The Challenge Scouting Reports: Survivor 46
The premiere of the newest season of Survivor was last night which means the time is right to bring back an old series of mine and evaluate the castaways from the most recent Survivor season in my Challenge Scouting Report. Survivor castaways have established themselves as Challenge mainstays on recent MTV seasons and the Challenge USA seasons on CBS. These shows are dramatically different from one another, but there are a lot of contestants who fit both shows. However, many people are great on Survivor but may not be as good of a fit for The Challenge.
You can read any of my previous Challenge Scouting Reports about CBS alumni here:
Survivor 42, The Amazing Race, Survivor 41, Big Brother 23, Earlier Survivor & Earlier Big Brother
I will be breaking down each cast member from this season into one of five categories: “Not Right for The Challenge,” “I Don’t Think So, But They Could Surprise Me,” “I Hope They Do, but I Don’t Expect They Will be Interested,” “Good Casting Choice” and “Absolutely!! Cast them Tomorrow”
Not Right For The Challenge
Survivor and The Challenge have similarities in the qualities they look for in contestants. To be successful, competitors need the ability to think strategically, create social relationships, and have the ability to perform in competitions. These are all things that are important to differing degrees on Survivor and The Challenge. Both shows also seek to cast players who have engaging personalities while interacting with their fellow contestants and who are entertaining while giving confessionals about what is going on in the game.
Even though Survivor and The Challenge are similar, not every person who is right to be cast on Survivor fits on The Challenge. An early hook to Survivor was bringing together people from different walks of life to see how they “built a new society” while voting people out. That vision is not exactly how the show presents itself today, but there are still elements of that motto that stay true, one of those being bringing together people from different walks of life. Jess Chong, Randen Montalvo, Bhanu Gopal, Maria Shrime Gonzalez, Liz Wilcox & Ben Katzman are all examples of these contestants who come from “different walks of life,” which do not necessarily line up with what The Challenge looks for when casting. These players are not at the level of athleticism that is needed for The Challenge. Most of these castaways are on the older side with well-established careers, lives, and/or families. Those kinds of players are not what The Challenge should be looking for.
I Don’t Think So, But They Could Surprise Me
Moriah Gaynor, Tim Spicer, and Soda Thompson all fall into a similar category to the Not Right For The Challenge group. Tim is someone who I think could have potential were he cast on The Challenge; he was a good physical competitor and messy strategically, which are both positives. However, Tim has an established career and family, so he might not want to run off for a few months to do Challenge seasons. Tim was also one of the less memorable players this season due partly to him getting voted out at the merge. I would be surprised to see him not only be cast but also want to take the time away from his regular life. Moriah Gaynor, like Tim, is another player who went out right around the merge and was fairly forgettable. She was completely outplayed strategically and was a liability in the challenges to the point where there was an entire scene about her inability to jump. Soda Thompson was yet another player taken out mid-game. She was a boisterous personality and in a good strategic position throughout the pre-merge but was quickly seen as a threat and betrayed by one of her closest allies. Soda has an established career as a Special Education teacher, and she is not a great competitor for challenges, so I would be surprised if she got the call.
I Hope They Do, but I Don’t Expect They Will be Interested
Kenzie Petty, Charlie Davis & Hunter McKnight
I think that all three of Charlie, Hunter & Kenzie could be good casting choices were they to be on a season of The Challenge. However, I would be surprised to see any of them in front of TJ anytime soon.
Hunter was the best challenge competitor on this Survivor season, repeatedly showing himself to be not only exceptional as a physical competitor but also great at puzzles and carnival games. He does not have the most dynamic personality, but he is not a complete dud in that area either. Hunter was a massive Survivor fan, so taking time away to compete on that show made sense. He works as a science teacher, and I don’t see him stepping away from a career that he cares about to do Challenge seasons. I don’t think he will throw his career away for The Challenge.
Charlie does not have the appearance of a great competitor as he is a tall, skinny law student, but he emerged as an unexpectedly strong competitor in challenges this season. He also was a strong strategic player, which is something he could bring to The Challenge. Charlie gives entertaining confessionals and can make strong relationships, but he is more of a nerdy guy, which is not a typical archetype for The Challenge. Like Hunter, he is also a massive Survivor fan, and I do not think that he has the same desire to come out for The Challenge as he did for Survivor. On top of that, he is also really busy as he recently graduated from law school, so I imagine that is the direction he plans to take his life instead of appearing on more seasons of reality TV.
Kenzie had a great run this season on her way to taking home the win and one million dollars. She was one of the best social players that I have watched on any show. Kenzie was consistently able to build deep and meaningful relationships and use those relationships to position herself in the middle, with everybody wanting to work with her. She has an entertaining personality, socializing and in confessionals. She played a good but understated strategic game and was competitive but not dominant in challenges. However, Kenzie won a million dollars on Survivor, so she does not need the money the same way others do, and she has a lot going on in her life, with owning her salon, being married, and being very pregnant with her first child right now. Even though she would have a lot going for her as a Challenge competitor, she is not in a phase of life where I think she would want to drop everything, so I do not expect to see her as one of the next Survivor castaways in The Challenge house.
Good Casting Choice
Jemila “Jem” Hussain-Adams, David Jelinsky & Tevin Davis
All three of Jem, Jelinsky & Tevin have a lot going for them as options to make the jump from Survivor castaway to Challenge competitor. Each of them has many attributes that are ideal for Challenge casting, but none of them quite get to the level where I would be mad if they don’t get the call.
Jem was only the fifth boot this season but made a pretty big impression in her shorter amount of time on the show. She came out of the gate playing the game very hard, finding an advantage, spreading rumors, making alliances, and generally making strategic waves. She was blindsided when Charlie & Maria voted her out as a bigger threat. Jem has a fun personality, which I think would fit with the big personalities on The Challenge by making friends or enemies. The biggest thing that holds her back is that I do not know if Jem necessarily has the physicality for the show, but certainly, if we keep getting seasons of The Challenge USA, I think she should get a call.
David Jelinsky is an absolutely ridiculous person and honestly became a bit of a Survivor icon in just one episode. Personality-wise he jumps off the screen, and he is somebody that I think would quickly become a favorite in The Challenge house, similar to an Ed or Cohutta. He failed spectacularly in the Survivor challenges, but the is an athletic guy, and I think that he could have redemption on The Challenge. The one strike against Jelinsky is that he was the first boot, which could lead to him being overlooked in terms of casting. I would love to see more of Jelinsky and think The Challenge could be a place where he could flourish.
Through the premerge part of the game, I thought that Tevin was playing a great game. But his game came crashing down post-merge after he turned on Soda and exposed him as a threat, leading to him getting blindsided in the very next tribal council. He has a really fun personality and also played a good strategic game with a willingness to make big moves, which are both things I would like to see him bring to The Challenge. The biggest thing that holds Tevin back for me is physicality. He did well in the team challenges on Survivor but was on a dominant tribe. I am not fully convinced he will be able to compete at The Challenge level, but like Jem if he is able to keep up physically, Tevin is someone I would definitely want to see. Maybe appearing on a season of The Challenge USA or if he proves to have more athletically maybe even on a season of The Challenge proper.
Absolutely!! Cast Them Tomorrow
Tiffany Nicole Ervin, Venus Vafa & Q Burdette
There are three people from this season that I would be actively disappointed if we don’t get to see make the jump from this season of Survivor onto The Challenge. All three of them are dynamite personalities, legitimate physical competitors, and play a strategically dynamic game.
Tiffany is someone from Survivor 46 that I see as a great addition to a season of The Challenge. First off, she was one of the biggest personalities of the season, popping both in confessionals and interacting with her fellow castaways. Tiffany showed herself to be a strong social player, being universally liked by the rest of the cast and both Kenzie & Q, considering her their number one. Strategically, the three of them ran her original tribe, and then post-merge Tiffany made strong connections and maneuvered herself to be in the middle. Tiffany’s game was completely blown up when Q turned on her (out of nowhere), and after managing to scrape by a few episodes, she went out eighth. Even though Tiffany did not win any challenges on Survivor, she is in good shape and physically has Challenge potential. With personality, social game, strategy, and potential as a physical competitor, I would be pumped to see Tiffany on a future season of The Challenge.
Venus played such a fun and villainous role in this Survivor season owing to her abrasive personality and her willingness to make any move to get further, as she was on the bottom for the whole game. She is young and attractive, and for those reasons, Venus was immediately identified as a threat by her original tribe. She was happy to call anybody out and, at the same time, was willing to work with whoever to get herself further. Her personality is such a natural fit for The Challenge that I could easily see her getting in fights and dragging others in confessionals (in an interview, describing herself as a Regina George). Venus has the type of cutthroat gameplay reminiscent of Veronica, and I could easily see Venus backstab someone to save herself. Another factor that is positive for Venus is that she is somebody I could see potentially getting into a showmance on a show like The Challenge. The only slight detractor to Venus is that she is not an elite physical competitor, but I think she is not a complete nothing athletically. Venus is somebody I desperately want to see make her way onto The Challenge.
Both Tiffany & Venus are people I think would be great on The Challenge, but the top spot for me from Survivor 46 is, without a doubt, Q. He was a complete force of nature and caused the game to constantly revolve around him. Q has such a fun and chaotic personality with incredible moments. He got the whole tribe to play hide & seek, so he could tell which of his tribemates was the sneakiest. Q allied with the biggest physical threats from each tribe, only to betray that alliance the very next episode. He refused to give a castmate an Applebees reward when after they shared how important it was to her and her daughter. Q caused complete chaos when he, out of nowhere, offered to be voted out to try to save an ally along the way, burning his biggest ally, Tiffany, by revealing to the tribe that she had a hidden immunity idol and ultimately made himself a complete social pariah. Early in the game, he demonstrated his ability to play a strong strategic game and has the volatility to also blow up the game, which would be great on The Challenge. Add in that Q is in fantastic physical shape as a former SEC track runner and football player, so he might be able to compete on the physical level of The Challenge. If Q is not cast on the next Challenge season he is eligible for, it would be a massive mistake.