'Survivor 46' cast reveal their favorite players ever

Moriah Gaynor got voted out of Survivor 46 for liking Aubry Bracco. Okay, that may be simplifying things a bit, but it certainly played a part in her demise after Moriah expressed her affinity for the Kaoh Rong standout and Q Burdette then worried about another glasses-wearing smart woman archetype running the game.

While Q’s reaction seemed a bit over the top, naming your favorite Survivor can indeed say a lot about who you are — or who you aspire to be. Which is why we asked the entire Survivor 46 cast before the season began to name their favorite player. Watch the video and/or read the text below to see who picked whom. Will it be all the usual suspects (Parvati, Cirie, Tony, etc…) or will someone come in and blow everybody’s minds with a Jerry Sims-level deep cut. Venture on to find out!

Tiffany Nicole Ervin

Sandra has to be my favorite Survivor player of all time. Even though there are so many great ones, for people to not only let Sandra come on and win once, but y'all let this woman come back, make it to the end, and win twice! That woman is the queen. When she says she's the queen, she's not lying. Y'all handed her a million dollars twice. If it's anybody who knows how to play the game, it's my sis, Sandra Diaz. Give that girl her flowers.

Jess Chong

I love Gabby because she just shamelessly cried her eyes out and was a very good narrator. I hope I can be as coherent as she was. And I also really love Carolyn because who doesn't love Carolyn? She's so funny and so unapologetically herself, and she made me feel like: Okay, if I go out there, then I'll probably be okay.

Charlie Davis

I love Denise and Malcolm. I'm a big fan of the ride or dies. I think they were just a great unlikely pair. They stuck with it until Malcolm waffled on that proposal that Denise gave him at the end. I think they were just so fun, so scrappy to watch in the Philippines, and I just love their friendship outside the game. I think it's amazing. So Malcolm and Denise, I'm going to go with them, but so many in the list. Natalie Anderson, Christian Hubicki, Michele Fitzgerald, so many. Literally so many.

Randen Montalvo

The first player on Survivor that I absolutely loved was Russell Hantz. People are like, “Oh, why do you like Russell?” Listen, man, it takes a lot to behave like he did and play the way he played. So shout out to Russell. I never met him before, never interacted, but that level of play is just, you got to respect it, even though it's not the most positive. I give respect to that.

Moriah Gaynor

I am shooting this all the way back to homegirl Aubry. I felt like she encapsulated who I kind of want to be as a player, but also my journey of coming as a teenage dork and becoming a confident adult dork. So I really loved seeing her play.

Tevin Davis

I really, really, really from the deepest part of my body, love Carolyn. So real, so authentic, so lovely. I just want to wrap my arms around her. I just love her so much. I love Carolyn, and I also really, really love Maryanne because she, also, [is authentically] herself. I relate to her and the sense of her exuberance and enthusiasm, and that's just what it is. I might cry, I might laugh. I may get upset, but this is all me. Cirie and Shan and James and Tom and Rupert. I mean, I could go on and on and on. There are so many people that I love, but I will say the top of the list, it's definitely Carolyn and Maryanne.

Q Burdette

My favorite Survivor player has to be Jeremy. He represents a lot of me. He's a Black man that came on this show and has had success, but he's also a family man. Everything that he's done throughout his gameplay, he did it for his wife and his kids, and that's the type of person that I am. I don't have any kids yet, but when I have kids — and I have a wife — I want to be like Jeremy, and I want to play this game similar to him. I'm not saying I'm going to play like anybody because I'm going to create my style, Q's way of playing, but Jeremy is someone that I really, really look up to in this game.

Maria Shrime Gonzalez

Natalie Anderson and Stephenie LaGrossa are my two favorites. I think that both of them have shown so much strength as a woman, and I really admire that. There've been many times in my life where I've been alone like Natalie on Exile, and Stephenie being the last member of her tribe, being alone and having to pull from places deep inside of me. They're absolutely an inspiration to me.

Tim Spicer

My favorite Survivor player all time would have to be a tie between Jeremy, who just played a hell of a strategic game, was really hungry, and made smart moves early on, and Tony. I think Tony played a relentless game, creating his own hideout and just never stopped giving up. A lot of what they brought to the game is what I want to do in the next couple of days — seeking idols, having the right alliance, winning the right challenges.

Bhanu Gopal

The one player which really hooked me to Survivor is Spencer. In that season, Cagayan, Spencer was hit time and again, time and again, but every time, he got up till the end. When he lost Survivor: Cagayan, I cried my eyes out. After watching Winners at War, Tyson — the king of Survivor! He played with his true emotions. He cried with people. He made people laugh. He was good at challenges, he was finding idols. That's the gameplay I want to play. So my idol right now in Survivor is Tyson, for sure.

Soda Thompson

I really love Karla because she's badass. She's like, “What about the big girls?” I've been a big, curvy girl my whole life. Love her. I love Jesse. Even though they're from the same season, neither of them won, but they're my favorite players, just of who they are and what they've been through and just how they played. I love Sandra because [of] her “as long as it's not me” — she's a whole vibe and I'm a vibe person. Her vibe is everything.

Hunter McKnight

My favorite player is Tyson. I like to consider myself as Tyson's younger, distant southern cousin — maybe a little less polarizing, so a little less charming, but a little more endearing. I don't think people will hate me, but they won't love me as much either. But he's my favorite to watch. He's so confident in what he does. He's great at relationships, but he is willing to do what it takes to win.

Kenzie Petty

My favorite Survivor player ever. I hate to say it because she's new, but I love Carolyn. My fiance was like, “This kind of sucks that she just happened because you two are so similar and so weird and so authentic.” But I just love her. I think the whole world has fallen in love with her. She's incredible, she's amazing, she's funny, she's inspiring. I literally cried talking about her. I just identify with her. I am just amazed by her entire everything she brought to the game. I'm like, good for you, girl. She did that thing. I loved it.

David Jelinsky

My favorite Survivor player of all time is Rick Devens. He is such a great guy, he's so personable, he's hilarious, and that's what I think of myself as. And he played a great Survivor game. He never took no for an answer. He found advantages. He played his idol. Rick Devens is a terrific guy. I wish he won fire, but you know, should've, would've, could've. I'm sure he has been practicing.

Ben Katzman

My favorite Survivor player of all time? It's a hard one. There's a few, I've already thrown a few names out, but I like to think about Christian Hubicki a lot. That's somebody who came in and everybody typecast him from day one, and he made it super far just being himself, and I hope that that serves as an inspiration to me throughout the game.

Venus Vafa

It goes without saying Parvati and Courtney Yates — two of my favorite Survivor players, strong women, witty women, and people I hope to emulate in some way.

Jem Hussain-Adams

My favorite Survivor player is probably Tony. He is scheming. He's one of the best players out here. He just doesn't rest. And I think in order to play a good Survivor game, you just can't ride coattails. You just have to make every move that presents itself, and that's why I really like Tony.

Liz Wilcox

Tyson. He's an oldie but a goodie. He played a lot, so we got a lot of time from him. And I'll never forget the moment in Brazil when he was talking about how he was raised LDS. They have certain kind of strict standards and he was walking around in this handmade loin cloth and he said, “I know I'm going to get a lot of flack at home,” but very flippantly he was like, “but I don't care. This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I'm just going to be who I am.“ That was such a pivotal moment for me to say, “Okay, I'm going to just lean more into myself and I know the people who love me will love me even more." And on top of his ridiculous sense of humor and his oddly good looking self, Tyson's probably my favorite player.

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