Survivor 20 Looks to be Heroes vs. Villains
Tenth Anniversary Season May Bring Back Show’s Biggest Stars Ever
Jul 15, 2009
Over the past week, new details have emerged about the highly anticipated twentieth edition of CBS’s blockbuster reality show Survivor, which will begin filming in Samoa early next month. The biggest news is that the season appears to be an alumni edition pitting past heroes against past villains in what promises to be an extremely memorable tenth anniversary season.
Mark Burnett on Survivor 20
Series creator and executive producer Mark Burnett, in regards to the show’s twentieth season, told the Hollywood Reporter on July 7th that “[t]here's so much being discussed. No decisions have been made. Clearly it's 10 years [and] 20 seasons. We'll do something really cool but we certainly won't be making any big format changes.”
Former Contestant Leaks Information
Only a day after Burnett’s claim that no creative decisions had been made, Survivor: Palau contestant Coby Archa confirmed on the Survivor Sucks message board that the long-rumored ‘Heroes vs. Villains’ would apparently be the theme for Season 20.
Richard Hatch Returns for Survivor 20?
Archa’s claims were seemingly confirmed this week when news broke that Survivor: Borneo winner (and the original reality TV villain) Richard Hatch had been asked (at the end of June) to appear on Survivor 20 as part of a special tenth anniversary season. An invitation letter to Hatch, sent by Survivor Entertainment Group, was released to the public, along with Hatch’s petition to the courts to be released from a halfway house in Pennsylvania in order to participate in the season.
The invitation letter reveals that Survivor 20 will be filming in Samoa for a period of 39 days between August 1 and September 20. This information is not surprising since it had been previously reported that, as a result of budget cuts, seasons 19 and 20 were being filmed back-to-back this summer.
Back in April, Hatch petitioned the court to serve his time in Argentina (where his husband is from), as well as to be allowed to freely travel to make an appearance on Survivor. Thus, it appears that ‘Heroes vs. Villains’ has been in the works for several months now. Hatch’s previous petition was denied, according to the judge, because “Hatch was in need of supervision, including mental health counselling” partly because he had “perjured himself extensively during the trial,” and also because Hatch had yet to pay back $400,000 in back-taxes.
Hatch’s recent petition argued that participating in Survivor 20 “[would] allow him to pay any 2000 and 2001 taxes determined to be due.” The judge, however, still denied the motion. Thus, it appears that Richard Hatch will NOT be appearing on Survivor 20 after all.
Former ‘All-Stars’ Seasons
Survivor 20 will not be the first time that previous survivors have returned for another chance to play the game and win the million dollars. In 2003, Survivor: All-Stars brought back 18 of the most memorable players from the show’s first seven installments. Then, in 2005, fan favorites Stephenie Lagrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard of Survivor: Palau returned as part of an opening twist for Survivor: Guatemala. Most recently, ten favorites from seasons seven to fifteen were pitted against a tribe of ten “super-fans” in last year’s Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites.
Survivor 20 Possible Cast Details
If casting rumors are correct, this will be the first time that some contestants are able to play the game for a third time. Among the possible “threepeats” are Jon Dalton (AKA “Johnny Fairplay”), who is best known for lying about the death of his grandmother while competing on Survivor: Pearl Islands and later being the first voted off of Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, and Stephenie Lagrossa, the last remaining member of her Ulong Tribe on Survivor: Palau and the runner-up of Survivor: Guatemala.
Past contestant Coby Archa claims that at least 35 former contestants were contacted about possibly appearing on the show, and were interviewed in Los Angeles at the beginning of the month. Of those 35, apparently 10 had already appeared on the show twice.
Archa has also revealed that Natalie Bolton (Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites), Ace Gordon (Survivor: Gabon), Shane Powers (Survivor: Exile Island), Amanda Kimmel (Survivor: China/Fans vs. Favorites), and Parvati Shallow (Survivor: Cook Islands/Fans vs. Favorites) were also asked to participate.
Host Jeff Probst had previously revealed in his Entertainment Weekly blog that if there was ever another All-Stars season, Survivor: Tocantins contestants Benjamin “Coach” Wade and Tyson Apostol would be shoo-ins. Thus, it is likely that at least one of them, probably Coach, will be appearing on the show. Probst also expressed his interest in seeing Survivor: Tocantins winner and fan favorite J.T. Thomas Jr. return.
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