10. Bobby Jon Drinkard
Back-to-Back Seasons: Palau and Guatemala
Bobby Jon played for the first time in Palau, the show’s tenth season and was on the doomed Ulong tribe. It came down to him and Stephenie in a fire making competition in order to determine who would stay and be the lone remaining member of Ulong. Stephenie won, sending Bobby Jon packing. He finished in tenth place as a result.
Due to Stephenie’s popularity in Palau, she was brought back immediately for Guatemala and it only made sense to bring her Ulong buddy back as well, so Bobby Jon also got a call back. He was the first ever pre-merge “boot” to return for a second season.
He made it to the merge in his next season, but didn’t make it long in the next phase of the game, placing ninth and becoming the first member of the jury. Bobby Jon played in an era of Survivor where “big moves” weren’t a thing, so his lack of gameplay shouldn’t really be held against him, but he lands in the tenth spot simply because he was a pre-merge boot and didn’t place much higher the second time around.
9. Michaela Bradshaw
Back-to-Back Seasons: Millennials vs Gen-X and Game Changers
Most people remember Michaela for her reaction to getting blindsided in Millennials vs Gen-X. As soon as her name came up multiple times, she FREAKED OUT on Jay and stared him down for an uncomfortable amount of time. She was booted right before the merge because of how big of a threat she was and as entertaining as Michaela was in season 33, she didn’t really merit a spot on Game Changers.
Be that as it may, she was indeed cast for the very next season, and she made some noise that’s for sure. She and J.T. bickered over the sugar that Sandra actually ate, and we all remember Michaela’s hair flip when J.T. was voted out.
Michaela made it to the merge her second time around and completely missed out on a secret advantage that was right at her feet during a reward challenge that she wasn’t picked to partake in. She was a swing vote in a few tribal councils, but ultimately was taken out prior to the final six, finishing in seventh.
I’m not sure Michaela was someone we really needed to see immediately after her first season, but because she went much deeper in the game the second time around, she gets the ninth spot on this list.