After winning Survivor: Marquesas way back in 2002, Vecepia Towery has never returned to the game she loves. But that’s not her decision.
“I wish I would have been selected; I was not,” she says about Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, the just-concluded all-stars season. The Season 4 victor was also notably passed over five years ago, amid a fan outcry, for Survivor 40: Winners at War, which brought back 20 past champions for another shot at glory.
But still, Vecepia has nothing but love for CBS’ long-running reality TV show as it celebrates 50 seasons on the air. “It’s iconic. It is a legend,” she told Gold Derby on the red carpet at Wednesday’s finale.
“There are so many iconic people that have showed up for this game, and really showed out for this game. To just watch the old school and the new school combined and work together, especially when it comes to Cirie [Fields] and Rizo [Velovic], I think that is so iconic to this game.”
Cirie placed sixth and Rizo made it to fourth place during Season 50. The $2 million prize was ultimately awarded to Aubry Bracco, an old-school player who finally claimed victory on her fourth try.
Vecepia would have loved to work with Season 50 all-stars Tiffany Ervin and Joe Hunter, explaining, “Tiffany because she’s from the new school. She’s got a quiet type of strategy, but when they ask her very specific questions, she puts it out there. And then Joe is a lot like me, where he’s very even-keeled. He really wants to play a solid game, but based on the twists and turns in the game, he has to make some hard decisions.”
Speaking of twists, there weren’t many in the game when Vecepia played in Survivor: Marquesas. “That’s what I loved about it,” she laughed. “We were just kind of chilling on the island until it was time to go to a challenge. I don’t know how I would have handled this game now, with so many twists and turns and hidden immunity idols. I get a headache sometimes just watching the game!”
In the early years of Survivor, viewers got to “really know the characters” better than they do today, Vecepia noted. As for today’s game, she argues, “You don’t really get to know every character through their full span of the time that they’re out there.”
Other former winners who came out to celebrate Survivor 50 included Ethan Zohn, Boston Rob Mariano, Amber Mariano, Aras Baskauskas, Parvati Shallow, Sophie Clarke, Tyson Apostol, Adam Klein, Nick Wilson, Chris Underwood, Yam Yam Arocho, Rachel Lamont, John Cochran, Michele Fitzgerald, Erika Casupanan, Maryanne Oketch, Todd Herzog, Natalie Anderson, Ben Driebergen, Tina Wesson, and Sarah Lacina.
For more SURIVIVOR updates, follow Daily News.
Come back here often for Survivor spoilers, news and updates.
