Returning Players

The concept of Returning Players in NJ's Survivor offer the opportunity for former contestants to return for another shot at winning the game.

Returnee Season Types

All Returning Players

There have so far been three seasons featuring casts comprised of all returning players. These are generally dubbed "all-star" seasons, after the name given to the first season of this kind.

The eponymous season, Survivor: All Stars, saw eighteen returnees from the first six seasons divided, for the first time, into three competing tribes. Unlike future seasons there was no set theme to the season, and the returning players were selected for their notoriety in their original season. Cory C. ultimately won the against Burkina Faso competitor Eric M. and Ardennes competitor Sam H..

The twelfth season, Survivor: Second Chances, saw twenty former pre-merge boots, who had shown promise during their short time, return for another chance at the game. It is therefore the reverse of the idea from the inaugural All-Stars season. The season was won by Generation Gap competitor Mearl E., who was against Robby J. (Sri Lanka) and Mel T. (Brazil) in the Final Three.

Returnees vs. Newbies

The tenth season, Survivor: Generation Gap, featured ten returning players, representing the Second Generation, chosen for having only played one time so far in the new generation and made it to the merge, but did not win. They faced ten new players, representing the First Generation, who had yet to make their debuts in the new generation. It ended with two returning Gen 2 representatives and one Gen 1 representative, in the Final Three. Returning Generation 2 representative, Brandon R., beat newbie AJ P. and returnee David M. in a 6-1-1 Jury vote.

Mixed Returnees

The following seasons were less formal in their returnee format. The amount of returning players are not necessarily even to the number of new players that featured, but the tribes may still be divided based upon their status as newbie or returnee.

The fifteenth season, Survivor: Turkey, saw five former players return, picked because they won Fan Favorite in a previous season, in a twist known as Fans vs. Favorites vs. Friends. They were joined by ten new players, five of whom applied to be on the season, and five of whom had been asked by the returning favorites to play with them. Those who applied to be on the season were put together on one tribe, those who were asked back for being Fan Favorites were put together on another tribe, and those who were asked to play by the favorites were grouped on the final tribe. Friend JT D. beat returning favorites Jake B. and Oli G. in a 3-2-2 Jury Vote.

Returnees per Tribe

The returnee per tribe twist typically sees two/three returning players competing against new castaways, with one or two returnees placed on each of the competing tribes.

The twist was first introduced in Survivor: Sri Lanka. Four former castaways, Natalie S. and Sydney D. from Survivor: Jordan, and DJ M. and Will S. from Survivor: Ardennes, returned to play due to the fact they were all either in a rivalry or partnership with the person from their original season. Natalie was booted very early pre-merge, DJ and Will both made it to the merge and jury phases but were early-merge boots, and Sydney made it all the way to 4th place.