The Survivor 50 conversation just got a lot more revealing, as Ian Rosenberger opened up about the players he admires most — and the ones he says he would never want to sit beside at camp.
After last week’s major episode of Survivor 50, viewers and longtime Survivor alums alike had plenty to say about where the game stands now. Tyson Apostol joined the discussion on his podcast, The Pod Has Spoken, with a perfectly timed appearance from Survivor: Palau third-place finisher Ian Rosenberger.
As Tyson introduced himself, co-host Riley McAtee, and producer Ashleigh Smith, he gave each of them nicknames. After Ian’s introduction, he said he wished he had a cool nickname too. That led Tyson to explain that Coach Wade had supplied the nicknames, and it immediately pushed Ian into talking about how he feels about some of this season’s players.
“I hated that Coach gave people nicknames this season.” – Ian Rosenberger on “The Pod Has Spoken.”
Ian then said he was in consideration for a spot on Survivor 50, but the process was never certain. He said producers kept telling him, “we’ll let you know,” which is one of the first times that kind of casting limbo has really been described publicly. He also noted that many of the other cut players seemed to believe they were already locked in before getting dropped. Even so, Ian said Jeff Probst sent him a very kind email explaining the final decision, and he has no hard feelings toward the host.
Now, Ian says he’s enjoying the anniversary season as a fan and is happy to see some of his favorite returning players back in action. He mentioned being a fan of Ozzy Lusth from afar, said he loves Jonathan Young, and called Aubry Bracco an “assassin” who is fascinating to watch. Still, there were also names on his list from the very beginning that he expected would struggle.
One of the biggest? Rick Devens. Ian said he is not a fan of Devens’ unapologetic style and admitted that after the first few episodes, his reaction was basically, “I’d hate playing with this guy.” He added that Devens and Emily Flippen both fit his definition of “shape shifters” — players who can switch alliances and strategy without hesitation. He understands why fans love that kind of gameplay, but he made it clear that it is not his preference.
Ian also said there are some players he immediately respects and others he would avoid as a game partner “as far as I could throw them.” For him, the line seems to fall between players who value loyalty and those who are more interested in putting on a show for the audience. He specifically said, “if you speak in the third person, there’s no chance I’m gonna play the game with you.” That is when Riley brought up Rizo Velovic.
“I’m so out on Rizo,” the Survivor: Palau finalist laughed. He also mentioned Devens and Coach as two more people he would never want to play with, even if he believes they’d probably be fun outside the game.
When talking about his favorite players and why he likes them, Ian again pointed to Jonathan and also Joe Hunter, whom he sees as genuine, solid people. And much like Joe, Ian said he was not impressed by Devens’ fake idol move — or the fact that Devens admitted it.
But Ian also said that as much as he likes Jonathan, the move to target Ozzy and bring Devens into the situation may have blown up Jonathan’s game, especially after Devens exposed him and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick. As for winner predictions, Ian believes both Cirie Fields and Tiffany Ervin have strong chances because of the relationships they are building to protect themselves in the game.
It will be interesting to see whether the season unfolds the way Ian expects. His opinions on the players seem to run against the grain of the fanbase in several places, with Cirie standing out as the rare exception that both he and viewers seem to agree on.
