Survivor: Why Chris Underwood Didn’t Participate In Winners At War

Season 40 of Survivor saw twenty former winners of the show face off for a two-million-dollar prize, but Survivor: Edge of Extinction winner Chris Underwood declined an offer to play in the season. Survivor: Winners at War featured legendary Survivor winners like Parvati Shallow, “Boston” Rob Mariano, and Sandra Diaz-Twine battling it out against new school winners like Michele Fitzgerald, Wendell Holland, and Nick Wilson, to name a few. Ultimately, Survivor: Cagayan champion Tony Vlachos pulled out the win after dominating the season with his alliance partner Sarah Lacina.

Chris Underwood played in season 38 of the long-running reality show. He was the third person voted out, but due to the Edge of Extinction twist, he won his way back into the game at the final five. Chris was able to maneuver himself to the final three thanks to his savvy use of immunity idols and a daring move at the final four fire-making challenge, in which he gave up immunity in an attempt to eliminate fellow contestant Rick Devens. The move proved successful, as Chris eliminated Rick to progress to the final three. The jury respected his play and controversially awarded him the title of Sole Survivor. Chris was the first person to ever win the game after being voted out and has a reputation among many fans to be one of Survivor‘s weakest winners because of this fact.

Immediately following his season, Chris was contacted about appearing on the show again in Winners at War. But in an interview with EW, he says he turned down the offer. The filming of season 40 took place soon after Chris’ season finished airing, and Chris was very busy during that time period, having just married his wife when he was contacted by the show’s producers. “I got the call literally twelve hours after I said ‘I do’ to my wife. That was a tough honeymoon weighing out options! I would have had to leave for Fiji the night of my win in L.A.,” Chris explained. Chris decided that it was a better move for his marriage to sit out the Winners at War season, but he says he’s open to returning to Survivor in the future: “I love Survivor and all the fans out there who watch so you never know!” 

It would have been interesting to see how Chris would have fared in the competitive all-winners season. His reputation as a weaker winner may have been to his advantage in a game filled with some of the greatest Survivor players ever. He also would have benefited from the strategic divide between the old school and new school players, as most of the newer winners made it very far in the game.

Hopefully, Chris gets another chance to prove his Survivor mettle in the future. He made the most of his opportunities in Edge of Extinction, despite having been ousted early in the game. Given the opportunity to play again, he might be able to surprise critics of his game by avoiding elimination early and showing his skills as a Survivor player without the Edge of Extinction twist.

Survivor 41 premieres Wednesday, September 22, on CBS.

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