Survivor's 40th season is currently airing every Wednesday on CBS, boasting twenty previous winners duking it out in an unprecedented battle for $2 million in Winners at War. With twenty of the best players of all time, this season promises to deliver top-notch content, and this week's episode featured two victories by the two left-handed contestants, Denise Stapley and Tyson Apostol.
First, Tyson cleverly deciphered the location of an idol nullifier from the clue presented on Edge, distracting his buddy Boston Rob by pretending to take a leak. Then at the episode's second tribal council, Denise Stapley expertly blindsided Queen Sandra Diaz-Twine-- with her very own idol! To celebrate these triumphant lefties, let's take a look at some of the other prominent left-handed Survivor contestants.
Yau-Man Chan- Survivor: Fiji And Survivor: Micronesia
Yau-Man is credited as the first contestant to create a fake idol, and known for his crafty, unconventional ways of thinking, similar to other left-handed individuals. Yau-Man notoriously traded the brand new 2008 Ford Super Duty truck he won in the final five reward challenge for his ally Dreamz Herd's promise of giving the final-four immunity necklace to Yau-Man if he won the challenge.
As fate would have it, Dreamz did win the final four immunity challenge, but cowardly backed out of his promise and promptly voted Yau-Man out of the game, sealing his loss and finishing third place as a zero-vote finalist. Yau-Man returned for Micronesia, but was targeted as a threat and made 18th place.
Denise Stapley- Survivor: Philippines And Survivor: Winners At War
Denise Stapley won Survivor: Philippines after attending every single tribal council that season, an achievement no other winner can substantiate! The left-handed sex therapist played alongside fellow lefty Pete Yurkowski during her first run in the Philippines, and continues to kick major butt each week Survivor: Winners at War carries on.
Denise pulled off one game-changing move this week, blindsiding Queen Sandra Diaz-Twine by voting her out-- while using the idol Sandra gave Denise in hopes she would blindside one of the guys! She solidified her status as "legendary" after shocking her entire tribe, completely in the dark about Denise's two idols.
Jenna Morasca- Survivor: The Amazon And Survivor: All-Stars
Jenna Morasca was the youngest winner for her time, becoming Sole Survivor of Survivor: The Amazon at just 21 years old. She is also infamous for getting naked at a challenge, alongside her tribemate Heidi Strobel, for peanut butter and chocolate. The duo posed naked for Playboy after their stint on Survivor.
Left-handed winner Jenna returned for Survivor: All-Stars, but she left midway through due to her mother's worsening condition through her battle with cancer. Jenna dated fellow winner Ethan Zohn, who's been through his own battle, a real-life survivor of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The couple competed together on The Amazing Race. Check out Ethan on Winners at War, currently airing on CBS.
Cirie Fields- Survivor: Panama, Survivor: Micronesia, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, And Survivor: Game Changers
Cirie Fields originally played in season 12 of Survivor: Panama, where finished in fourth place, a huge feat for the self-proclaimed couch potato! After proving to herself (and the audience) that she's a great player, Cirie returned for season 16 of Survivor: Micronesia, which was the first iteration of "Fans vs. Favorites." She almost won Micronesia, duped from the chance at final tribal council after production decided on a final two instead of a final three last minute.
Ciric returned for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and Survivor: Game Changers, playing a total of four seasons and 121 days, more than any other female contestant! She was a victim of "Advantagegetton" in Game Changers, where she was automatically eliminated at the final six due to everyone else being immune from advantages.
Keith Nale- Survivor: San Juan Del Sur And Survivor: Cambodia
Fan-favorite Keith Nale happens to also be a lefty, and also does quite well in the game of Survivor! Keith finished fourth place in San Juan Del Sur, and fifth place in Cambodia after practically eliminating himself the round before. Known for "sticking to the plan" and driving his tribe around on a tuk-tuk, Keith is the fun-loving simple Southern character who believes ignorance is bliss.
Keith Nale has only played with one other lefty during his time on Survivor-- Kelley Wentworth's dad, Dale Wentworth, also known by his Twitter handle 'farmguy69.'
Shane Powers- Survivor: Panama
Shane Powers, the "class clown" of Survivor: Panama, is also left-handed, totaling three lefties in one season: Shane, Cirie, and Aras Baskauskas (see below). He was known for behaving erratically, withdrawing from nicotine and his Blackberry phone, which he re-created out of a piece of wood shaped like a cell phone.
Although Shane was in contention for the Second Chance vote during Survivor: Cambodia, he ultimately didn't make it back on the show and announced his retirement on Rob Has A Podcast.
Tyson Apostol- Survivor: Tocantins, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Blood vs. Water, And Survivor: Winners At War
When Tyson first played back in season 17, Survivor: Tocantins, his irreverent, outside-the-box way of thinking made it obvious he was left-handed. When he returned for Heroes vs. Villains, Tyson played alongside two fellow lefties, Cirie Fields and Candice Cody. As mentioned above, Tyson played with Aras Baskauskas in Survivor: Blood vs. Water, as well as playing alongside Candice for a second time.
Survivor: Winners at War is currently airing, featuring Tyson for his fourth time out, and Denise Stapley, another lefty winner, who is playing for her second time.
Aras Baskauskas- Survivor: Panama And Survivor: Blood vs. Water
Another Survivor: Panama alum, Aras Baskauskas is the winner of season 12, and also a fellow lefty. Aras slowly crept his way to the final tribal council in Panama, beating Danielle DiLorenzo 5-2 after she decided to bring him to the end with her. Aras returned for season 27, Survivor: Blood vs. Water, where ten returnees faced off against their loved ones in the ultimate battle of head over heart.
Aras became the first member of the jury after being blindsided by Tyson Apostol and Gervase Peterson at the merge boot. Two of his fellow Blood vs. Water opponents, both returnees, are also left-handed: Candice Cody and Tyson Apostol, the very person who banished him from the game.
Candice Cody- Survivor: Cook Islands, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, And Survivor: Blood vs. Water
Candice Cody (née Woodcock) made her first of three appearances on Survivor back in season 13's controversial Survivor: Cook Islands, where four starting tribes were divided by race. Candice played alongside legends like Parvati Shallow, Yul Kwon, and Jonathan Penner in Cook Islands and finished eighth.
Candice returned for Heroes vs. Villains, where she also finished eighth place. She returned once again for Survivor: Blood vs. Water alongside her husband John Cody, where she placed 16th and famously clapped back during a reward challenge, screaming: "f--k you Brad Culpepper!"
Corinne Kaplan- Survivor: Gabon and Survivor: Caramoan
Corinne Kaplan, known for her vicious final tribal speech to Sugar Kiper in which she told Sugar to stop crying about her dead father, is also left-handed. Corinne made it to seventh place in her first time out during Survivor: Gabon, the 17th season, where she developed a kinship with her fellow villain and cantankerous castaway, Randy Bailey.
Corinne returned for the second version of "Fans vs. Favorites" in Survivor: Caramoan, where she was blindsided at the merge, though she wasn't a part of the jury. Fellow Caramoan contestant Mike Snow is also left-handed, mentioned in part two of this list. Contestant Bradley Kleihege from Survivor: Ghost Island is also a southpaw, however, his handedness isn't represented on the show.