Through all the twists and turns of Big Brother 25, a Survivor legend moving into the house proves to be the biggest addition to the season thus far. Four-time Survivor contestant Cirie Fields has maintained a stranglehold on the other houseguests since joining the game as its 17th houseguest on the first night.
Considering she has an alliance with virtually everyone (at the time of this writing), and her son Jared Fields is also in the house, Cirie is a solid bet to win the $750,000 grand prize after the 100-day reality competition wraps. And if she does, that means Cirie will notch back-to-back series wins as she came out on top of Peackock’s The Traitors earlier this year.
But, has she ever won the franchise she’s most acquainted with?
Unfortunately for Cirie and her fans, the 53-year-old reality star has never earned the title of “Sole Survivor.” Longtime Survivor host Jeff Probst has snuffed her torch every time she’s been marooned on an island.
But, that doesn’t mean she hasn’t done well on the show — she’s an icon for a reason!
Cirie made it deep into the merge in three of her four Survivor stints
With 44 Survivor seasons coming and going on CBS since its first iteration in 2000, Cirie remains one of only a handful of contestants who’ve purposely left their life of comfort to compete for $1 million on four separate occasions.
She made her reality competition debut on season 12’s Panama — Exile Island as a 35-year-old hopeful. As part of the season’s theme that divided the cast into four tribes comprised of the same sex and relative age, Cirie joined three other “older” women as part of the “Casaya” tribe.
After 11 days and a tribe swap, Cirie was the only former Casaya member left standing. But, with her patented social and strategic prowess, she navigated herself to the final 4 before her game ended on day 36.
Championing the everyday-mother demographic, Cirie was an instant fan favorite despite her run ending ahead of the final Tribal Council.
Cirie returned to Survivor around two years later as one of nine veteran players for season 16’s Micronesia, better known as Fan vs. Favorites. Ten rookies also joined the game for a million bucks.
Cirie and her “Black Widow Brigade” — including Parvati Shallow and Natalie Bolton — ran the end-game. Every name Cirie wrote down (except Amanda Kimmel who played a hidden immunity idol) went home until her demise on day 38. She was one spot away from making it into the final 2; this was back in the day when only two players made it to day 39.
If Cirie lasted one more night she would’ve had a very strong argument to win Fan vs. Favorites. She and Parvarti were celebrated as the season’s two masterminds. And if Amanda, who won the final-3 immunity challenge, chose to take Cirie to the end instead of Parvarti, she likely would’ve returned home from the live finale with a seven-figure check.
But, sadly, her second time playing was the best showing of her Survivor career.
She came back for season 20’s Heroes vs. Villains as part of the “Heroes” tribe. But, she was the fourth person voted out of the game marking the first (and last) time she didn’t make it deep into the merge. Cirie had a reputation of being a strategic and social force which illuminated her as a threat, and she was the victim of a correct hidden immunity idol play by Tom Westman. She went out with three votes on day 11.
It took over six years of anticipation, but Cirie had a strong showing in her last Survivor outing. Joining 19 other veterans, she played on season 34’s Game Changers which aired in 2017. And because of how the initial tribes shook up, as well as the subsequent swap, Cirie was the only “Game Changer” to not see Tribal Council until the merge.
Once again, Cirie managed to work her way toward the final Tribal Council. But, her fourth attempt at becoming a millionaire was derailed on day 36 in what turned out to be a Survivor first. Cirie was eliminated from the game when she became the only player eligible to be voted off. Through different idol and advantage plays, the other five remaining contestants all became immune at Tribal Council.
Cirie was the only player without protection, so by default, she was sent to Ponderosa.
Cirie’s historic exit is also the last day she spent playing Survivor. But with her currently competing on Big Brother, it’s clear her appetite for competition hasn’t waned. And it wouldn’t be a shocker if she joined “Boston Rob” Mariano as a five-time Survivor player at some point in the future.