When people talk about the best Big Brother players ever, Danielle Reyes deserves to be part of that conversation even though she never won. After all, Danielle starred in some of the best seasons, she was amazing on the show, and she once escaped the show to get drunk, which is amazing. After years of Big Brother excellence, Danielle went on to compete in The Traitors, and she quickly became one of the show’s memorable players.

Even though Danielle has been a celebrated reality show star for years, most fans don’t know that she auditioned for Survivor. While Danielle wanted to star in one of the great seasons alongside fantastic players and become one of the show’s winners, she exclusively told TheThings why her audition flopped.

Danielle Reyes Revealed Her Survivor Auditions Flopped Because They Were Corny

Widely considered to be one of the most iconic reality show stars of all-time, most people believe that Danielle Reyes is the best Big Brother player who never won. As a result, it was a big deal when it was announced that Danielle was cast in The Traitors’ third season.

As her season of The Traitors season was airing, however, Danielle chose to focus on social media about getting Jeff Probst to bring Vecepia Towery back to Survivor. In January 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas interviewed Danielle about her attempts to bring Vecepia back.

During that interview, Danielle revealed many stunning facts. One of the most amazing things that came out of that TheThings interview was the fact that Danielle auditioned for Survivor. More than that, Danielle exclusively told TheThings why her Survivor audition flopped.

In 2002, fans got to see Vecepia win Jeff Probst’s game during Survivor: Marquesas. Since then, fans have never gotten the chance to see Vecepia play again and many of the show’s fans have forgotten her. As a result of that and how spectacular she was at the game, Vecepia is arguably the most underrated Survivor winner ever.

While talking exclusively to TheThings about how much she adores Vecepia, Danielle revealed the amazing truth that she auditioned for Survivor: Marquesas.

Thinking about the possibilities, it is amazing to think about what it would have been like if Danielle and Vecepia got to play Survivor together. However, later during the same interview, Danielle revealed why her Survivor auditions utterly flopped.

During the same interview, Danielle revealed that she actually auditioned for Survivor twice. “I auditioned for Survivor twice y’all. Twice. No love.”

Since Danielle has been a beloved reality TV staple for decades, it is amazing to think that Survivor’s casting department didn’t embrace her. However, Danielle exclusively told TheThings why it made sense she wasn’t cast on Survivor.

As the interview continued, Danielle went on to explain what it was about her Survivor audition tapes that were so bad.

While looking back at her attempt to get cast on Survivor, Danielle told TheThings how cheesy her audition tapes were.

“I did the typical [thing]. I think I played ‘Survivor’ from Destiny’s Child in the background, which everybody probably did. I think in one submission tape, I put Acuna Matata because I knew it was in Africa. I was trying everything to get on that show, and they’re like, this corny chick.”

Even if Danielle’s tapes were as bad as she claimed, some may have expected her to at least get somewhere in Survivor’s casting process. After all, it isn’t a coincidence that Danielle is a legend.

During her TheThings interview, Danielle revealed that she never heard back after she sent in each of her two Survivor audition tapes.

“They didn’t even give me a call, so I didn’t even make it to the first I didn’t even get a phone call. So, yeah, no phone call, nothing, and then Big Brother called, and the rest was history.”

However, it seems like Danielle eventually got some closure on her attempts to get cast on Survivor.

While talking to TheThings, Danielle explained that she once met Jeff Probst and confronted him about not getting cast on Survivor.

“I met Jeff Probst at a restaurant, and I [had] just finished Big Brother. I remember, you know, I saw him from afar, and I approached him. I said, ‘Hey, Jeff. I auditioned. You didn’t call me. And he’s like, ‘Oh, I didn’t?’ I said, ‘No. You should’ve called me. I was great on Big Brother.’ I think I probably had too many drinks at that time, but I was, like, speaking from my chest, but it was he was funny. He was shorter than I expected. I thought he would be taller, but oh, well.”

Danielle Reyes Revealed She Also Wasn’t Cast On Survivor Because Of Quotas

Throughout the history of Survivor, the show has been the subject of race-based casting controversies. The most obvious example of that was when Survivor: Cook Islands featured four tribes that were initially divided down racial lines. That decision created a backlash, but the truth is that season was a step forward for the show, even if the situation could have been handled better.

Until Survivor: Cook Islands, which was the show’s 13th season, there was a stunning lack of diversity. In fact, none of Survivor’s first 12 seasons featured more than two Black players. Instead, almost every season featured one Black male and one Black female player. The only exception to that rule was that some early seasons didn’t even have two Black players.

Looking back at the reality of how Survivor’s casting was handled back then, it would be ignorant to think that was a coincidence. With that in mind, it only makes sense for people to believe that Survivor’s early seasons had a quota system that limited the number of Black players who were cast.

During Danielle Reyes’ exclusive TheThings interview from January 2025, she also acknowledged how the quota system limited her chances to be cast on Survivor.

“During that time in the early 2000s, you know, being an African American woman, we all knew it was the quota. One African American woman, one African American male. Right?”

Fortunately, future Survivor hopefuls won’t have to deal with the same quota system. In September 2022, Jeff Probst talked to Entertainment Weekly about CBS making a Survivor diversity pledge. CBS didn’t make that pledge out of nowhere. Instead, an initiative led by J’Tia Hart, Brice Izyah, and other former Black Survivor players pushed CBS to agree that each season’s cast would be at least 50% people of color.

The Traitors (US)

Release Date

January 12, 2023

Showrunner

Stephen Lambert

Writers

Lee Grant, Christine Rose

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