by David McAlpine

With the hotly anticipated season premiere of Survivor's 20 installment of the successful series, Heroes vs. Villains, tonight on CBS, I took some time to catch up with some fan favorites and some of the survivors you might have forgotten at CBS' 10 year anniversary party last month. Over 200 survivors attended the event, so I tried to talk to as many as I possibly could to find out what they've been up to and their take on the new season.

IS THE THIRD TIME A CHARM?

One sentiment that seemed to be shared amongst Survivors was the topic of contestants returning to the game for a third time. Out of the 20 contestants, almost half (Rupert, James, Colby, Cirie, Amanda, Stephenie, Jerri, Rob and Parvati) are coming back for their third dose of outwitting, outplaying and outlasting. Marquesas semi-finalist and All-Star contestant Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien said she thought the prospect of Survivors returning a third time was dull.

"I love it when new, fresh faces are on it because it's raw," Kathy said. "I can imagine that Rupert and Jerri, who got really close on All Stars are going to bond again on the third show and there's no way around it. It's too predictable. It think it's got to be all fresh, enough bringing back people."

"It's a lot of people coming back for the third time," Palau contestant Wanda Shirk said. "On the whole, I would like to see people only come back for a second time; I would rather see someone who deserves it get a second chance than see someone great come on for a third time."

Some Survivors, however, said they wouldn't have even considered going back a second time.

"It was was a once in a lifetime experience and I want to keep it that way," Fiji contestant Sylvia Kwan said. "It was the most horrific experience I've had, when everyone was out to get me. But I wouldn't ever change it."

WHEN YOU DON'T MAKE THE CUT...

Other fan favorites were disappointed (and with good reason!) they weren't asked to come back.

"I was really upset," Vanuatu and Micronesia contestant (and one of my favorite personal Survivors) Eliza Orlins said. "But I don't think I fit squarely into a category of a hero or a villain, so I'd be suited for a future season, like Brains vs. Brawns."

"I would have loved more than anything to be asked," China winner Todd Herzog said. "But I wasn't and that's ok, because I already did what I wanted to do. I'm so happy I was able to have done it and won!"

"I wanted some revenge," Micronesia contestant Erik Reichenbach said. "I wanted to see some of these people get really messed up and see their game get shoved in the dirt. And being a superfan, there were a bunch people I didn't like during their season, so I'd loved to have seen their games get absolutely wrecked. It's kind of a guilty pleasure."

EXCLUSIVE: CAST CONTROVERSY

It was no secret CBS tried to keep the entire production of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains completely under wraps. But with more than 300 Survivors to pick from and many of them talking on a daily basis, it was inevitable that some information would leak in the process of picking the 20 lucky players. However, very few people expected the entire cast to be leaked before production even begun.

Palau contestant (and another one of my personal favorites, though I could be really partial as a SurvivorSucks reader) Coby Archa posted a tentative list of 23 Survivors in late July which, for the most part, was correct (including Natalie Bolton from Micronesia, who was the only contestant flown out to Samoa and not chosen to play). He spoke to me exclusively about the situation at the party:

"I have had people from that cast come up to me and tell me that, if it wasn't for me, they would not have played as well," Coby said. "Because they knew who to study. Some people went and did their homework because they put their whole structure together and went out there with a plan. So it was weird to get credit for that, because I never thought about it like that before. I felt kind of bad, but kind of good, too."

The 20th season of Survivor, Heroes vs. Villains, kicks off tonight with a two-hour premiere at 8/7c on CBS.

For more exclusive photos from CBS' 10-year Survivor party, flip through the slideshow below. I couldn't believe how much some people changed!

Follow David on Twitter: @DavidMcAlpine

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