Survivor: Guatemala

Casting

While the plan for the season always included two former castaways returning for a second chance, there were several discarded concepts and themes for these returnees. Rodger Bingham and Michael Skupin, both from Survivor: The Australian Outback, were in talks to be the returnees, as were Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk, both eliminated on Day 2 of Survivor: Palau after not being selected to join a tribe. Skupin eventually returned in Survivor: Philippines. Additionally, Hunter Ellis from Marquesas allegedly turned down an offer to return.

Contestants

Notable cast members include former Survivor: Palau castaways, Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard, former beauty queen and model-turned radio announcer Danni Boatwright, and ex-NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom.

Future appearances

Stephenie LaGrossa competed for a third time as a castaway on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, where she was assigned to the "Heroes" tribe and placed 19th.

Season summary

Sixteen of the 18 players in the game were already split into two tribes, Nakúm and Yaxhá; both tribes received one additional tribe member, Bobby Jon and Stephenie, respectively, both who had previously appeared on Survivor: Palau; Probst described these players as resources to help either tribe, but had otherwise no safety against being voted out. The first challenge began immediately, requiring both tribes to trek 11 miles overnight through the jungle to one of the camps near Mayan ruins, along with any available supplies that they wished to carry. The trek left many of the players exhausted and dehydrated for several days following.

During the first nine days, the Nakúm tribe proved more successful at the challenges losing only one immunity challenge, sending Yaxhá to Tribal Council twice. During one challenge, Danni, a sportscaster, identified Gary as a former professional quarterback, though Gary would maintain that he was just a landscaper through most of the rest of the game. A tribal switch occurred on Day 10 that left Bobby Jon, Danni, Blake, and Brandon in the majority at Yaxhá, outnumbering Brian, Amy, and Gary. At Nakúm, the tribe was split 4-4 with Margaret, Judd, Cindy, and Brooke from the original Nakúm and Stephenie, Rafe, Jamie, and Lydia from the original Yaxhá. Immediately after the swap, Stephenie and Jamie formed an alliance with Judd to take control of Nakúm, which later included Rafe, Cindy, and Lydia. Though the two tribes performances were fairly even in wins and losses, a crucial immunity challenge won by Nakúm put them in a decisive 6-4 lead into the merge over Yaxhá. On night 18, directly after the Yaxhá tribe had voted off Amy, they left for the Nakúm campsite where the two tribes merged into the Xhákúm tribe. Upon merging, the new tribe was informed of a hidden immunity idol located in the jungle, that could be used before the votes were cast to save themselves. However, the Nakúm alliance of six held strong initially as they voted off Brandon.

As a reward for winning a reward challenge, Judd received a clue to the hidden idol. To distract the other players, Judd lied about the clue's contents, which Gary was able to pick up on, locating the idol himself and using it to save himself from being eliminated at the next tribal council, where Bobby Jon was voted off in his place. Judd's lie became a focal point for Gary to attempt to break the original Nakúm voting block; though Gary was soon voted off, Stephenie and the other former Nakúm members felt Judd was no longer trustworthy and voted him out. At the reward challenge for the final five, a car was the reward prize. Cindy won the challenge, but was given an option by Probst as a means to break the Survivor "car curse" (that no player that has won a car continued on to win the game) by exchanging her prize to give a car to each of the other four players. Cindy ultimately rejected the option, and was voted off at the next tribal council.

After Lydia's elimination, Stephenie became concerned on an earlier deal made by Rafe and Danni to take each other to the final tribal council; though she struggled to remain in the final immunity challenge and outlast Danni, she ultimately lost, becoming emotional over her failure. Rafe informed Danni that she did not have to stay true to their previous deal, and at the following tribal council, Danni eliminated Rafe. The jury at the final tribal council considered that Stephenie has played a more devious game than Danni and had backstabbed several of them, and ultimately gave Danni's more social play the win, six votes to one.