‘Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites’: What’s your dream cast?

Before we dive deep into this article, we’ll start out with the obvious: yes, there are “cast lists” all over the internet stating who is supposed to be on “Survivor Caramoan: Fans vs. Favorites.” In all likelihood, these lists are probably accurate; however, spoilers have been wrong before, and to be honest there’s a couple of eye-rolling choices on that list that we are hoping to the “Survivor” heavens that it’s not true.

So with all of this in mind, in addition to the fact that the show’s return to TV is now over a month away, why not have a little bit of fun while we wait and create our own dream cast list? If we are using the same criteria that the show used the first time that they did this season in Micronesia, it will be as follows: all of the returning players will be back for their second (and not third) time, and none of them will be former winners.

With that, here’s our list of favorites, and we of course want to hear some of your own picks below.

Stephen Fishbach (Tocantins) – An extremely underrated competitor and super-smart strategist; JT’s performance in “Heroes vs. Villains” proved just how important Stephen was in their alliance’s success back in Brazil.

Malcolm Freberg (Philippines) – Ultimately, Malcolm’s biggest flaw the first time around was really just being too much of a threat for his own good. He needed to be perfect if he wanted to win, and he wasn’t in losing that final immunity challenge.

Kenny Hoang (Gabon) – We loved “Survivor: Gabon,” and Kenny’s scrappy, devious underdog game was a big reason why. We always love people who can be interpreted as both heroes and villains, and he fits the mold perfectly.

Shane Powers (Exile Island) – To this day, Shane is in our mind one of the biggest characters to never play again. He’s a little bit insane, but he plays hard and is so big of a villain that Kenny will look timid in comparison.

Phillip Sheppard (Redemption Island) – While our heart tells us that someone like Marty from Nicaragua or Matt from Redemption Island is a better choice, the truth is that you need a few good characters to balance out all the intellectual gamers. Who knows? Phillip had a very Coach-like game his first time around, but he could tone down the antics and become an interesting player.

Andrea Boehlke (Redemption Island) – Had she not been on a season with Boston Rob, we genuinely think that Andrea has all of the tools needed in order to win this game. She’s a strong player, smart, and gets along well with everyone.

Corinne Kaplan (Gabon) – Like we said, we love Gabon; plus, Corinne is one of the meanest people to ever play this game. As crazy as Abi-Maria acted this past season, we still think she has nothing on Corinne.

Brenda Lowe (Nicaragua) – Every season, we moan and groan about there being one or two female female who claim they are going to play like Parvati Shallow, and then do nothing of the sort. However, Brenda is someone who actually reminded us a great deal of Parvati the first time around, and she is a huge threat to win much like Parv did the first “Fans vs. Favorites.”

Sabrina Thompson (One World) – We don’t want to put Kim on as a winner, and someone from this dominating all-girl alliance should be put on this season. Sabrina is a great fit in that she is likable, a great player, and she will also speak her mind (which makes for great TV). We thought about putting Alicia or Kat on here, but you can’t just have a tribe full of people who are too unlikable.

Twila Tanner (Vanuatu) – Like Shane, she’s a long-forgotten player who makes for great TV, and it would be interesting to see how she opts to play the game now.

If you want to read our full coverage of “Survivor: Philippines,” including interviews featuring most of the cast, you can see it over at the link here.