The 5 Most Glaring Omissions From The Cast List

At the end of May 2025, CBS and longtime host Jeff Probst revealed the cast of the long-awaited 50th season of “Survivor” — and immediately, fans of the reality competition show found issues with the lineup. Specifically, they were upset that some major “Survivor” superstars didn’t make the cut.

To be fair, arguments against the “Survivor 50” cast list are, in large part, not in bad faith. It should also be said that the cast of “Survivor 50” does feature some serious standouts who will probably make this outing quite fun. For one, Cirie Fields, who’s regarded by many as the all-time best player to never win the title of Sole Survivor, will play for an incredible fifth time on the U.S. version of the show. 

Fields’ two-time competitor Ozzy Lusth, a formidable presence in physical challenges, is also set to return, alongside other early-to-mid era players like Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick and Colby Donaldson. The 37th season of “Survivor,” subtitled “David vs. Goliath,” was so unbelievably beloved and popular that three of its competitors — Angelina Keeley, Christian Hubicki, and “The White Lotus” showrunner and creator Mike White, who was that season’s runner-up — are heading back to a remote beach to try again.

The biggest problem with the “Survivor 50” cast list is a combination of two things: The glaring omission of some major power players and a reliance on the so-called “new era” of “Survivor,” which Probst has been quite vocal about championing. Since Probst, who serves as showrunner and executive producer of “Survivor” in addition to his hosting duties, had a heavy hand in choosing the “Survivor 50” contestants, it’s remarkable — and a little weird — that 11 out of 24 players in the forthcoming season are such recent additions to the show’s canon. So now, let’s answer the big question: Who are the five players who should be competing in “Survivor 50”?

Amanda Kimmel played “Survivor” three times — but her track record is wild. In her first two seasons, she won the final immunity challenge and chose her competitors in the final Tribal Council, only to lose the big prize twice. That sort of thing’s gotta sting. In her first outing, “Survivor: China” — the show’s 15th season — Kimmel played a solid social game paired with an even better physical one, but came in third place behind runner-up Courtney Yates and winner Todd Herzog. 

Kimmel was then chosen for the 16th season, “Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites,” but when she won the final immunity challenge once again, she chose Parvati Shallow to join her at the final Tribal Council, figuring the beloved Fields would be too hard to beat. Realistically, Kimmel would have lost to Fields, but she was wrong about the vitriol directed at Shallow; Shallow won the million dollars, and Kimmel came up empty-handed for the second time in a row.

Kimmel, who was only ever traditionally voted out of the game in her third season, would be a great addition to “Survivor 50,” but her name somehow got left off the list. Some “Survivor” fans have speculated that Kimmel isn’t part of the 50th season due to the presence of Ozzy Lusth, with whom she had a full-fledged relationship during “Micronesia.” During that final Tribal, Lusth made it quite clear that he’d vote for Kimmel to win the $1 million and blamed Shallow for blindsiding him. Either way, Kimmel should be in the conversation (and so should Yates, who was wonderfully chaotic during “China”).

After the “Survivor 50” cast list dropped, a handful of former players who, for whatever reason, didn’t make the final cut took to social media to air some grievances. One was Jerri Manthey, a legendary “Survivor” power player and backstabber — she was on the “Villains” tribe on “Heroes vs. Villains” for a reason! — who posted a video to her Instagram saying that she was gutted over not being included. “I’m devastated […] as you can imagine,” Manthey said, repurposing a Cameo video she filmed for a friend. “The outpouring of support and encouragement from everybody online has just been so helpful in helping me start the process of healing, but I’m not going to lie: I am pissed, I’m disappointed, I’m sad, and I sometimes am asking that very same question too: How am I going to get through this?”

Manthey, who competed in the show’s second-ever season “Survivor: The Australian Outback” as well as “Survivor: All-Stars” and “Heroes vs. Villains,” said she felt disrespected that she wasn’t included in the latest all-star season, adding that she’s spent the “past 25 years of my life, which is almost half of my life, involved in, supporting… making an effort to be a part of the ‘Survivor’ community.” 

Throughout the video, she also implied that she was in the running but was cut during the casting process. Manthey is, perhaps, being a little reactionary here, but she’s not wrong. She is an important part of the “Survivor” canon, and as divisive a player as she might be, it’s weird to see her omitted from the “Survivor 50” cast list.

Few “Survivor” players are as universally beloved as Jonathan Penner, an actor and screenwriter who joined the reality competition for three outings. He was the 14th person voted out in his inaugural season, “Survivor: Cook Islands,” which began with a dubious concept and separated players by racial makeup. It also produced “Survivor” legends like Penner, Yul Kwon, Shallow, Lusth, and Candice Cody.

Penner was then chosen to come back for “Micronesia.” Unfortunately, he was evacuated from the game in the sixth episode after injuring his knee and suffering a potentially dangerous infection. It always feels incredibly unfair when a promising player like Penner, whose social and physical games were both strong, gets cut for medical reasons, and thankfully, he did come back for Season 25, “Survivor: Philippines.” This time, he was the 11th player voted out, but still ended up in seventh place, which is where he finished in “Cook Islands” — though at least that meant he got to be on the jury.

Penner is funny, extremely smart, and truly loves “Survivor” — and he did address his absence from “Survivor 50” on social media. Penner wrote on X, “Friends, while I was disappointed by [a] late deletion from S 50, even I can’t argue with Mike White, Ozzy & [Benjamin ‘Coach’ Wade]! I wish it had gone my way, but it’s a great, undeniable cast. Congratulations, boys! And onward!” Penner didn’t divulge why he was cut during the casting process, but it’s definitely disappointing that we won’t see him back.

When you consider that such a huge chunk of the “Survivor 50” cast is made up of “new era” players, it feels legitimately disrespectful that Carolyn Wiger, one of said era’s biggest breakout stars, isn’t included. Wiger, who works professionally as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and life coach, showed up on the third season of the U.S. version of “The Traitors,” but was banished for being a Traitor. Here’s something complicated you should know about Jeff Probst here — apparently, he doesn’t love when “Survivor” veterans appear on other reality shows, despite the fact that he’s also trafficking in some major double standards.

Probst admitted that he sort of resents when former “Survivor” players get poached by other projects after they make a splash on the survival competition. “So I do get a little territorial,” he said. “I’m not going to lie because it’s vicious. It’s tough, man. You got to keep your show good. You got to be ahead of everybody else.” He clarified that, even though Cirie Fields won Season 1 of “The Traitors,” she’s “Hall of Fame.” He also walked back these comments in August 2025.

So what does this have to do with Wiger? After the “Survivor 50” cast list broke, it was reported that Wiger was contacted initially about appearing on the all-star season. This makes sense because Wiger, again, was a major fan favorite, presenting herself as an honest-to-a-fault and vulnerable player whose social game turned out to be unexpectedly shrewd. Wiger’s absence will be a bit glaring, but hopefully she’ll pop up in a future season… or another reality competition series.

It feels downright impossible to talk about “Survivor” players who should be on the show’s landmark 50th season and not discuss Shallow, the “Cook Islands” powerhouse who won “Micronesia” — and was a part of the infamous “Black Widow Brigade” (alongside Fields, Kimmel, and Natalie Bolton) that systematically took down complacent dudes. (Come to think of it, Bolton also should have come back for “Survivor 50.”) Shallow, to be fair, is busy. 

In 2025, she competed in “Survivor: Australia V the World” (with Fields), and in recent years, she’s popped up on “The Traitors” and “Deal or No Deal Island.” After the famous flirt finished in 15th place in “Winners at War,” she did tell Entertainment Weekly she didn’t want to play the game again… only for the outlet’s resident “Survivor” expert Dalton Ross to remind her that she said that after “Heroes vs. Villains” too. (She was the runner-up in that season behind two-time winner Sandra Diaz-Twine, who joined her on Season 2 of “The Traitors.”)

“It’s only because I have such a soft spot in my heart for ‘Survivor,'” Shallow admitted to Ross in February 2025. It feels like an extended family for me. Seeing Jeff, seeing the producers, seeing all the camera operators — I know them all so well. They’ve been there through my whole growth trajectory in my life. So I do feel a sense of, it’s a family reunion I can’t miss. It’s twisted and sick, but I kind of love it.” We can’t rule out that Shallow will return someday, and hopefully, it’s sooner rather than later, because she truly is one of the most delightfully shrewd, sneaky, and smart “Survivor” players to ever outwit, outplay, and outlast.

All previous seasons of “Survivor” are streaming on Paramount+ now.