Survivor

Survivor is the most physically demanding

and emotionally taxing game on television.

It strips you to your core.

You're pulling yourself out of the game.

While offering the opportunity to prove what you're made of.

For those who win.

The winner of Survivor Kageyama.

The reward is grand.

A million dollars and a high that may never be repeated.

But for those who lose.

Did Woo make a million dollar mistake?

The consequence is often a relentless nightmare of what ifs that never ends.

Until now.

I am so happy to say,

Kelly Wiglesworth, you will get a second shot.

Get up on that stage.

This season, for the first time ever,

we turn Survivor over to the fans.

20 former players who have played only once

were selected by a nationwide audience vote.

They're being given a second chance to finish what they started.

Some have waited over a decade.

Traveled to Cambodia,

a country with its own stunning, humbling,

and powerful history that stirs the emotions.

It serves as a vivid reminder

of how the past can haunt

and provides the inspiration to seize their second chance.

15 years ago, I was in Borneo, first season, and I almost won.

The winner of the first Survivor Competition, Rich.

Made it 39 days and lost by one vote.

But that's why I'm here.

It's just been poking at me for 15 years, little by little.

I'm much stronger and smarter, and I'm a mom now.

I've given birth, okay?

I can do anything at this point, right?

I am living the dream.

I have the perfect wife.

My kids, they're amazing.

I've got a great job.

I don't have any bad things in my life, except Pearl Islands.

Andrew.

My exit, it's haunted me for 12 years,

and I'm not over it.

And to cure my survivor pain, I need to give it 1,000%.

I'm going to leave everything I got in this game.

And it'll be epic.

Last time I played Survivor, I was frankly cocky.

Cass, zero chance of winning the game.

I thought about Survivor in terms of chess.

But I have done a lot of maturing.

I've done emotional growing in that time.

People are not chess pieces, and they need to be related to you on a human level.

Being more emotionally aware

I think I'm in a better place in life than I've ever been

to play and win this game.

My experience in Australia was cut way short,

and I want to have that second chance

at my dream of getting to the end.

The Angkor Wat temples,

that's a total metaphor for this whole game, because,

you know, you get a little bit of damage,

but you know what, you can build yourself up.

14 years is a long time to finish that last chapter in the book.

Last time I played the game, I was with my dad.

- You don't want to come off as like... - No. I know.

You know, like, aggressive and like you're saying what to do.

Playing with my dad was my downfall, absolutely.

I probably should have written my dad's name down.

But I can't go back on that now.

I can take the second chance

and I can make the moves that I wanted to make

and have a better game.

I really messed up my first time being scared early on.

After discovering that, like, I can socially work my way through this game,

I started to say, okay, Sierra, let's start making some moves.

Eleventh person voted out of Survivor, Blood vs. Water.

Unfortunately, that had to start with voting my mom out.

I love you.

And this time, I want to be fearless,

and I want to be that person I was at the

end of the game, at the beginning of the game,

and just leave it all out on the island.

The first time I played Survivor, I was nice, Tasha.

This is, like, the least strategic game I've ever played.

It's really silly.

I didn't want my family or my church members

to be disappointed in the way I played the game.

When I returned home, my church members were saying,

you need to be more aggressive.

You need to lie and backstab like everyone else.

So if the Saints think it's okay, it's okay.

I'm here to win a million dollars,

and when it's all done, I'll pray for forgiveness.

This second chance means everything in the world to me.

I jumped off a pole in the Outback for peanut butter and gave away a million dollars when I did it.

That's peanut butter.

Anybody decides to bail, you can join me.

Moving to replay that history over and over for 14 years

really does a number on you.

Jeff, the tribe has spoken.

This is my opportunity to rewrite my own story.

I'm more mature,

I'm a lot smarter,

and I'm not jumping off anything for peanut butter.

Growing up as a kid,

me and my dad would sit around and watch Survivor.

It was really hard not getting my dad out here for the loved ones visit.

It was something that I really wanted to do

to Prove to myself that I could make it that far in the game.

Joe, tribe has spoken.

Thanks Jeff.

I just came up short and it was devastating.

I think this is my time to make it happen right now.

We all have a little devil in us.

I was a bit of a troublemaker my season.

Good luck.

Chaos Cass, well she lives somewhere deep within me.

But if I don't change,

someone's going to take me down.

But I kind of like my legacy thus far.

I like the chaos.

The only thing that needs to change is their perception of me.

And then when the merge comes, if I'm there, all hell breaks loose.

You know, when I look back on my season,

I made a lot of mistakes.

I created a lot of trouble.

- I am your friend. - Me too.

But if you shoot me, you're dead.

That was a mistake.

I threw coconuts at Scoopin's head.

That was a mistake.

I was too blunt with Lisa.

Seriously, are you insulting my intelligence right now?

You're trying to freaking fool me?

I'm not stupid.

I shouldn't have done that,

but having a second chance

to come back and patch those little mistakes.

But I like having fun.

Villains have more fun.

Last time when I played with my wife,

half my mind was always with her.

You're sending your wife to Exile Island.

What's the feeling right now?

I got nothing.

It's emotional.

You know, with Val.

I really love her, and I care about what she's doing.

I wasn't focused.

Eighth person voted out, the second member of our jury.

So, I was blindsided by my own alliance.

I went home, took it hard.

Now, I want the money for Val more than for me.

Like, I just need to go through this again.

I'm back for some redemption.

Welcome to Survivor Cambodia, Second Chance.

This is a very unique season

because you are all returning players who have played

only once and didn't win,

which is another way of saying you failed in your goal.

Thanks.

And you're being given a second chance

to finish what you started.

To further fuel your motivation, you were chosen, voted in by the very

people who watched you play the first time, our audience.

Ciera, what does that feel like?

To know we didn't put you on the show,

the fans put you on the show.

I think there's definitely like an element of pressure

because you don't want to let,

you know, your family down, let alone now, America.

Jeff Varner.

Yeah.

You could argue that people might have forgotten about you.

It was 14 years ago.

Yeah, a long time ago.

How often have you thought about doing this again?

A lot, a whole lot.

I can even feel or hear

the butterflies coming through your voice.

A little bit, yeah.

There's excitement.

There are butterflies.

There's emotion.

You know, there's a lot going on.

Joe, you played in our most recent season.

Yeah.

This is really like getting home, taking a shower, and coming back out again.

Yeah, the transition was pretty quick.

But now with all the great players that I grew up watching,

people that I kind of based my game after,

some of these great players, Terry, I mean, the challenge

beast, like, I was like, man, I would love to do that.

So they paved the way for this game.

And we have to check in with Kelly Wiglesworth.

Right here, Jeff.

The first runner-up of our very first season, 15 years ago.

It's weird when I hear jokes that I grew up watching.

I know, isn't that right?