Chrissy Hofbeck Returns for ‘Survivor 50’ After a Cancer Scare — And She’s Trusting Her Gut Like Never Before (Exclusive)

And I’m so happy to see you out here! Because I know for the fandom at least, there are some players like you from the late 30s who haven’t been given the opportunity to come back until this point. So what has that emotional landscape been for you the past seven years? Were you surprised to get the call?
So I was one of the earlier people who were called. But anytime you’re called, it’s a call of interest. What does that mean? And so it’s sort of like you’re held on the end of that hook. And for those of us who played the game, the game is like crack. Not that I’ve ever tried it! [Laughs.]  And once you have it, you need to have more. And you get the call, and then you wait a few months, and you just wait and hope that you get the next call, and then you get the next little hit of crack. So I continue to get hits of crack, until here I am! Which is pretty amazing.

In the crack den itself! [Laughs.] I would love for you to talk about what your life has been like since the last time we saw you. Because you really have become a very different type of “survivor” in the past seven years.
Yeah. So two years ago, I found out that I had the mutated BRCA gene. And when you have this mutation, it means that you’re more likely to get certain cancers. And in my case, it was breast cancer, ovarian cancer, also pancreatic and skin cancer. But the breast and the ovary was the big the big thing. So eight weeks after getting my diagnosis, I found myself on the operating table having all my girl parts removed, and I didn’t even think twice about it.

Honestly, for me, it was — you know, in the Survivor world, it’s you get an immunity idol, and you either go home with it in your pocket, or you play it and you stay in the game. And for me, I was playing it and staying in the game. And I feel great! I feel great after all my surgeries, I had my reconstruction, I decided to see if I still had it. So my daughter and I threw some clothes in a backpack and walked the Camino de Santiago, which is 500 mile pilgrimage across Spain. So, yeah, that was pretty amazing. We did that in a month and had a great time. So then I was like, my body still got it!

Another 26 days of starvation to prepare you for this one!
Yeah! So I’m ready to be here.

I cannot imagine the amount of physical, mental and emotional endurance it requires to go through all of that treatment. Do you think that all has you approaching the game in a different headspace?
Let me tell you the real story. What really happened is, before you go in for this surgery, they do all sorts of imaging. I’m talking about the removal on my breasts right now. They do MRIs and ultrasounds and all this stuff. Everything’s totally healthy. So I was proactively going in to do this, and I knew it was the right thing for me. I felt very sure it was the right thing for me.

Sure enough, they send my breast glands off to pathology. And it turns out there was a 1.2 centimeter tumor growing in one of my breasts that never got picked up on the imaging. It was sort of like early enough, but it was there. It was percolating. And it was like, at that point, I knew that I just needed to trust my gut in all things.

And this is how I’m coming into this game now. I have this intuition and I’m not second guessing myself.  I know what I got to do. I got to come out here, and I got to do it, and I’m just gonna, like, make it happen. So I feel — certainly a sense of confidence is the wrong word. Maybe peace with the decisions that I’m making. I think a sense of peace with how this is going to go.

Let’s look back on your previous season. Because I feel like when people colloquially refer to your game, they say, “Chrissy lost because she didn’t have a social game.” And they cite you going down the line at Final Tribal Council and naming a fact about each of the jury members. Do you have a different mindset to approach relationships this time around? Or do you feel that was unique to that particular season?
That was a unique circumstance. So in Season 35, I was the grandma playing with a bunch of 20-year-olds. And we would sit at camp, and they would all talk about “gym, tan, laundry.” And I really would try to ask them, like, “Oh, tell me about this. Talk to me about this.” Not one person said, “Tell me about you.” They just weren’t interested in me. And I think it’s like when your 98-year-old grandma sits at Thanksgiving dinner and asks all her grandkids, “Tell me about you.” Nobody says, “Hey, Grandma, what’s happening in your life?” And that is the experience that I had.

And so people say, “Oh, she had a crappy social game.” Yeah, I did, because I was two decades older than everyone else!. And frankly, there were a few people I felt, you know, closer to. But for the most part, I wasn’t the interesting one to hang out with. They wanted to hang out with the other young, beautiful people. I am thrilled about 50, because now we’re all old. Cirie, Mike White and I are the three oldest. We’re all like 5, years old. But for the most part, most people are older. So think my social game is gonna be just fine. So let’s wait and see what comes out of this season. I think I am actually a pretty nice person!

Well, let’s go from the social side to the physical side of things. You truly proved age is just a number when you won four Immunity Challenges, tying the record for women in a season. Do you think that’s something that will skew people’s perception of you?
I went into the last season feeling like I didn’t want people to vote me out for being weak. Now I’m coming into this season thinking I don’t want people to vote me out for being strong!

You just have to puke in the first challenge like you did in your original season!
I know, I might have to fake a puke. So I think I’m gonna have to throw a few things. It depends what the challenges are, too, right? But I’m pretty tough.

Considering everything you’ve been through, what was your prep process like for this? Was it different at all from how you prepared for your first season?
The thing that I didn’t do last time was balance, and I should have done more balance. I’m really a bad exerciser. I don’t like to exercise; it’s not my thing.

Says the person who won four individual Immunity Challenges!
I know, but a lot of them were like puzzles or whatever. I do puzzles all the time. Every night, I do crossword puzzles. I have a jigsaw puzzle going on at all times. So I love doing puzzles. But I joined pilates. I took 101 Pilates classes. Got to sign the wall. When you get 200, you get to sign the wall. I did swimming. Of course, I can swim, so that I’m fine with. And then my husband bought me a balance beam for Christmas. That was when I was still in the “waiting for more crack” phase. So my husband bought me a balance beam for Christmas. So sometimes I would drink my coffee and just think and walk on the balance beam.

I always practice slide puzzles. I didn’t have any slide puzzles in my last season, but maybe they’ll have them this time. And oh, the other thing I did, I feel like there could potentially be a challenge. I think there was one a couple years ago, putting the seasons in order. And I’ve watched every season in real time. But I went back and made sure that I absolutely know the order of the seasons.

[Author’s note: Wanting to test Chrissy’s prep, I proceeded to ask her to name every Survivor season in order. And I’m happy to say she nailed every one of them! Though admittedly, the last nine seasons are quite easy.]

Related: Meet the Full Cast of Survivor 50

You just listed the entire Survivor timeline. I want to talk about where you fall in it. Because it looks on the surface that you’re in between the old-schoolers from the early seasons, and then the entire group from the new era. I mean, you come from the first season with the Final Four firemaking twist. So what do you think your position is there?
I actually like my placement a lot. I’m coming into it feeling like I’m in a good place. I feel like the old school players run a risk of the new people wanting to get them out. And the new era players run the risk of old school wanting to get them out. And then there are a few of us in the 30s who I think can probably play both sides. So I kind of like it. Firemaking is in here, but it’s in the hands of the fans!

Were you personally out there in the streets, stumping to make sure nobody voted for firemaking this season?
Well, I figure that my influence is very small in the Survivor fandom, which is gigantic. But I love the theme. I love it. I think it’s gonna be so fun for us out there to have no idea what was voted on until we’re actually playing the game. Like to pick your Final Four, not knowing if there’s fire making or not, that’s really interesting mentally.

Are you seeing any particular qualities in a number one ally this time around?
Okay, I actually don’t think I’m gonna look for a number one ally out here. I feel like what I want to do in this game is figure out my strategy. And I don’t mean to say be a floater, but align with people who have similar strategies for me at that time. I think for me, that’s probably mostly going to be people from the 30s. But I don’t think it’s gonna be a good season if eras obliterate other eras.

I think for me, the way I’d have the most fun is if there’s just sort of this hodgepodge group of awesome people who do cool things and fun things. I want this to be fun. When I played Season 35, what I tell people is that my biggest feeling playing that game was loneliness. And that’s not going to be my feeling this time. I think this time, I just want it to be fun. So I want to play with other people who just love this game. I love this game and want to just have fun playing a great game. So, if I look around and say, like, “Who do I think that person would be?” I see that in Angelina, for sure. She’s who I would probably say off the bat, “Let’s do this.”

Well, on that note, I have a thought experiment for you! We’re gonna play a game called “Friend or Foe.” I’m going to give you a name of someone on the cast, and you have to tell me if they’re someone you want to work with, or someone you see as an enemy or threat. Starting with Jenna.
Oh, Friend! Can people please not vote Jenna out if she’s on another tribe? I need to spend 25 hours with her talking about Borneo. She’s so interesting to me. She’s Friend for sure.

What about Colby?
Mixed bag.

Ooh, I like this third option!
I think Colby will be a Friend at first, and then a Foe. I am not certain Colby would vote for me to win at the end. I think Colby is somebody I could align with for some period of time, and then at some point he has to become aFfoe. I don’t know. I know that means that he’s on the jury then and voting. I don’t know. Jury’s out.

Literally! How about Stephenie?
Same as Colby. Friend and Foe.
You said that so nicely! Have you talked with him in the past?
No, I don’t think so. Maybe on Instagram, how we all like comment on each other’s things. But I think that I am gonna absolutely dig Coach.

Let’s move into the 30s. Aubry.
[Pause.] Friend. Aubry had some trouble the last time she was out, and I was really surprised to see her out here again. I think she’s a friend, but I don’t know that she’s somebody I’d go to bat for necessarily. I was really surprised to see her out here.

So you mentioned Angelina before. What makes her your number one Friend?
I feel like Angelina is a younger me. I know I don’t come off as kind on TV. I’m much nicer in real life than I appear on the last season of my TV show. But I’ve met Angelina once at a thing a couple years ago. Just fun, really smart, and I feel like our interests will be aligned.

How about Christian?
Friend for a long time. But here’s my concern with Christian. Everyone loves Christian. And I’ve heard he plays a lot of these Discord games, ORGs; I don’t know what I’m talking about. He plays these online games with all the new era people. That’s something I got to watch out for. Christian is charming. He’s wonderful. Wonderful only goes so far in this game. So certainly Friend. He truly is everything everybody thinks of him. He’s amazing.

Mike, your fellow member of the 54 club!
Friend. I feel like I’m gonna click with him. Again, he’s my age. I also don’t get stars in my eyes for the whole White Lotus thing that I know other people do. I’ve just never really been like that. So I think that I would work with him nicely.

How about Rick? The two of you have certainly been talked about in the conversation of standout non-winners from your era.
Friend. I think I was on a podcast once with Rick. I don’t think I’ve ever met Rick in person. And we’re friends on LinkedIn, so we celebrate each other on our achievements. But Rick is definitely Friend. He’s a nice family man.

Let’s get into the new era, starting with Jonathan.
Friend. But of course, at some point, he has to go. He can’t win too many immunities.

Dee.
All winners gotta go. Except Dee! She’s awesome. But Foe. She’s a winner!

How about Emily?
Emily’s really interesting. I came into this whole experience thinking Emily was going to be a Foe. And just seeing her about town, never talked to her in my life. But I kind of like her! She’s a financial analyst, just like me. I know she is “Financial Analyst Emily Flippen.” But I was the first Survivor financial analyst. I am an actuary, but I was listed as a financial analyst. But no, there’s something about Emily that I actually really like, [is] I feel like she was maybe somewhat misunderstood in her season. So was I! I kind of get that. So maybe I just kind of get her. So I’m gonna put Emily in the Friend category, actually.

Charlie.
So I have met Charlie before. Charlie is gonna be a Friend for a little while.

How about Q?
Oh, I can’t make everyone my friend! But honestly, this is the thing about Q. When you’re in his presence, he’s got a force field where you just want to be closer to him. And I know that his first season, he was very chaotic. I don’t know whether he is no longer chaotic, or that was the edit. Maybe his baby changed him. But now I just want to be in the Q force field. So he’s a Friend.

Tiffany.
I’ll admit Tiffany is the one person that I did not know who she was. And I have watched all the seasons. So I do not know whether Tiffany is Friend or Foe. She’s been very much keeping to herself. So I’ll go with Foe only because she’s not Friend. But she might be lovely.

Genevieve.
Friend. Similar to Angelina, smart. I’ve never met Genevieve, but seems to me like a smart, good strategist. I loved seeing her on her season.

Joe.
Look, I just have to have some Foes now. And I just watched 48. So I’m gonna say Foe.

How about Kamilla then?
Kamilla, Friend. I want to see Kamilla shine in the spotlight. She needs a season to not shine all the way to the end. But Kamilla can be a Friend.

Kyle.
Kyle is a Foe. He’s a winner.

And then what about the two 49 players?
They’re Foes, I’m sorry. Realistically, one of them I heard was the winner, and so winners got to go. The other one reminds me of a previous very close alliance that I have, and so that person has to go as well.

RV reminds you of an RU, perhaps?
[Laughs.] Yes. And I’ve moved on from those types of arrangements.

They say sometimes when a player returns, they take from the game of the person who won their original season. Obviously, you had a complicated relationship with Ben, to say the least. But is there anything you’re taking from his Season 35 game into 50?
So Ben and I currently are very good. Ben and I like each other. I text with him, whatever, he’s great. Yes, man, look for idols! Here’s the thing. I don’t know if there are any idols. But I’ll try to look for them!

Which previous player do you wish were out here on the island with you right now?
Aw, Devon! Devon was robbed. And I don’t know. I’m sure Devon got the call. He’s got an incredible family; I think they just had a baby. So maybe that was the reason Devon wasn’t out here. But I would have loved to see him out here. I think he should have gotten another shot to play.

Finally, what celebrity or fictional character would you bring out for a Loved Ones visit?
Well, I mean, Jeff Probst is already out there! [Laughs.] Oh gosh, I’m bad at this. I just told you that I don’t get excited about the celebrity stuff. [Pause.] I don’t know, Mike. This is the scariest part of Survivor for me so far.

[Laughs.] Well, I’m starting you off easy!
Okay, I’ll bring you! I’ll bring you. Because you’re so nice, you can come hang out with me.