Survivor 50. In a snake draft, the Inside Survivor team selected ten players each, with the only rule being they couldn’t have played more than twice.
PROFILE
Name: Teresa “T-Bird” Cooper
Age: 65
Season: Africa, 2001
Finish: 5th place
HIGHLIGHTS
T-Bird began as one of the quieter presences in her season. But she made up for a low-key edit with a purely likable personality as she worked with her fellow older players to oppose the young Mallrats on the Samburu Tribe. After losing two allies in a row, she and Frank Garrison needed a miracle to survive, and a miracle they received in the form of the first tribe swap. With early villain Silas Gaither dragging them to what they assumed was a challenge, he was quickly thrown for a loop, swapped to Boran, and promptly voted out, giving T-Bird a new life in the game with new allies.
At the merge, she won the first immunity to the tune of “Tomorrow” from Annie. Not wanting to vote Clarence Black out after cutting a deal for the necklace, her iconic hinky vote for Lex van den Berghe and subsequent tight-lipped strategy created one of the most chaotic rounds of the early seasons as Lex went on a rampage to vote Kelly Goldsmith out over a vote she didn’t even cast. T-Bird’s stray vote nearly got Samburu the numbers they needed and almost put her on a path to victory, but Brandon Quinton’s flip dashed her dreams and sent her back to the bottom.
But T-Bird would continue fighting as the ringleader of the Samburu alliance, watching as her allies left one by one until she was their last member at the final five. Revealing her stray vote to Lex, she tried to work her magic one last time but couldn’t break Boran’s loyalty and finished proud in fifth place.
T-Bird’s Survivor story wasn’t over, as she’d be included in the Second Chance ballot in 2015 as a dark horse pick to not only make the cut but win the season. But in the fan vote’s most brutal moment, she didn’t get enough fan support to join 19 others on the flight to Cambodia and has since remained eager to get her second chance as the eternal underdog.
WHY SHE SHOULD BE CONSIDERED
I still remember the look of disappointment on T-Bird’s face as she was denied a spot on Cambodia, and I still hate it. So I’d love nothing more than to see her smiling and singing “Tomorrow” on the beaches of Fiji next summer. While reaching back to Africa this late into Survivor’s life, and for a one-time player who got rejected by a fan vote nonetheless, might seem like a tall order, let’s set the record straight. Brad Culpepper and Troyzan Robertson didn’t get the votes either, and they were locked into another returnee season a year later because casting wanted them back. So why not throw us super fans a bone and give T-Bird that same treatment?
In her first season, she was a strategic force who never got to shine because other players got in her way whenever she had something in the works. Her hinky vote strategy and subsequent scrambling throughout the merge proved her to be a fighter who wasn’t afraid to play a sneaky game and battle for her right to stay. Given a second shot at the title, she could unleash the beast she’s been training for the past 23 years and become a force to be reckoned with, once again a dark horse contender not to be underestimated.
Additionally, she still keeps up with the show and many of its players, so you wouldn’t need to fear the image of a disconnected T-Bird wandering around the beach getting ghosted on Day 1 like you would for many players from her era. She’s got friends. Lots of friends. And she’s a huge name in the RHAP community as the co-host of Talking With T-Bird, where she and Rob Cesternino interview former players who don’t see the spotlight as often. So if you want to cast a truly old school player who could perform well socially, play hard like her life depends on it, and fit in with a new school heavy cast playing at a new school pace, she’s your gal.
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Yes to finally having T bird back! Would LOVE it
Would be amazing to see a fit 60 + year old…. one of the greats of the first era