Prior to the premiere of “Survivor 50” on CBS this February, fans of the hit reality competition series were given the opportunity to vote on how they wanted the milestone season to play out, with voting categories available on everything from tribe colors to the long-awaited return of the show’s live finale format.
The installment’s “In the Hands of the Fans” theme extended into its May 20 finale, as fans voted for legendary castaway Cirie Fields to receive $100,000 as the season’s fan-favorite player.
Throughout the season, fans similarly let their voices be heard by participating in Entertainment Weekly’s “Best ‘Survivor’ Winner Ever” bracket game, which pitted every former “Sole Survivor” – from the show’s original winner, Richard Hatch, to the recently-crowned Aubry Bracco – against one another in head-to-head showdowns to determine once and for all who the fans consider to be the greatest winner of all time.
While we’ll get into a breakdown of the bracket’s biggest upsets below, fans ultimately awarded the title to “Survivor: China” champion Todd Herzog.
Todd Reacts to Winning EW’s Bracket: ‘It’s Truly an Honor’
“I started watching ‘Survivor’ day one as a super fan myself. I studied the game. I went out there to represent super fans. I took the title in China and I just wanted to make the fans proud,” Herzog, now 41, said in a thank-you video to fans after the results of EW’s bracket were revealed on Monday, May 25.
Despite not having appeared on another season of “Survivor” since winning the show’s $1 million prize in 2007, Todd emerged victorious from bracket match-ups against some of the franchise’s most notorious and beloved winners, including champions like Natalie White (“Survivor: Samoa”), Tom Westman (“Survivor: Palau), Dee Valladares (“Survivor 45”), Sandra Diaz-Twine (“Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains”), Kim Spradlin (“Survivor: One World), Parvati Shallow (‘Survivor: Micronesia”) and, finally, Aubry Bracco, who last week became the 48th castaway in the show’s history to claim the “Sole Survivor” title on “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.”
“Anybody who loved ‘Survivor: China’ and went out there and voted and represented, it’s truly an honor,” Herzog continued. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart. This is really exciting. It means an awful lot because it’s been 19 years since I played, but I’m super proud of my game.”
Some Fans Don’t Think Todd Deserved to Win EW’s Bracket
GettyWhile Todd Herzog is widely considered to be one of the most dominant winners “Survivor” has seen in the last 26 years, some fans were surprised to see that the one-time player beat out series legends like “Boston” Rob Mariano, Tony Vlachos, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Parvati Shallow.
The quartet, considered by longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst to be the franchise’s “Mount Rushmore” of players, all secured spots in the Final Eight, though only Parvati managed to make it to the Final Four, with Boston Rob losing the fan vote to Kim Spradlin, Tony losing to Natalie Anderson (“Survivor: San Juan del Sur”) and Sandra losing to Herzog himself.
Anderson and Spradlin were cut off in the Final Four, leaving Todd and Parvati to duke it out in the Final Two vote, which Herzog ultimately won.
While the decision was “in the hands of the fans,” not all viewers agreed with the final outcome.
CBS“Boston Rob all the way. Only player who played a perfect game, in season 22. He controlled his tribe like a cult leader/mob boss,” wrote one fan on X.
CBS“Lol no way. Kim [Spradlin] One World. Hands down the best winner. Challenge Beast. Strategy Beast. Social Beast,” added another.
CBS/GettyA third argued that two-time winner Tony Vlachos was the most deserving of the “greatest of all time” title, writing, “Yeah no. Tony is the best winner and it’s not that close.”
Why Hasn’t Todd Herzog Returned to ‘Survivor’ Yet?
CBSAdditional fans questioned, if Herzog really is the best “Survivor” winner of all time, why has he never returned to the series for a follow-up appearance?
After claiming the “Sole Survivor” title in 2007 when he was just 22 years old, Todd publicly struggled with severe alcoholism, a battle that was documented on “Dr. Phil” from 2013 to 2016.
He later announced that he’s been sober since 2017, having, in the meantime, launched his own custom toy-making business and podcast series.
While he has yet to be invited to return to the competition, longtime fans are chomping at the bit to see Herzog step back onto the “Survivor” island, preferably sooner rather than later.
“Get this man back on Survivor. He’s ready,” wrote one fan online in response to EW’s fan-voting bracket.
“I hope Survivor sees this & realizes there’s passion, still almost 20 years later, for Todd and how we’d love to see him back. He should’ve been on Winners at War! He was sober for many years then, but if that was the concern, it’s been 6 more years since and he’s still sober. Put him on!” added another.
Will Todd Herzog Ever Play ‘Survivor’ Again?
CBSHerzog himself revealed in an August 2025 interview with “TheThings” that he “would say yes” if he was ever invited to play “Survivor” again.
“I would say yes. I would gladly go play ‘Survivor’ again,” he said, simultaneously revealing that he wasn’t upset that he hadn’t been contacted by CBS to compete on Season 50. “It’s not something that I have to do though. So, I would love to. I think it’d be fun to see what it would be like now, but I don’t need to.”
Despite not being “upset” that the network hadn’t reached out, Todd did criticize the season’s finalized cast for “excluding” players from his era.
CBS“I feel like it was not done properly, in my opinion,” he said of the cast. “I would have liked to have seen it be more spread out, so we had old school, new school, new era. I think that would have been awesome. But instead, we don’t really have any new school from [seasons] 21 to 40. We don’t really have a whole lot. So I feel like a big chunk of … 50 seasons of ‘Survivor’ was missed.”
While a “Survivor” return may or may not be in the cards for Herzog’s future, the former champion added that he’d love to expand his reality TV portfolio with appearances on hit series like “Big Brother,” “The Amazing Race” and “The Traitors.”
In the meantime, fans can catch Todd Herzog as he joins the cast of former castaway Reiman (Spencer) Bledsoe’s upcoming documentary series, “Surviving Reality.”
