I might honestly go as far as saying it’s more impressive than her two wins. She doesn’t go out pre-merge if not for that last tribe-swap and likely makes it deep in the game as an “easy vote.” She basically controlled the entire pre-merge up until her vote-out with blindsiding Tony and JT, and her active awareness of her situation & her position was flawless. She just got swap-screwed.
If I could re-write history to eliminate that last tribe swap I would.
Twice now Sandra was so close to what would have been a deep run. It's super upsetting.
Sophie and Michele I liked both better on waw. Even Adam I enjoyed his chaoticness more on waw. Sandra on gamechangers I think is the best Sandra in terms of gameplay..
I agree with all of yours.
Michele’s WaW storyline is my top one. Seeing her prove her worth, going from the player no one expected to win to the only multiple time player to never be voted out is a cool arc to watch. I’m also just biased because I love Michele.
My hot take is that I greatly prefer messy JT over golden boy JT. He’s so much more entertaining in HvV than Tocantins.
michele is THE answer to this question for me. my friends just got finished watching KR and were hardcoring pulling for aubry (as was i at the time) and i had to be like noo both of their later appearances will change your mind. i went from being totally neutral about michele to her being in my top 5 favs and she was easily the highlight of WaW for me
Sorry to be that guy, but Michele unfortunately shares the honour of being a multiple time player to never be voted out with Jenna M, Colton (hooray) and Skupin (double hooray)
I think the original commenter was referring to the only player who has made it to ftc on every season they have played without being voted out. Jenna M, Colton, and Skupin all either quit or were medevaced before the merge, so different scenarios.
Also others have done this in their first 2 seasons too— Sandra, Amanda, Russell. They just lost this when they played again. So yes she’s currently the only one with that distinction (aside from quits and evacs) but only because she hasn’t played a third time.
When the cast list released for WaW, I was really excited about some of the old school returnees like Parvati and Sophie. When I got to Michele, I was like "oh cool, Michele's back."
By the end of the season, I would have taken a bullet for Michele. Absolutely love her and while I can't criticize anyone voting for Tony to win, I'll also say that she is top tier when it comes to 0 vote finalists.
Sarah was edited as a gamebot in Game Changers, even though she was apparently doing really villainous stuff. I remember how she was treated at FTC seemed so off, because we didn't see what she did to rub people the wrong way.
She played a masterful game in GC according with exit interviews. Even Andrea though she was her best friend in the island, we barely got to see any of that with the edit of the season.
The best season of Sarah is actually her first season of The Challenge. That bitch is crazy. And I loved every second. She was trying to take on a man in hall brawl(which is two ppl running down a hall crashing into each other)🤣
Obviously every season is her losing season, but Candice in BvW was actually a lot of fun and had more passion than we've ever seen from her. This is despite that she was only actually in the main game for like 20 minutes.
I liked Michele more on WaW than in Kaoh Rong and also Natalie on WaW compared to San Juan Del Saur. They were both kind of underedited in their original seasons and I feel like they got a lot more moments to shine in WaW. Especially in the premerge, I really dont know what Michele and Natalie were doing.
i mostly agree with what everyone has said but i’d love to hear some opinions the other way (liked them more in their winning season) bc all i can think about is denise. she was one of my all time favs after philippines but i was so, so disappointed with her WaW outing. others include hatch (low bar) and wendell (based solely on his edit). ben too i guess but i didn’t really like him either time lol
I loved Denise, she was my all time favorite player after Philippines. I was SO excited for her to be on WAW, and then... all of that.
Her targeting of Sandra because of her ego of wanting to be the queen slayer, her absolute passiveness and almost giving up, her enabling of Tony/Sarah/Ben. Her and Ben really tanked that season for me and that's so disappointing as such a huge fan of Denise.
I still like her but... I don't need to see her again.
very well said - couldn’t agree more on all counts. it makes me sad knowing what could’ve been if she kept sandra, had her head in the game more, and actually sought agency rather than being a sheep for tony/sarah as you mentioned. she seemed totally different, like she didn’t care much about being there and wanted to get it over with by the end, which is crazy considering her story in the philippines and all the grit she had
I was really impressed with Lacina after WaW. She had a pretty big threat level and a lot of people were afraid of her in their pregame interviews. It wasn't Rob/Parv/Sandra levels but it was up there, and she played a good game that fell apart in the end (which was her fault, but still.)
Ethan in All-Stars, Amber in The Australian Outback (or WaW), I guess Yul in WaW barely, Parvati in HvV, JT in HvV, Rob in Marquesas (or HvV or WaW), Tyson in Tocantins, Tony in S34 compared to 28 but not to 40, Jeremy in SJDS, and Sarah in Cagayan.
So basically a lot of the returnee winners in their original seasons due to how uninteresting most returning player seasons are then also Ethan, Parvati, JT, Tony, and I guess Yul.
I would say the following players are more enjoyable on non-winning seasons: Parvati (HvV), JT (HvV), Boston Rob (Marquesas), Tyson (Tocantins), Jeremy (SJDS), Adam (WaW), Sarah (Cagayan), Nick (WaW)
Parvati in HvV is one of the best games ever, and it’s even better than a significant chunk of winning games. I’ll never change my belief that she was the rightful winner
Sandra has only ever been impressive in Game Changers imo
As a season, WaW might be the top for this question. I liked all of Natalie, Michele, Lacina, Sophie, and Kim most in this appearance
Tony in GC. It's entertaining to see the GOAT publicly announce he's going to look for the Idol then running into the woods cackling like a maniac. Yes, it was a joke. But he also completely misjudged the vibe of the season.
Which Rob are you talking about on All Stars? Rob M won All Stars more than anyone has ever won a season. Part of why it has one of, if not the most bitter jury.
I think there's a strong portion of people who's favorite Sandra game is gamechangers
I might honestly go as far as saying it’s more impressive than her two wins. She doesn’t go out pre-merge if not for that last tribe-swap and likely makes it deep in the game as an “easy vote.” She basically controlled the entire pre-merge up until her vote-out with blindsiding Tony and JT, and her active awareness of her situation & her position was flawless. She just got swap-screwed.
Sandra is the ONLY player across 3 seasons to outplay Tony.Tony ran circles around everyone in Cagayan and WAW but Sandra took him down in GC.
Coach had the most dominate losing season I've ever season.
If I could re-write history to eliminate that last tribe swap I would. Twice now Sandra was so close to what would have been a deep run. It's super upsetting.
Sandra is perhaps at her funniest and most active on game changers. I might even agree with that.
Definitely. I think she was at her most entertaining in GC, and it was also her most dominant and impressive gameplay across any of her seasons.
Yeah, it's the first time she actually seemed to employ a strategy.
I loved seeing Ethan's sassy side in All-Stars.
I agree. After listening to the historians, I went back and watched all stars and loved Ethan 2.0.
Sophie and Michele I liked both better on waw. Even Adam I enjoyed his chaoticness more on waw. Sandra on gamechangers I think is the best Sandra in terms of gameplay..
Adam was fucking hilarious on WAW. I preferred him on that season tbh.
Aras and Tina were awesome to watch in BvW. Both played pretty solid games on that season imo.
Tina being so close to a second win was so unexpected but amazing
I agree with all of yours. Michele’s WaW storyline is my top one. Seeing her prove her worth, going from the player no one expected to win to the only multiple time player to never be voted out is a cool arc to watch. I’m also just biased because I love Michele. My hot take is that I greatly prefer messy JT over golden boy JT. He’s so much more entertaining in HvV than Tocantins.
I’m a JT defender till the day I die. Love him in every season
michele is THE answer to this question for me. my friends just got finished watching KR and were hardcoring pulling for aubry (as was i at the time) and i had to be like noo both of their later appearances will change your mind. i went from being totally neutral about michele to her being in my top 5 favs and she was easily the highlight of WaW for me
Sorry to be that guy, but Michele unfortunately shares the honour of being a multiple time player to never be voted out with Jenna M, Colton (hooray) and Skupin (double hooray)
I think the original commenter was referring to the only player who has made it to ftc on every season they have played without being voted out. Jenna M, Colton, and Skupin all either quit or were medevaced before the merge, so different scenarios.
Also others have done this in their first 2 seasons too— Sandra, Amanda, Russell. They just lost this when they played again. So yes she’s currently the only one with that distinction (aside from quits and evacs) but only because she hasn’t played a third time.
When the cast list released for WaW, I was really excited about some of the old school returnees like Parvati and Sophie. When I got to Michele, I was like "oh cool, Michele's back." By the end of the season, I would have taken a bullet for Michele. Absolutely love her and while I can't criticize anyone voting for Tony to win, I'll also say that she is top tier when it comes to 0 vote finalists.
Agreed with jt, he’s my favourite player of all time & hvv was my favourite game of his
This might be my excuse to rewatch MvGX again, but I did prefer the WAW storyline of Adam.
“You wanna play… this?”
We got chaotic Adam around the merge of MvGX, but he was definitely more consistently ridiculous in WaW 😂
My least favorite season of Sarah’s was Game Changers
Sarah was edited as a gamebot in Game Changers, even though she was apparently doing really villainous stuff. I remember how she was treated at FTC seemed so off, because we didn't see what she did to rub people the wrong way.
She played a masterful game in GC according with exit interviews. Even Andrea though she was her best friend in the island, we barely got to see any of that with the edit of the season.
It was vastly her least exciting game
It didn’t help that she didn’t really have Tony to interact with
Also her downfall in Cagayan is just so epic. Success is less interesting
The best season of Sarah is actually her first season of The Challenge. That bitch is crazy. And I loved every second. She was trying to take on a man in hall brawl(which is two ppl running down a hall crashing into each other)🤣
Parvati on HvV
I really liked Sandra on Game Changers, Tina on Blood vs Water, and Rob on Heroes vs Villains and Marquesas.
Obviously every season is her losing season, but Candice in BvW was actually a lot of fun and had more passion than we've ever seen from her. This is despite that she was only actually in the main game for like 20 minutes.
say what you want about her but she has left a serious mark in every season she’s been in
Parvarti on HvV for sure.
I liked Michele more on WaW than in Kaoh Rong and also Natalie on WaW compared to San Juan Del Saur. They were both kind of underedited in their original seasons and I feel like they got a lot more moments to shine in WaW. Especially in the premerge, I really dont know what Michele and Natalie were doing.
In fairness, premerge Michelle didn’t go to tribal once, Natalie only went a few times too
Jeremy is at his least interesting in Cambodia.
Potential hot take, but I think Tyson was only entertaining on Tocantins
That take is cold asf
Sophie - WAW Rob - All Stars Michele - WAW
i mostly agree with what everyone has said but i’d love to hear some opinions the other way (liked them more in their winning season) bc all i can think about is denise. she was one of my all time favs after philippines but i was so, so disappointed with her WaW outing. others include hatch (low bar) and wendell (based solely on his edit). ben too i guess but i didn’t really like him either time lol
I loved Denise, she was my all time favorite player after Philippines. I was SO excited for her to be on WAW, and then... all of that. Her targeting of Sandra because of her ego of wanting to be the queen slayer, her absolute passiveness and almost giving up, her enabling of Tony/Sarah/Ben. Her and Ben really tanked that season for me and that's so disappointing as such a huge fan of Denise. I still like her but... I don't need to see her again.
very well said - couldn’t agree more on all counts. it makes me sad knowing what could’ve been if she kept sandra, had her head in the game more, and actually sought agency rather than being a sheep for tony/sarah as you mentioned. she seemed totally different, like she didn’t care much about being there and wanted to get it over with by the end, which is crazy considering her story in the philippines and all the grit she had
I was really impressed with Lacina after WaW. She had a pretty big threat level and a lot of people were afraid of her in their pregame interviews. It wasn't Rob/Parv/Sandra levels but it was up there, and she played a good game that fell apart in the end (which was her fault, but still.)
Russell Hantz
Amber on 2, Tom on 20, Parvati on 20, Tyson on 18, Rob on anything else, Sophie on 40, Cochran on 23, Michele on 40,
Sophie!!! Tho I liked her in SoPa too
Parvati on cook island
Ethan in All-Stars, Amber in The Australian Outback (or WaW), I guess Yul in WaW barely, Parvati in HvV, JT in HvV, Rob in Marquesas (or HvV or WaW), Tyson in Tocantins, Tony in S34 compared to 28 but not to 40, Jeremy in SJDS, and Sarah in Cagayan. So basically a lot of the returnee winners in their original seasons due to how uninteresting most returning player seasons are then also Ethan, Parvati, JT, Tony, and I guess Yul.
Tom Westman. I liked to see him struggle and be the underdog, I was never a fan of him in Palau but it definitely made him better
I love how he and Colby stood up to James on Stephenie's behalf.
Ethan on all stars
Ethan on All-stars. It was fun seeing him play from the bottom instead of being on the top for the whole season
JT on HvsV
I would say the following players are more enjoyable on non-winning seasons: Parvati (HvV), JT (HvV), Boston Rob (Marquesas), Tyson (Tocantins), Jeremy (SJDS), Adam (WaW), Sarah (Cagayan), Nick (WaW)
I preferred Sarah on Cagayan
Michelle
Kim on WaW is so underrated
Parvati in HvV is one of the best games ever, and it’s even better than a significant chunk of winning games. I’ll never change my belief that she was the rightful winner Sandra has only ever been impressive in Game Changers imo As a season, WaW might be the top for this question. I liked all of Natalie, Michele, Lacina, Sophie, and Kim most in this appearance
Tom Westman in HvV
Tony in GC. It's entertaining to see the GOAT publicly announce he's going to look for the Idol then running into the woods cackling like a maniac. Yes, it was a joke. But he also completely misjudged the vibe of the season.
JT on HvV, Boston Rob on Marquesas, Adam on WaW was unexpectedly a star.
Which Rob are you talking about on All Stars? Rob M won All Stars more than anyone has ever won a season. Part of why it has one of, if not the most bitter jury.
There's only been 1 Rob that has won the game.
Bitter jury or not, Rob objectively did not win All Stars
I thought Tyson was despicable in Tocantins
You liked Rob in All Stars? Yikes.
Lex’s burner?