A new season of Survivor is coming up this fall, and a new cast of hopefuls plan to make their mark. Players have to prove themselves both physically and intellectually during their time on the island. Sometimes certain players live up to these criteria but are still not able to win.
Some players have certain things not fall their way, through no fault of their own. Sometimes injuries derail their plans or new twists hinder players' ability to advance. All these players might have had a shot to win, but they were not able to catch any lucky breaks.
Cirie Fields
Cirie is notorious for suffering from bad luck in the multiple seasons that she has played. She was so close to winning a few times, too.
Her first case of bad luck was Survivor: Micronesia. She made it to the final three with her allies Amanda and Parvati. However, the season was shortened due to multiple medical evacuations, so to prolong it, the producers made it a final two instead of three. Cirie was voted out in third place when she could have made a strong case to the jury of why she should have won. Also, in Survivor: Game Changers, she got voted out without receiving a single vote because everyone else played idols. Without a surplus of idols in the game, Cirie survives this vote and likely goes far.
Tyson Apostol
Tyson is a fan favorite that has appeared in multiple seasons. His time on Survivor: Heroes vs Villains was cut short by an unlucky move. During the villain's second vote, there was a plan to split the vote between Russel and Parvati.
Tyson thought they were getting outsmarted and that Parvati and Danielle were going to vote for Russel, so he voted for Parvati. Unfortunately for him, he was just paranoid and ended up voting himself out after Russel gave Parvati the immunity idol. This move is an unlucky break and a bad decision wrapped up into one. He later went on to redeem himself by winning a few seasons later.
Aubry Bracco
Aubry's first season, Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, was a strange one for her. She caught a lucky break that saved her game at the merge but was victim to some unlucky fortune that could have cost her the win.
Aubry was all set up at the final five with Joe and Tai. They planned to take out Michele next, who emerged as a favorite to win. At the reward before the immunity challenge, Joe had too much to eat, and his body could not take the massive income of protein. Joe was later medically evacuated, placing Aubry's position in peril. Michele wins the next immunity and wins over Aubry and Tai at the final tribal. So, Michele benefited from Joe eating too much, while Aubry suffered from a bitter Survivor jury.
Neal Gottlieb
Neal was a player on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng and was an ally of Aubry. His unluckiness followed him even when he was on the jury.
After the merge, Neal and Aubry were in trouble as they were in the minority. However, Neal had an idol he was going to use to save himself until he was medically evacuated with the idol in his pocket. He probably would not have lasted too long, but he could not even vote for Aubry to win in the end because he was voted off the jury by Michele.
Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien
Kathy was a contestant on Survivor: Marquesas. Kathy was a lovable Survivor mom and made it to the final four. She was unlucky because the game was still in its infancy, and the wrinkles were not ironed out yet.
There was a tie at the final four vote between Kathy and Neleh, and instead of a fire-making competition which would have happened in today's game, those two picked rocks, along with Paschal. Kathy survived the rock draw but was voted out the next tribal due to Neleh winning immunity and voting Kathy off. If it is a fire-making duel instead of a rock draw, Kathy could have eliminated Neleh and made it to the final two.
Candice Cody
Candice played on three seasons of the show. She was a dynamic personality that seemed to always find screen time, but her last season, Survivor: Blood vs Water, was cut short.
She was not originally supposed to be on this season, but after two contestants failed the required physical, Candice and her husband joined the cast. Her late arrival proved to be detrimental to her game as she was not able to take advantage of any pre-existing relationships like other returnees got to. This caused her to be voted out first by her tribe in a controversial manner, and she officially left when she lost at redemption island.
Russel Swan
Russel played on Survivor: Samoa, and was asked to play again on Survivor: Philippines. The main reason he was asked to return was due to him being medically evacuated the first time.
Russel's tribe in Samoa was dominant. They won four out of five immunity challenges and only had to send one person home until day 15, when the lack of nutrition caught up to Russel in the middle of a challenge. He collapsed, and it was decided he should not return to the game. Being the leader of a dominant tribe put him in a good spot, so it was unlucky that his health would pull him from the game.
James Clement
James is known as one of the most physically dominating castaways in the history of the show. He played three times, but unfortunately, none ended his way.
On his first season Survivor: China, he failed to sniff out a blindside that was happening against him with idols in his pocket. More importantly, in his last two seasons, he suffered injuries in both of them. In Survivor: Micronesia, he had to be medically evacuated, while in Survivor: Heroes vs Villains, he suffered a leg injury that extremely limited his mobility. This caused him to be voted out by his tribe.
Joe Anglim
Joe played Survivor three times and was immediately targeted because of his physical prowess. He was never able to make it too far in the game because of this, but in Survivor: Cambodia, he almost won the immunity challenge that would have saved him.
In an endurance challenge where they had to balance a statue on a tall pole, Joe was one of the last two remaining. Everyone was rooting against Joe so they could vote him off. After an absurd amount of time, Joe passed out during the challenge, causing him to be eliminated. He was voted off at the next tribal. If he does not pass out, he would have had to go on a wild challenge streak to win, but it would have been possible.
Rupert Boneham
Rupert was a fan favorite and is one of the few to play four-plus seasons. In his final season, however, he did not last very long.
His final season was Survivor: Redemption Island. During the marooning, the opposing tribe voted off his wife. Rupert then switched places with her and went to redemption island. He lost a duel and left without receiving any votes. Rupert spent many days on the island during his career, but it would have been cool to see what he could have done in his final season.