‘Survivor’ quitters list: Everyone who voluntarily left the show through the years

John Benutty
·10 min read
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In the game of “Survivor,” the goal is to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition, but sometimes the hardest thing for a player to overcome is to “outlast” their own mind or body. As of this writing, 15 castaways vocalized a decision to leave CBS’s reality TV show of their own accord, whether it be due to general degradation of their body, family emergencies or even personal obstacles they couldn’t overcome in their mind. Note that people like Sean Edwards (“Survivor 45”) and Ben Driebergen (“Survivor: Winners at War”) aren’t included in our gallery because, even though they vocalized their decision to throw in the towel, they were still voted out by their tribes.

Tour our photos above (or click here for direct access) to see the updated “Survivor” quitters list throughout the show’s run. Which ones were the most frustrating to see play out? Which ones had a lasting impact on the season?

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Osten Taylor (Season 7: Pearl Island)

In episode 7, “What that… ?, Part 1,” Osten was starting to feel the stress of a lack of food, preventing him from sleep and leaving him with body aches throughout the day. After a twist gave “Outcasts” a chance to re-enter the game, Osten told his tribe to vote him out at their upcoming Tribal Council because he didn’t “have it in the tank anymore.” At TC, Jeff grilled Osten about his decision, but that didn’t stop him from becoming the first player to ever voluntarily leave the game.

Jenna Morasca (Season 8: All-Stars)

In episode 3, “Shark Attack,” after starting the game on a tribe that had no food or water for four days, Jenna revealed to her tribe that she was ready to go home. At camp, her fellow castaways noticed that she was “hurting” and needed encouragement to even attempt to eat. Later, she opened up that she was struggling with the idea of being out on the island instead of back home with her mother who was not doing well and could potentially pass away from cancer. Though they realized it would be a loss for them, Jenna had the full support of her tribe in her decision to quit.

Sue Hawk (Season 8: All-Stars)

In episode 6, “Outraged,” Sue woke up emotionally distraught over an incident at the previous challenge where a fully nude Richard Hatch allegedly sexually assaulted her by rubbing his genitals against her. Her tribe acknowledged that she was “distant and non-responsive” all day long before Sue confronted the situation head-on at the reward challenge. Sue took issue with Jeff saying Richard was “sort of inappropriate” at the challenge and replied by screaming at him that she was “violated, humiliated, dehumanized and totally spent” by the incident and there was “no way [she] could continue.”

Gary Stritesky (Season 14: Fiji)

In episode 4, “Let’s Just Call Jeff on the Jeff Phone,” Gary’s health began to decline following an allergic reaction to bug bites as well as increased vertigo. He told his tribe that he couldn’t possibly continue the game with the head spins, nausea and non-stop headache. By Day 10, the medical team came in to assess Gary’s condition, but with “nothing dramatic happening” with him medically, the decision was in Gary’s hands to make his own call to seek attention outside of the game, ultimately removing himself from play.

Kathleen “Kathy” Sleckman (Season 16: Micronesia)

In episode 7, “Like a Wide-Eyed Kid in a Candy Store,” Kathy was calling the game “the stupidest thing [she’s] ever done in [her] life.” Wet from constant rain and thinking about dry clothes and her family back home, hope began to drain from Kathy’s spirit quickly. In an admission that being out in the game is nothing like what you observe as a viewer from home, Kathy recognized that the conditions were too much for her and she needed to leave.

NaOnka Mixon (Season 21: Nicaragua)

In episode 12, “You Started, You’re Finishing,” talk continued to swirl around camp that both NaOnka and Kelly had floated the idea of quitting the game. For NaOnka, the decision seemed to have already been made when she secretly passed her hidden immunity idol from her own possession to Chase’s. After a physically demanding reward challenge that her team won, NaOnka told Jeff that she was happy to “go out with a bang,” but that she had gotten to a point where she no longer wanted to compete. Even when Jeff pointed out that she only had 11 days left in the game, NaOnka’s decision was final. Even after “thinking about it” the rest of the day, NaOnka announced her final decision to leave at the next Tribal Council.

Kelly Shinn (Season 21: Nicaragua)

In episode 12, “You Started, You’re Finishing,” Kelly returned from Tribal Council as the only member of the merged tribe that was left out of the blindside against Brenda. Feeling like she was on the bottom of her already small alliance and fed up with the onslaught of rain and cold temperatures, Kelly realized that she had already done more in the game than she thought she could and that it’d be okay for her to leave the game. After the Day 28 reward challenge where NaOnka voluntarily left, Kelly answered Jeff’s question if “anyone else wants to quit” by raising her hand that she was “physically and mentally” exhausted. Even after “thinking about it” the rest of the day, Kelly announced her final decision to leave at the next Tribal Council.

Dana Lambert (Season 25: Philippines)

In episode 5, “Got My Swag Back,” Dana felt like she couldn’t “shake the cold” from the rain and low nightly temperatures. It was Day 12 in the game when she experienced sharp pains in the stomach and was running from camp to vomit. Because her body was clearly shutting down, Jeff and the medical team were brought in to assess her condition, but they determined that she was not in a life-threatening situation and so she had to make the call to exit the game herself.

Colton Cumbie (Season 27: Blood vs. Water)

In episode 3, “Opening Pandora’s Box,” having already left the game early during his original season “One World” due to what he claimed at the time was appendicitis, Colton was frustrated that his tribe mates were not engaging him in strategy the way he had hoped they would. As soon as he was in front of Jeff again, Colton declared that he wanted to quit to which Jeff challenged him, making it clear that Jeff considered him a “two-time quitter.” Through his own admission, Colton was making a “selfish” decision to leave the game, leaving his tribe unexpectedly down a number and his “blood” Caleb to fend for himself from the other tribe. Never has Jeff been more frustrated by a player’s quit, in part because they “brought a quitter back” for a second chance and he quit again.

Lindsey Ogle (Season 28: Cagayan)

In episode 5, “We Found Our Zombies,” Lindsey returned from a Tribal Council where she was blindsided by the elimination of her alliance member and got in a heated verbal argument with Trish. Realizing that she didn’t want to be around Trish any longer, that night Lindsey called Jeff into the camp for a conversation where she told him that if she remains in the game she’d “flip out on her” and doesn’t want her daughter to see her like that on TV. She admitted that it was a personality conflict and there were other factors within the game, but that ultimately her “best move was to move on” even if she regrets it.

Julie McGee (Season 29: San Juan del Sur)

In episode 7, “Million Dollar Decision,” Julie’s tribe discovered that she had been selfishly hoarding “missing trail mix” in her own bag that they could only receive as being “stolen” from the rest of them. In that moment, Julie realized that the entire tribe was ostracizing her and she confessed to Missy that she was struggling to “get [her] head back in the game.” Before the merged tribe could attend Tribal Council, Julie asked to meet with Jeff to discuss how hard it’s been to be around players who still had their own loved ones in the game when hers had been voted out so early in the game. For that reason and the growing tension at camp, Julie was confident in her decision to leave no matter what anyone might say about why.

Terry Deitz (Season 31: Cambodia)

In episode 6, “Bunking with the Devil,” it was Night 13 of the game when Jeff arrived at Terry’s camp to inform him that they’d received a call from his wife because his son had been taken into the hospital. According to Terry’s wife and the doctor, his son’s condition was serious enough that they both thought it best that Terry return to be there. Without a moment’s hesitation, Terry agreed that he needed to be with his family and leave the game.

Bi Nguyen (Season 37: David vs. Goliath)

In episode 4, “Time to Bring About the Charmpocalypse,” Bi arrived at the reward challenge with a brace around her knee following a spraining of her MCL at the previous cycle’s immunity challenge. As an athlete, Bi was not willing to risk further injury to her body and so she announced to everyone that she had elected to exit the game.

Matthew Grinstead-Mayle (Season 44)

In episode 5, “The Third Turd,” Matthew sat out another challenge due to a non-serious injury to his foot and shoulder he had suffered from a fall off a rock a few days prior. Before sending the tribes back to their camps, Jeff asked Matthew to stay back to speak with medical. Jeff said he admired Matthew’s drive to fight for his tribe and stay in the game as long as he could, but ultimately the pain was too much for him to endure and so he made the decision to leave the game in order to heal.

Hannah Rose (Season 45)

In the season premiere, “We Can Do Hard Things,” Hannah learned the hard way that she was in way over her head. After seeing her tribe mate Brandon collapse from anxiety during the first challenge and feeling the initial signs of nicotine withdrawal, hunger and fear herself, Hannah was already telling her tribe mates that she may have bitten off more than she could chew by entering the game. At Tribal Council, Hannah confidently asked her tribe to vote her out of the game, saying “please don’t make me go back to that camp.” Ultimately, it came down to her threat that she “doesn’t need to be voted out to leave the game” for her tribe to unanimously agree to vote her out without going to the ballot box.

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