34. Vecepia Towery (Marquesas)
It’s a shame that Vecepia Towery didn’t get a call for Winners at War because over the years, she’s gotten more and more love from the fan base. Vecepia played an under-the-radar game, which is likely why she doesn’t get more respect as a winner, but she showed she had no problem cutting people’s throats and doing whatever it took to get herself further in the game.
Unfortunately, Vecepia didn’t get a ton of air time on Marquesas due to all of the other big characters that season (Boston Rob, Sean, Kathy, Paschal, Neleh, John, the list goes on). I’m glad to see Vecepia ranked so high on this list and to get the respect she deserves.
She’s also the only African American woman to have won Survivor to this day and that was in season four, which aired in 2002. Crazy.
33. Ethan Zohn (Africa, All-Stars, Winners at War)
Ethan Zohn proved that you can be a nice guy and win the game of Survivor. Well, in the old school seasons at least. That might not fly now due to nice people being considered threats.
Ethan didn’t necessarily do anything huge in his winning season, but he formed bonds with people and won challenges. He didn’t have long stays on All-Stars or Winners at War, but he was definitely inspirational during the log carry challenge on the Edge of Extinction in Winners at War. Ethan survived cancer too, so he’s clearly a strong person and proved that in Survivor and out of the game.
He doesn’t get a ton of love for his Survivor win simply due to not making a ton of huge moves, but aligning with Lex and Tom was his best move that season because they ended up making the final four. He’s one of the all-time greats for sure.