It’s a great time to be a Survivor legend. The beloved long-running reality show recently finished filming its 50th season, and the fanbase is collectively very excited, to the point where there’s way more conversation than usual in-between seasons. A few of those legends including Cirie, Coach and Colby are returning to actually play on Survivor 50, but even those who didn’t go to Fiji are getting asked to share their thoughts. Enter Sandra.
The Queen of Survivor recently appeared on Island Talk, and during the convo, she was asked about who she thinks the biggest omissions from the season were. She ultimately gave three names, and I am in complete alignment with each of them. You can check out her answer below…
Who I wish would have been out there? Carolyn. But that’s because she talks to me about it every single day so I wish she would have been out there. How could they not have her? How dare they? Maybe there’s gonna be a Season 51 because they had so many great people that didn’t make the cut. Jerri would have been great. Abi would have been great. I have so many dear friends, near and dear to my heart, that I would have loved to see out there.
most loudly complained about being cut.
and Carolyn herself) were so outraged that rumors started swirling that host Jeff Probst was punishing her because he was mad she went on Traitors before returning to play Survivor a second time. We have no idea if that’s true or not, but it goes to show the level of frustration fans have about her not being selected.
In defense of the producers, picking the twenty-four players for Survivor 50 was always going to be an impossible task. More than six hundred people have played the US version of the game, and there are at least a hundred that a vocal segment of the fanbase would like to see return. There was no way to put together a cast everyone would have been happy with, but I do think it’s fair to say that adding more old school legends like Jerri and Abi-Maria would have likely lowered the volume on some of the complaints. Casting Carolyn, probably the most popular contestant from the so-called New Era, would have helped too.
That being said, there’s a good chance we’ll likely get another season featuring returning players in the near future. It may not be Survivor 51, as Sandra speculates here, but I think it’s going to come sooner rather than later. There weren’t any seasons featuring returning players between 41 and 49, and all the fan interest has been made it obvious how much everyone has been clamoring to see returning players. I’d be shocked if producers didn’t give it to us by 55 at the latest.
Survivor 50 is expected to premiere in the spring of 2026. Expect to hear a lot more from Sandra and other legends when the season airs.