Since Survivor has been on the air since the year 2000, even new fans who are figuring out which seasons to watch first know that the show has a long history. Thanks to that longevity, there are many amazing facts about Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show, including that some former players have refused to return. On top of that, Survivor fans know that there have been emotional medical evacuations, fantastic seasons, wonderful winners, and truly respected players.

Thanks to how well she has played the game, Aubry Bracco became one of Survivor’s highly respected players. Despite that, there is a specific reason why Aubry has a lot to prove during Survivor 50: In The Hands Of The Fans.

Aubry Bracco Will Want Her Survivor 50: In The Hands Of The Fans Tenure To Make Fans Forget The Last Time She Played

When the cast for Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans was announced, fans of the show had a myriad of different reactions to who was selected. One thing that almost all of those fan reactions had in common was that they focused on whether the cast would make the season entertaining for viewers.

While that makes perfect sense, since that is what matters for fans, there is another group of people who go into the season thinking differently. The members of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans’ cast had to figure out whether competing during the season was a good idea for them.

After weighing her options, Aubry Bracco ultimately agreed to compete during Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. While there is no way for fans to know, it seems like Aubry may have decided to return because she has a lot to prove during Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.

Throughout the history of Survivor, many of the best players started off slow. The perfect example of that is the fact that “Boston” Rob Mariano wasn’t overly impressive during his first season. However, Aubry Bracco greatly impressed Survivor viewers during her first season. When Aubry’s first season aired, most Survivor viewers thought she was so great that fans were outraged that she came in second place and lost to Michele Fitzgerald.

When Aubry played Survivor the second time, she didn’t do quite as good as she did the first time. While Aubry didn’t make it to the final tribal council, she still managed to last long enough to come in fifth place during her second season. That is noteworthy because Aubry’s second season featured players like Tony Vlachos, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Ozzy Lusth, Cirie Fields, and Sarah Lacina.

If that was it for her before Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Aubry would be entertaining the upcoming season on an incredible roll.

Survivor 50’s Cast

• Jenna Lewis
• Colby Donaldson
• Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick
• Cirie Fields
• Ozzy Lusth
• Benjamin “Coach” Wade
• Aubry Bracco
• Chrissy Hofbeck
• Christian Hubicki
• Angelina Keeley
• Mike White
• Rick Devens
• Jonathan Young
• Dee Valladares
• Emily Flippen
• Quintavius ‘Q’ Burdette
• Tiffany Nicole Ervin
• Charlie Davis
• Genevieve Mushaluk
• Kamilla Karthigesu
• Kyle Fraser
• Joe Hunter
• Two Survivor 49 Players

However, Aubry returned for Survivor: Edge of Extinction and things went completely awry for her.

In July 2025, a fan on the r/survivor subreddit posted asking the show’s other fans an interesting question. “Which respected player has had the worst returning performance?”

The fan who made the post then argued why Aubry had one of the worst return performances in the show’s history during Survivor: Edge of Extinction.

“Then she comes back for Edge of Extinction, gains no social traction with any other player whatsoever, finds an idol, gets an extra vote and is completely snowed by the Kama newbies. She had no social traction and she didn’t even know it, think to play her idol or use her extra vote as leverage. She survived 0 tribal councils and went home with an idol+extra vote as a souvenir. As Aubry put it, it was JT style embarrassment. She really hit her reputation.”

Not only have fans pointed out how poorly Aubry did during her third season, she has called herself out as well. As a March 2019 Gold Derby article showed, Aubry spoke about how embarrassed she was after being blindsided and voted out during her third season.

“I got burned real hard last night. I truly was blindsided in epic fashion with an idol and an extra vote in my pocket. Like, J.T. Thomas-style embarrassment.”

For anyone who doesn’t know, J.T. Thomas is a former Survivor winner who returned and made two infamously bad moves.

In one case, J.T. failed to bring his immunity idol to tribal council and was then voted out. In another, J.T. assumed there was an all-women alliance in another tribe. So, J.T. gave an idol he’d gotten to Russell Hantz, who turned out to be working with the women J.T. assumed were against him. In February 2020, Screen Rant listed both of J.T.’s mistakes as being among the 10 dumbest moves in Survivor history.

Considering Aubry compared her third Survivor season downfall to J.T.’s infamous mistakes, the gravity of how poorly things went for her was clear to everyone. After flopping that hard, Aubry will certainly want to redeem herself during Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.

Why Aubry Bracco Could Be Perfectly Positioned To Win Survivor 50: In The Hands Of The Fans

Until Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans airs, fans will have no way to know how Aubry Bracco did during the season. However, there are good reasons to believe Aubry will do great, based on Survivor history and what fans know about her.

During Aubry’s first Survivor season, fans were incredibly impressed by her by the time the finale aired. However, during the early episodes of the season, fans saw how uncomfortable and scared Aubry was to be living in nature and taking part in such a competitive game.

Fortunately for Aubry and her many fans, she did an exceptional job of picking herself up and starting anew, metaphorically speaking. After coming from that low, Aubry exhibited immense tenacity and determination.

Going into Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, Aubry seems to be positioned to come back from the bottom again. After previously flopping so hard, Aubry is in a great position to recreate the magic of her first season but end it with a win.

After Tony Vlachos won his first season in a glorious and impressive way, he returned for Survivor: Game Changers and was almost immediately voted out. After he was over-the-top during his second season and painted a target on his back, Tony learned from his mistakes. When he got the chance to play a third time, Tony slowrolled his antics, diminished how big of a threat he was, and won Survivor: Winners at War.

During the aforementioned subreddit post about Aubry’s disappointing third season, the fan who made the post argued that she could follow in Tony’s footsteps. “Maybe the hit can help her like it did with Tony.”

Between giving herself lessons to learn, diminishing her threat level, and the fact that she is so smart, Aubry seems to be perfectly positioned to win Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.