After new Survivor fans are done figuring out which seasons to watch first, they will know that Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show has featured some legendary players. For example, after learning who was medically evacuated first and that some players have refused to return, fans will recognize Tony Vlachos as one of the most celebrated winners. Similarly, fans who’ve watched all of Survivor’s best seasons will recognize that Kelley Wentworth is one of the best players who never won.

One of the reasons that Kelley was such a celebrated player is that she is a big enough Survivor fan to understand the game better than her fellow players. Even though she clearly loves the show, Kelley revealed she is “one episode away” from giving up on Survivor 48 when she was interviewed by TheThings.

Kelley Wentworth Is ‘One Episode Away’ From Giving Up On Survivor 48

As every Survivor fan will likely already know, the show has a very healthy social media presence. Despite that, there are a lot of former Survivor players who don’t have much of a fan following on social media for one reason or another.

On the other hand, Kelley Wentworth has more than 88 thousand followers on Instagram as of the time of this writing. The reason for that is the fact that Kelley regularly posts her hilarious and blunt takes on reality TV on her Instagram account.

Based on Kelley’s social media activity, it is clear that she is a huge reality show fan who is especially invested in all things Survivor. Despite that, Kelley exclusively told TheThings that she is “one episode away” from stopping watching Survivor 48.

In April 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas exclusively interviewed Kelley Wentworth about the current state of Survivor.

During that conversation, Kelley made the shocking statement that she was close to giving up on Survivor 48.

From there, Kelley elaborated on what it is about Survivor 48 that has made her so disinterested in the season.

Since Survivor has been around since the year 2000, there is no doubt that the show has built a loyal fan following over the last 25 years. However, what Kelley said about why she is almost ready to give up on Survivor 48 proves the show has to continue to earn its success during every season.

While talking to TheThings, Kelley explained that she simply hasn’t found Survivor 48 to be entertaining.

The reason why Kelley is regarded as one of the best Survivor players to never win is that she didn’t give up. If things were stacked against Kelley, she would work tirelessly to find a way to keep going in the game and flip things around.

Given how she didn’t give up on herself in the game, what Kelley said next makes perfect sense. Instead of just complaining, Kelley told TheThings what she hoped to see during Survivor 48 to make her enjoy the season again.

“So I feel like in this season, we could use someone coming in and being a little frantic and making a big move.”

Even though Kelley is hoping someone will make a big move, that doesn’t mean she just wants something random and dramatic to happen. Instead, Kelley told TheThings that she liked to create big moves organically when she played.

“I always wanted to play out just naturally, but at the same time, sometimes I’d be fine for a little chaos and someone just doing it to do it.”

Kelley Wentworth Is Very Disappointed By Survivor 48‘s Portrayal Of Star Toomey

During the first several episodes of Survivor 48, Star Toomey was often portrayed as an afterthought. While Star was involved during those episodes, she was mostly shown from the perspective of her tribemates reacting to her.

However, while speaking to TheThings, Kelley Wentworth talked about the fact that Star Toomey finally had a breakout episode. While talking about that episode and the one that followed, Kelley revealed how much she grew to love Star.

“[Star] has this breakout merge episode, the one before and the merge where she’s like, ‘Who is this person?’ She’s hilarious. Give her more confessionals. I love her. She is so kind when she’s talking to Cedric, just like this, like, super dynamic person in this one episode. And I’m thinking, ‘Oh my gosh. This is, like, this is the moment this is happening.’”

However, after taking Survivor 48 by storm, Star seemed to mostly disappear from the show’s edit again. While talking to TheThings, Kelley spoke about how disappointed she is that Star dropped out of the spotlight again.

“Now she’s gone back to being on the outs and kind of faded into the background.”

Finally, Kelley told TheThings that Star could make her more interested in Survivor 48 again if she was given a bigger role in the edit.

“It’s really strange to me because I truly think, like, she could be a star of the season. Not just her name, but I need more of her in the midst of all this other strong people thing. I need a little bit of her humor. I need a little injection of her. Where is she at? Because I don’t really know.”

Considering how great Star has been the few times she has been given attention, Kelley’s affection for her makes perfect sense.