The upcoming season of "Survivor" is an extra special one, with 20 players returning for their second chance at becoming the ultimate survivor. These 20 were picked by fans from a pool of 31 previous players, but there were a few contestants they wanted who refused to come back on the show.
The 31 players were chosen by CBS and the producers of the show, and it shockingly turns out that a lot of the players they originally had in mind said, "Thanks, but no thanks," host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly. Probst went on to give the names of the four contestants who turned down this second chance at winning the million dollars, and what reason they gave.
The first person to turn it down was Greg Buis, who was from the very first season, and someone Probst really wanted back. "He wanted to do it," Probst said. "But he'd just been given this really great opportunity as the CEO of a nonprofit and he said, 'I just can't. I can't take the job and leave.'"
The second person to give away their chance was Major League Baseball player Jeff Kent from season 25, who didn't really give any reason. He never said yes or no, so when the producers had to cut the list down and needed a definite answer out of him, he asked them to "call him another time."
As for the women, television personality and talk show host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who's married to NFL Quarterback Tim Hasselbeck, from season 2 was at the top of their list. "We would have loved to have had her back," Probst said. "But she said no many times."
And last but not least, the fourth person they wanted to come back was Roberta "RC" Saint-Armour, also from season 25. RC was someone "Survivor" fans remember because of her alliance with her former cast member Abi, who ended up completely turning on her. "It's a helpless feeling when someone backstabs you," RC told People at the time. "Especially because she was operating under incorrect assumptions. I thought she could be a good thinker to work with. But when that door closed, it was slammed shut and locked. I knew my chances of winning the game were pretty much wiped away."
She just had no desire to play this season. "You know, RC came out to play 'Blood vs. Water' and her dad got sick [so they had to pull out before filming] and I've heard enough Survivors tell me that the emotional journey is so strenuous that she just thought, 'You're going to put Abi on the list too and I don't want to see her. Let's just forget it,'" Probst continued to say about wanting RC. "Maybe we can revisit RC another time and she'll want to come back."
Despite these four turning this amazing opportunity down, the 20 who did agree to come back and were chosen by fans are in for a rude awakening with this season. As if the climate conditions of Cambodia, which are said to be the worst in the history of the show, being almost unbearable wasn't enough to keep contestants on edge, Probst has opened up about many of the new twists when it comes to immunity idols. The game will be played a little different this time around and even though these players have first-hand experience, they're bound to run into some surprises along the way.
"Survivor Cambodia: Second Chance" premiers on CBS on Sept. 23.
