Survivor Oz Top 10 – Top 10 Males To Return for an All Winners Season

Imagine Jeff Probst & Lynne Spillman had contacted all winners and they were all available to head out to play Survivor again. Out of the 29 current winners whom would YOU bring back? With 29 winners in total this week Ozlet Cable Brandon continues his all winner season coverage with his ultimate wish-list of male winners who should return for an all winner's season. Did your favourite male winner make the cut? Who should have also been included, or who should have been left out from the list? Leave your comments below. 

I’ve decided to put my neck on the line and thought that I would pick two tribes of 10, a tribe of female winners and a tribe of male winners. Today I will look at the Top 10 Males. Whilst I’ve tried to be unbiased, honestly it’s hard not to steer towards winners you’ve liked. Things I took into consideration were times played, viewer popularity or unpopularity, confessionals, challenge prowess, strategic game and entertainment value. I also thought about players that were probably most likely to return if asked. So with that said, here are the top 10 male winners who would be all but guaranteed to light up our screens in a all winners season.

10. Jud ‘Fabio’ Birza – Nicaragua

Fabio is one winner that I feel doesn’t get much love from the Survivor fans for his game. Whilst I’m not a hardcore Fabio fan I actually respected his game and when Brenda was booted, I started rooting for him. Some say he seemingly coasted through to the finals, but I think a hat trick of immunity wins that were important to his survival in the game is significant. If fans doubt his Nicaragua performance, what better way than proving the critics wrong by coming back and showing us all up.

9. Mike Holloway – Worlds Apart

Our most recent winner and I believe worthy of a spot in All Winners. While he made mistakes on his way to the million, he did it the hard way. Firstly starting off in a tight ‘blue collar’ alliance and spending the first half of the game in a fairly safe position, things unraveled when some of his decisions affected the trust with his alliance friends. His challenge dominance (and joint record) took him to the final 3 which he won easily. Why wouldn’t you want the Batman sounding Texan coming back to do another ‘Happy’ Dance?

8.  Tom Westman – Palau

Got to say, Tom was my preseason pick to win Palau and the guy who I was rooting for from Day 1. How could you not like the courageous fireman? Tom was a dominant force and the unofficial leader within the powerful Koror tribe that obliterated the Ulong tribe. Tom had a tight alliance of five and managed to win four immunity necklaces on his path to victory. The first player I’ve picked that has played twice, but I will justify it by saying he never got a real shot in Heroes vs. Villains. Tom is clearly worth a third look.

7.  Yul Kwon – Cook Islands

While he only just beat the challenge master Ozzy, Yul showed even though he lacked immunity wins, he was able to master the social game. Yul had the powerful hidden immunity idol (and Becky) in his back pocket, his strategic thinking and maneuvering was first class, with his good jury management getting him the all important million dollar prize. I’d love to see Yul back to defend his title.

6. Tony Vlachos – Cagayan

The Jersey City cop played the game with an uncompromising ferocity and seemingly never stopped to sleep in case he missed something. Like Fabio, I’m not a supefan but I did enjoy watching his gameplay. He was like the Tassie Devil in Cagayan, making alliances, breaking them, finding idols, building a spy shack and talking Llama. Love him or hate him, Tony made great television and Survivor would be stupid not to get him back.

5. Earl Cole – Fiji

Now here is a winner I really liked on Day 1, but never thought would go so far. You had to feel for Earl, he started on the terrible Ravu tribe, had to deal with some ‘interesting’ tribe mates and spent many a lonesome night at Exile Island. He is one winner who absolutely got the full Survivor experience and was thoroughly deserving of his knockout win. Anyone that destroys his two opponents 9-0-0 should be a lock for an ‘All Winners’ season.

4. Todd Herzog – China

I’m not currently up to date with Todd’s medical situation, but if his health was 100% I’d be telling Todd to get his passport ready and pack a suitcase. I think a All Winners season needs a superfan like Todd and I couldn’t think of a better redemption story than Todd climbing out of the pits of hell and coming back to outlast all others to be Sole Survivor once again.

3. Brian Heidik – Thailand

The car salesman who played Survivor with no emotion and treated the game like ‘a business trip’ would be the cherry on top for an ‘All Winners’ season. Mr. Freeze has a cult following in the Survivor community (Is Waterworth the cult leader?) and I’d personally love to see him play again. Rumours over the years have insinuated that Brian has been banished by Survivor, whether it’s true or not, it would be a travesty not to give Brian another swipe at the million. Surely time heals all wounds, Survivor & Jeff Probst need to bury the hatchet and get this guy back!

2. Richard Hatch – Borneo

The inaugural winner of Survivor, the first villain and still one of the most internationally recognised players ever to play the game. I think Hatch deserves to be in an all winners season, and I think Survivor needs him too. Honestly it would be great to see him again and after 15 years it would be great to see whether Hatch can adapt to changes that Survivor has had over its evolution. Richard still is an avid watcher of the show and regularly participates in episode recaps with us and other Survivor podcasts, expressing great knowledge of the game and the castaways playing it. Would be a serious threat.

1. Chris Daugherty – Vanuatu

This pick is with a lot of bias but I loved everything about Chris Daugherty in Vanuatu. Based purely on challenge performance he should have been a first boot, but was able to get past that obstacle and continued to weave his way thru heavy traffic to get to the end of the game, which seemed like a million to one shot at times. The Chris Daugherty confessional file is amazing, mostly over the top, but amazing nonetheless! No one could ever accuse Chris of being boring because he’s one of the most entertaining winners ever. Chris should be the first person called by Lynne Spillman.

Writer Disclaimer: I fully understand not all players will be available or even want to comeback, this list is purely my dream lineup and I’ve speculated on it’s potential. I did not contact any of the winners so have absolutely no idea whether they are interested, available or not.

I decided if you had played more than twice (Boston Rob) you were excluded and if you won on a second or third time (Cochran & Tyson) you were cut as well. I do appreciate the feedback, argue the list with me, but don’t argue if they would or wouldn’t comeback. Just pretend everyone can comeback. 

What do you think of the top 10? Do you agree? Disagree? Is it in the wrong order or are there ones that didn’t make the top 10 that you feel should’ve? Leave a comment below to let us know your thoughts!

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