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Survivor: Philippines' Medical Evacuee Twist: Could Colton Come Back? Jeff Probst Weighs In!

Exclusive! Players pulled from the game for injury or illness to return in 25th season; will reality series' most vile Castaway be among them? Get the scoop from the Emmy-winning host and EP

By Drusilla Moorhouse May 14, 2012 3:10 AMTags
Colton Cumbie, Jeff Probst, SurvivorCBS

Survivor: Philippines, airing this fall, will see the return of three players whose games were cut short due to medical evacuation.

The season 25 promo, which aired at the end of tonight's One World finale, showed a montage of former Castaways who were removed due to injury or illness—including Colton Cumbie.

So does this mean the baddie bigot, whose "appendicitis" forced him out of One World in the sixth episode, could return this fall?

We've got the scoop from host and executive producer Jeff Probst himself…

When we asked Probst whether Colton, who later admitted his "appendicitis" was really just a bacterial infection, was just another quitter (just sneakier than Nicaragua's NaOnka and Purple Kelly), he mused: "That's a very fair question...I will be honest in saying that when I first went out there with the medical team, my gut was he's quitting.

"But there's no way to know that," he added. "Our doctors told us Colton was saying all the right things, and his heart rate is elevated, [so] it's hard to think that. It's possible but it's very hard. Colton could've been in as much pain as he appeared he was. I did empathize with him."

But Probst has no love for his oppressive antics. "I hope he doesn't go home and stay within his little world that is basically white, where the only color he sees is a rainbow or someone he pays. I hope he gets out in the world, and then maybe he comes back.

"Maybe he becomes a second chancer and says, 'Listen I've changed and I want a second shot.' Colton would have to really work hard to convince me to bring him back, and only because I don't think the audience wants him back," said Jeff, who as Survivor's executive producer, has a say in casting decisions.

"If I [hear] people say, 'No, we'd love to see Colton come back and get his just deserts, [I'd say], 'OK, that would be great.'"

Other evacuated Castaways include Michael Skupin (Australian Outback: faceplant in fire), Bruce Kanegai (Panama: bowel obstruction), Gary Stritesky (Fiji: challenge injury/insect bites), Jonathan Penner and James Clement (Micronesia: challenge injuries), Joe Dowdle (Tocantins: challenge injury), Mike Borassi and Russell Swan (Samoa: challenge injury, scary collapse due to dehydration) and Kourtney Moon (One World: challenge injury).

So could these fallen heroes be tormented by the previous season's villain?

"I don't think he qualifies as a villain," Probst argued. "He's just rude…To me he's just a person with a really ugly point of view and very limited life experience, and it clearly rubbed people the wrong way."

Colton has an unlikely supporter in The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik, who told Probst in tonight's reunion show that she'd watch if Colton return. "[He has] a lot of aspects that are really fabulous," she said. "I would've liked to see more of how it unraveled."

What do you think of the new twist? Do you think Colton deserves to come back? Which of the medical evacuees do you hope to see again this fall?

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