It’s been 13 years since Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains first aired on CBS, but the war of words between former winners Sandra Diaz-Twine and Parvati Shallow rages on in 2023.
The tensions between Sandra and Parvati have long existed; ever since both women appeared on the all-star-studded Season 20, which aired in 2010. Regarded as two of the best Survivor players ever, Sandra and Parvati entered Heroes vs. Villains as previous winners and made it to the Final 3 together, with Sandra ultimately being crowned the show’s first-ever two-time winner.
Debates have continued since then over who deserved the win more, with fans falling into either Team Sandra or Team Parvati. Viewers were perhaps hoping for scores to be settled in 2020’s epic Winners At War season; however, Parvati and Sandra’s paths never crossed in the game as both were voted out before the merge.
However, the off-island drama has not slowed down. This recent spat came after Sandra responded to a Facebook post on a Survivor fan page asking why she won Season 20 over Parvati.
“It’s simple. I was there! Because the jury hated both Russell [Hantz] and Parvati. 😂😂,” Sandra responded, referencing her win over the Survivor: Micronesia winner and Survivor: Samoa runner-up Russell. “And while Russell and Parvati on several occasions laughed at JT’s letter, I ended up getting the last laugh and my 👑.”
She continued, “And had it been Jerri [Manthey,] Parvati and Russell in the [final three]. Yes Jerri would have won. So under no circumstance would Parvati have ever WON Heroes Vs. Villains. Goodnight.💤 and Queen Stays Queen.”
Sandra’s response kicked off the debate all over again, with fans arguing throughout Sunday night. The four-time Survivor castaway returned to the scene the next day, writing, “I see I’m still the topic of conversation on this beautiful Monday morning… Anyways for those that constantly defend me and show love. I appreciate you❤️. And for those Parvati lovers out there 😂 go spend 2 hours on survivor with her and see how much you like her then! She’s not that nice 💯.”
A fan later snitch-tagged Sandra’s comments to Parvati, who took to her Instagram Stories to address her long-time adversary. “Call me anything, but please don’t call me nice,” she wrote. “Nice girls don’t win Survivor or build lives they love. @sassysdt you can keep my name in your mouth to stay relevant. I ain’t mad at ya & thanks for the compliment.”
The latest back-and-forth has even seen former Survivor players taking sides, with fellow Winners At War castaway Tyson Apostol throwing in his lot with Team Parvati, while the likes of Survivor 42 runner-up Mike Turner and fellow Heroes vs. Villains player Sugar Kiper have shown their support for Team Sandra.
Where do you fall on the great Sandra versus Parvati war? And could this potentially lead to a Sandra vs. Parvati season of Survivor?
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Sandra “survives” by sitting out most of the challenges so other players do not vote her out for being terrible at them.
Parvati is a smart woman whose capabilities were always overshadowed by her choice of cute flirty girl as strategy. I really hated that strategy and feel she really abused it with James. Came back to bite her when Russell was her only option.
Team Sandra (or at least never team Parvati)
It depends on what the challenges are. If it’s real survivor stuff Parvati wins in a landslide. If it’s letting everyone else work and talking a lot Sandra wins.
These two are gonna be a the retirement home shaking their walkers at one another. Stop gloating and give it a rest. It was 24 seasons ago.
I mean… Tyson is a far more reliable source than Mike and Sugar
Sandra is right, she won solely because of a bitter jury, whom despised Russell and Parvati. If it had been Jerri sitting there instead of Sandra, she would have won. There was no outcome where Russell or Parvati were going to win that season despite playing better games than Sandra did.