What started out as an incidental note for something else spurred a conversation about Survivor players and their relationship ahead of Edge of Extinction.
We’re currently in the middle of a very long Survivor offseason, so it’s only fair that we pontificate about rumored and reported content coming our way in the months ahead. With four returning players joining the cast of 18 players to make up season 38, Edge of Extinction, it’s only natural for us at Surviving Tribal to look at any and all connections between the players.
For the most part, the obvious connection between two of the four returnees would be Kelley Wentworth and Joe Anglim on Cambodia: Second Chances. Though the two weren’t exceptionally close during the season, they do have a common bond shared heading into a new season, and have become friends off the island.
Not only that but in researching our post about Survivor Nicaragua’s Brenda Lowe as one of the case models for Deal or No Deal later this December, we stumbled upon a fact I had previously written about, but completely forgot; Kelley Wentworth and Joe Anglim have competed as a team before (and have won serious prize money) on the CBS television version of Candy Crush.
Two teams of two from both Survivor and Big Brother competed in the debut episode of the nine-episode series, with Jeremy Collins and Woo Hwang as the other team. It was an all-Cambodia special, with Joe and Kelley topping the other Survivor duo en route to victory and what would be the second-place prize on the island-based reality show.
What does this mean for Edge of Extinction? It truly remains to be seen. Kelley did vote Joe out in Cambodia, and if there’s any justice from the producers, the two will start on opposing tribes. Any returning players outnumbered on a tribe of returnees will likely get together regardless, although we haven’t seen a case when there are multiple returnees starting on a mixed tribe.
However, it does put everyone else at a disadvantage (although David Wright and Aubry Bracco slightly less). Them having competed and worked together on two separate reality shows (including one where they won) is an incredible step up that shouldn’t be ignored.