You never forget your first win…especially when it’s documented by CBS’ cameras.
Survivor‘s historic 40th season, which brought together 20 of the CBS reality hit’s most iconic winners, comes to an end tonight, with Jeff Probst finally crowning a Sole Survivor for Winners at War.
Heading into the three-hour event, Ben Driebergen, Michele Fitzgerald, Sarah Lacina, Denise Stapley and Tony Vlachos (along with a TBD returning player from the Edge of Extinction) are still in the running for the groundbreaking $2 million prize, with one joining Sandra Diaz-Twine in the elusive two-time winner club.
Over the course of the season, fans have watched icons like Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano and Parvati Shallow get voted out, while more under the radar winners like Adam Klein and Sophie Clarke finally got their time to shine. But really, all of the 20 returning winners have evolved a lot since their winning season, including Ethan Zohn‘s win over 15 years ago…basically before the iPod even existed.
So check out how much the Winners at War castaways have (or, you know, haven’t) changed from their winning season ahead of tonight’s epic three-hour finale…
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Natalie Anderson
The unofficial queen of Extinction after being sent there first, the season 29 winner heads into the finale with the most advantages to get back into the game.
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Tyson Apostol
After two torch-snuffings, Tyson finally won his third attempt, taking home the title of Sole Survivor during Blood vs. Water. He’s the only Winners at War castaway to be sent to Exemption Island twice after winning his way back into the game, fueled by the power of peanut butter.
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Danni Boatwright
The winner of season 11 was taken out early during Winners at War after her paranoia but a target on her back.
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Sophie Clarke
One of the series’ most stealth winners, Sophie, who won season 23, was blindsided by Tony, going to the Edge with an idol in her underwear.
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Jeremy Collins
The firefighter and father of four won his second go-around, taking home the $1 million during Second Chances (season 31). Unfortunately, he was blindsided by Tony toward the end of the game, resulting in a trip to the Edge.
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Sandra Diaz-Twine
While her reign as the franchise;s only two-time winner is about to come to an end, Sandra earned the title of Sole Survivor in her first two outings, Pearl Islands and Heroes vs. Villains before returning for Game Changers, as a mentor in season 39 and as the only winner to choose to raise the white flag on Edge and leave the game after she was blindsided by Denise pre-merge.
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Ben Driebergen
After winning Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers (season 35) by finding a lot of idols, winning challenges and building fire, Ben tried to play a different game his second time out and is still in the running to be Sole Survivor again.
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Michele Fitzgerald
Heading into the three-hour finale, the winner of season 32 is still one of the castaways left in the competition, winning individual immunity and playing her risky 50-50 advantage late in the game.
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Adam Klein
The winner of Millennials vs. Gen-X provided some of season 40’s most comedic moments, including trying to remove a piece from Jeff Probst’s stand at tribal council because he believed it was a hidden immunity idol (it was not), before he was sent to the Edge.
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Yul Kwon
After winning season 13, Yul mostly took a break from the Survivor world before joining the cast of Winners at War to help raise awareness and money for ALS on behalf of alum Jonathan Penner’s wife Stacy Title, proving to be quite adept at making connections before he was voted out.
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Wendell Holland
The winner of Ghost Island, season 36, Wendell’s off-screen romance with fellow winner Michele seemed to impact his game before he was voted out after the merge.
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Sarah Lacina
After Tony flipped on her and voted her out during Cagayan, Sarah returned and won Game Changers, and is once again in an alliance (“Cops R Us”) with Tony.
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Amber Mariano
Amber was the second person sent to the Edge, mostly because of her ties to her husband, Rob, following her return to the game after winning season eight’s All-Stars outing, which ended with her beating Rob after he proposed during the live reunion special.
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Rob Marino
Arguably Survivor‘s most infamous player, the “Robfather” finally won his fourth time out, taking home the prize in Redemption Island (season 22). After playing mentor during season 39, even getting his own statue on the island, Boston Rob was voted out pre-merge during Winners at War.
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Parvati Shallow
One of the game’s most iconic players thanks to her three previous seasons, including her win in Fans vs. Favorites, Parvati returned for season 40 just after giving birth to her first child.
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Kim Spradlin-Wolfe
After playing one of the most dominant games ever during her winning season (One World, season 24), Kim was taken out by Tony after giving up during an immunity challenge for food. Cookies, man.
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Denise Stapley
The winner of season 25 pulled off arguably the move of the season, blindsiding Sandra pre-merge to earn the “Queenslayer” nickname.
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Tony Vlachos
The former cop won season 28 only to be ousted early when he came back for Game Changers. This time around, Tony played an under the radar game until he hit the merge, transforming into the old Tony and pulling off multiple blindsides and three individual immunity wins in a row.
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Nick Wilson
The Kentucky lawyer took home the win for the Davids during season 37, David vs. Goliath, and showed off his fanboy side as the most recent winners to hit Fiji, revealing his crush on Parvati growing up.
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Ethan Zohn
The winner of the third season and two-time cancer survivor, Ethan provided one of the franchise’s most inspirational moments ever after he continued in a challenge on Edge of Extinction after almost being passing out and needing medical attention.
Survivor: Winners at War’s finale begins tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS.