Survivor host Jeff Probst admits he loves to see castaways from the first 15 seasons of the reality competition show come back for redemption although CBS has clearly preferred more recent returning castaways. 

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"If I had my way and I was the only decision maker on Survivor -- which I am clearly not -- I would have a lot of people from earlier seasons," Probst told Entertainment Weekly.

"There are tons of people I want to see play again, but the prevailing wisdom at the network is, we need recent players with bigger names. That's what's drawing people in. Clearly CBS and Les Moonves know what they're doing. They're the number one network, so it's hard to argue with that success. But I feel like there are a lot of stories out there we haven't captured yet and brought back for a second chance."

The 10 returning all-stars who appeared on the last season of Survivor: Caramoan -- Fans vs. Favorites initially competed on one of the show's last 11 seasons. However, for the upcoming Survivor: Blood vs. Water edition, five of the 10 returning players date back to the first 13 seasons -- one of whom is Gervase Peterson, a first-season castaway.

Survivor: Blood vs. Water, the 27th Survivor edition, premieres tonight at 8PM ET/PT with a special 90-minute episode.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.