All 24 Returning Players For ‘Survivor 50’ Ranked By How Excited You Should Be

Jeff Probst has been hyping up the 50th season of Survivor–and the first all-stars season of the new era–for what feels like months. And now we finally get to see if our favorite players are coming back.

How are previous players going to fair in the new era? Is anyone going to redeem themselves? Should they have come back at all? When I finally saw the lineup for Survivor 50, I have to admit: I was stoked.

As a life-long Survivor fan (so much so that I have a limited edition poster hanging in my dining room) I’ve been on the edge of my seat waiting for the list of survivors coming back to prove themselves yet again. But I was also hesitant. There have been plenty of all-stars seasons in the past and they always brought back people who were universally hated. After all, Russel Hantz got to come back twice. Would that happen again for Survivor 50?

I’m happy to report that no, aside from one or two questionable choices, this cast is solid. Sure, it leans heavily in the new era, but the choices still get me excited for what we’ll see next spring. But I won’t delay any longer. Here’s who’s coming back for Survivor 50 ranked by how excited you should be to see them again.

24. Mystery Cast 1 (Season 49)

How can we be excited about someone we haven’t even met yet? And it’s not just one returning cast member from a future season–it’s two.

23. Mystery Cast 2 (Season 49)

Let’s just hope that whoever is coming for back-to-back seasons is at least fun to watch!

22. Joe (Season 48)

No hate toward Joe, but we know exactly the type of game he plays. There’s virtually no chance that he’s going to switch up his “truth and honor” strategy for the upcoming all-stars season. So be prepared for him to talk about the trust he has in his alliance for another 16 episodes.

21. Colby (Seasons 2, 8, and 20)

Colby was the first brawny challenge beast of Survivor. He was also the first to prove that, even if you win every individual immunity challenge to get yourself to the final three (or two, in his case), that doesn’t mean you’ll win. But we’ve seen him plenty already. We know his deal. Of the old school returning players, he’s the least interesting.

20. Jonathan (Season 42)

Every season has challenge beasts and brawny players–sometimes several. And of the challenge beasts of the new era, he’s the one I’m really not stoked to see. In fact, he’s the only new era returning player that I forgot about as soon as his season ended.

19. Dee (Season 45)

She’s one of two returning players who have already won their season. While Dee played a good enough game to win her season, returning winners rarely make it that far in the game.

18. Jenna (Seasons 1 and 8)

Someone from the first season of Survivor? Who isn’t Richard Hatch? Color me excited. Jenna hasn’t played Survivor since 2004, so I’m stoked to see what has changed for her in the last two decades.

17. Coach (18, 20, 23)

This is one of two controversial castmembers on the list of returning players. Coach is polarizing. You either hate him or you love to hate him. There is no in between. What will the Dragonslayer be boasting about this time?

16. Ozzy (Seasons 13, 16, 23, 34)

Ozzy was a huge favorite back in the day for how good he was at challenges or climbing trees back at camp. But with each returning season, he became more and more…Ozzy. And now with his OF career, I’m interested to see how he’ll blend in with the new era.

15. Genevieve (Season 47)

Genevieve had a rocky start in Season 47, taking the “I’m not here to make friends” approach. It was detrimental to her game even if she started to come around in the latter half of the game. I’m interested to see how she does now that she knows better than to turn her nose up at the social aspect of the show.

14. Chrissy (Season 35)

Chrissy was a huge strategic player during her season–especially during the end-game, landing her second place. She has the benefit of being from just old enough of a season not to be seen as the immediate threat she truly is, which will be fun to watch.

13. Angelina (Season 37)

Oh Angelina. Known for asking Natalie for her jacket, she’s known more for her personality than her game-playing skills. While she’s a fun player, there are several others from Season 37 that you should be way more excited for.

12. Q (Season 46)

This is the other divisive cast member to come back for Survivor 50. Q was a chaos agent, creating drama for everyone around him, even those who aligned with him. He lasted in the game far longer than most of us expected, and now he’s on the new all-stars for some guaranteed drama.

11. Stephenie (Seasons 10, 11, 20)

She was the first and only survivor to be on a tribe of one as her tribemates got picked off one by one during her original season. She proved herself to be a great challenge and strategy beast, which makes me excited to see what she can do so many years later.

10. Tiff (Season 46)

Poor Tiff tried to align herself with Q and it often got her into big trouble. I wonder if she was hoping to show off her skills without him. Alas, they’re on the same season again!

9. Kyle (Season 48)

Kyle literally just won Survivor and here he is going right back to Fiji to see if he can join Sandra and Tony as the third person with two winds under their belt. He’s also the only other previous winner for Survivor 50 next to Dee. I’m curious if he’ll get away with more since, if I understand correctly, most people there hadn’t seen him play yet when they landed on the island. (Survivor typically films the next two seasons in the spring, so they would have been filming Season 50 while 48 was still on the air.)

8. Aubry (Seasons 32, 34, 38)

From her start on Brains vs. Beauty vs. Brawn, Aubry was exciting to watch. She played the social and strategic game like so many of us would have if we’d made it to Fiji. You really root for this woman, and she certainly got close to winning more than once. Though her last season she was the third boot, so maybe everyone will be on guard with her. Will 50 finally be her season?

7. Mike White (Season 37)

We love Mike White here at Thought Catalog. After all, he gave us hits like School of Rock and The White Lotus. He’s also one of the most memorable players on Season 37, and that’s saying something. That season was exceedingly meme-able. He’s the only celeb player you’d want to actually win the game.

6. Rick Devens (Season 38)

Rick was my pick to win Season 38, so I was extra bummed when he came in 4th. Rick is a great social and strategic player with a good blend between old-school style and new era flexibility. At the very least, he’ll make this season fun.

5. Cirie (Seasons 12, 16, 20, 30)

Cirie is the queen of literally every reality show she steps onto, and that includes Big Brother and The Traitors. While she deserved to win every single season of Survivor she was on, she never quite got there. I’m just happy to see her back on screen and I wish her the best.

4. Kamilla (Season 48)

Kamilla was so close to winning Season 48. As the jurors announced during the finale, she would have won if she’d gotten to the final three. Will she still align with Kyle this season or will she try something different? I’m excited to find out. (And she’s low-key in my top 5 to win.)

3. Emily (Season 42)

Emily was something special. She started the game by antagonizing literally everyone on and off her tribe, but when someone called her out on it, she did the unthinkable: She changed. By the time the season was over, she became one of the most likeable players–and one that most of us wanted to come back.

2. Christian (Season 37)

Christian was a true fan favorite. The best of the returning players from Season 37, his loveable brand of nerdiness made him so much fun to watch. He has to be the smartest person to ever play Survivor. Maybe we’ll get to watch him talk about science and Rueben sandwiches for five hours during a challenge again. Cross your fingers!

1. Charlie (Season 46)

Charlie stands out as the best Survivor player of the new era who also happened to get royally screwed over by his so-called ally once she landed at Ponderosa. I’m stoked to see how Charlie does without Maria tanking his game. He deserves this second chance more than anyone else from the new era, and I’m excited to see him win.