Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatwright returns to the Jack Vita Show to discuss her friend and former tribemate Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick's return to Survivor, with Survivor 50 premiering in under two weeks! Each week, Danni will be joining Jack to chat about the latest episode of Survivor 50!

Danni first met Stephenie in 2005, on Survivor's eleventh season, Survivor: Guatemala. It had only been six months since Stephenie had finished filming Survivor: Palau. Stephenie lasted 30 days on Survivor: Palau and made history, becoming the first ever tribe of one. She instantly became a fan favorite, and for the first time in Survivor's history, a contestant was brought back for the very next season to play with all newbies. Survivor had developed a new face of the franchise, and it needed to capitalize on its budding star.

Danni and Stephenie started on opposite tribes, but became quick friends at the merge. Despite being down in numbers, Danni crafted a path to the Final 3. She won final immunity and opted to face the jury with Stephenie. Danni defeated Stephenie by a vote of 6-1, earning her the title of sole survivor.

Danni and Stephenie would each go on to marry a professional athlete, move around the country and raise their kids. Both women pursued other ventures and left reality television in the past. To Survivor fans in the 2010s, the thought of seeing the Survivor: Guatemala Final 2 ever on the show again was a pipedream... until 2020.

Danni answered the call for Survivor's 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War. Unfortunately for Danni, she suffered a similar fate to that of Stephenie on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Both players went into the game without pregame alliances or connections to the rest of the cast, and as a result, neither lasted long. Two years later, Stephenie would appear on USA's short-lived competition show Snake in the Grass. Five months after that, Stephenie competed on the first season of Peacock's hit show The Traitors, where she made it to the penultimate episode and was the last contestant murdered.

In the summer of 2025, both Danni and Stephenie left within days of each other for each of their next adventures. Danni competed on FOX's 99 to Beat, while Stephenie set out to film Survivor 50. Danni finished in the top 90% of the competition, placing eighth out of 100. How will Stephenie fare in her return to TV?

In this episode of the Jack Vita Show, Danni assesses Stephenie's game, her skill set and her chances on S50. Who might Stephenie best gel with in the game? Who should she work with and trust, and who should she be weary of? What needs to happen in order for Stephenie to make a deep run? What does Jack think are Stephenie's best traits? And what advice did Danni give to Stephenie before she left, so that she too can be a Survivor champ? All this, and so much more in the latest episode of the Jack Vita Show!

Danni hosts a podcast of her own called Beyond the Edit with Danni & Aggie, where she is currently covering FOX's new hit show, Extracted. Subscribe to her YouTube channel here. You can follow her on Instagram, @danniboatwright.

Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatwright joins the Jack Vita Show to preview Survivor's 50th season, Survivor 50! Each week, Danni will be joining Jack to chat about the latest episode of Survivor 50!

Danni and Jack kick off the fun with a comprehensive preview of the coming season. They put the cast under the microscope and attempt to connect the dots and pinpoint potential pregame alliances and deals, examining evidence collected from preseason press, prior seasons, and preexisting relationships entering S50.

Danni and Jack also break down the tribe divisions. How do they expect things to shake out on each tribe? Who is going to target who, early? And who will be the first person voted out of each tribe? Danni and Jack provide a full cast assessment, and share many thoughts along the way!

Danni had the privilege of playing with Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick on Survivor: Guatemala in 2005. Now, she is excited to cheer on her friend and former tribemate. Next week, Danni and Jack will dive deeper into Stephenie's game and discuss her chances on S50. Stephenie has been a staple of the Jack Vita Show and has appeared on more episodes of the show than any other guest. She even cohosted with Jack every week during their Traitors Season 2 coverage. Needless to say, Jack and Danni are not shy about their bias towards Stephenie. They will certainly be rooting for Stephenie on S50, but will do their best give an honest assessment each week as they cover the historic season.

Danni hosts a podcast of her own called Beyond the Edit with Danni & Aggie, where she is currently covering FOX's new hit show, Extracted. Subscribe to her YouTube channel here. You can follow her on Instagram, @danniboatwright.

99 to Beat contestant Nikki Kofkin stops by the Jack Vita Show to chat about her elimination from FOX's new hit show. On last week's episode, Nikki became the 61st person eliminated, finishing in 40th place. Nikki is a high school classmate of Jack's; she and Jack both graduated from New Trier Township High School (Winnetka, Illinois) in 2012.

Nikki is a real estate broker who currently resides in Chicago. Earlier this year, she took a shot, and bet on herself. In May, she traveled with her best friend Hadieh Tazangi to the UK to compete on 99 to Beat, FOX's new competitive game show. Little did she know that she would be competing against Survivor winners Danni Boatwright and Sandra Diaz-Twine, or three-time Challenge champion Cara Maria Sorbello.

Nikki gives Jack a peak behind the curtain, detailing how 99 to Beat was filmed, and answering common questions she has received throughout this experience. Nikki explains how many challenges were filmed in each day, how long it took for challenges to film, and where the contestants' outfits came from. Did the contestants have multiple copies of the same outfit? Or were they wearing the same clothes every single day? How long were they in the UK, and how did they spend the downtime they received when they were not filming? Did the contestants go home immediately after elimination, or did they stay in the UK longer? Nikki shares some never-before-told stories pertaining to 99 to Beat, that you can only find on the Jack Vita Show!

Later, Jack and Nikki chat a little bit about their high school, New Trier Township High School, which inspired the 2004 hit comedy Mean Girls. They talk about what it was like to grow up on the North Shore of Chicago, right on Lake Michigan. Nikki reflects on her experience on TV and discusses what she learned from it, and what she found out about herself. All this, and so much more, only on the Jack Vita Show!

Big Brother winner and frequent guest on the Jack Vita Show Rachel Reilly has returned to the Big Brother house! Rachel entered the house her third go-round on Big Brother, a show that brought $750,000 and her husband into her life.

Rachel's sister, Elissa Reilly, returns to the Jack Vita Show, to spill some secrets on Rachel's decision to play again! Elissa shares when she found out Rachel would be playing Big Brother again, why Rachel is competing again and how they kept it a secret from their parents. Elissa offers a behind-the-scenes look at Rachel's latest adventure! She also discusses how she expects Rachel to play this time around.

The last time Rachel played Big Brother, she was 26 years-old. Now, she's 40, and a mother of two. How has Rachel grown since the last time she played? How will she fare without her husband Brendan? Rachel met Brendan on Big Brother 12 and the two played together again on Big Brother 13.

Will Rachel be targeted early? Or, will she be able to build a coalition and appeal to the new players as a seasoned veteran and a helpful resource? Who should Rachel team up with? Jack and Elissa dig into all of it, as Elissa spills all the tea on Rachel's return to Big Brother! It's an episode you will not want to miss!

You can follow Elissa (@elissercise) on Instagram.

The Survivor 50 cast has been announced!

Wednesday morning on CBS Mornings, longtime host Jeff Probst revealed the names of 22 of the 24 players that will be competing on Survivor's semicentennial season. That same day, the S50 cast was expected to fly to Fiji, with filming to begin soon.

With Survivor 50 soon to begin filming, Jack welcomes Deal or No Deal Island contestant and day one Survivor fan Kim Mattina to the show to discuss the S50 cast!

Kim has been watching Survivor for 25 years. Jack watched the first 40 seasons, but has not watched since Winners at War. Find out why Jack is back IN on Survivor, and who he is most excited to watch play again!
Longtime friend and member of the Jack Vita Show family, Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, will be making her triumphant return to Survivor. Stephenie has appeared on the Jack Vita Show more than any other guest, and cohosted a weekly recap show for season two of The Traitors, with Jack, last year. Jack reacts to the news of his friend's Survivor comeback!

Kim and Jack run through the names of the 24 contestants expected to compete on S50. Tune in to hear their thoughts on each cast member, and find out who they feel was wrongly snubbed and should have been on 50, but was ultimately passed over by production. It's a Survivor episode you will NOT want to miss!

Each week on the Jack Vita Show, Jack sits down with the most recent eliminated contestant from NBC's Deal or No Deal Island for an exit interview. This week, Jack is joined by four-time Survivor contestant, Survivor: Micronesia winner and former cast member on Peacock's The Traitors, Parvati Shallow! Parvati chats about her time on DONDI, and reflects on her 19-year reality television career!

Parvati made her reality TV debut back in the fall of 2006, appearing on Survivor's 13th season, Survivor: Cook Islands. She was 23 years-old at the time, and placed sixth. She would return to compete less than two years later, on Survivor's 16th season, Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites, also known as Survivor: Micronesia. A member of the 'Black Widow Brigade', Parvati reached the final two, defeating Survivor: China second runner-up Amanda Kimmel, in a 5-3 jury vote.

Parvati competed on Survivor a third time in 2010, placing second on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. She took a ten-year hiatus from competing on shows, declining opportunities that presented themselves to her. In 2020, she came out of retirement at the age of 36, for Survivor: Winners at War. She has since appeared on Peacock's hit show, The Traitors, and she will soon be competing on Australian Survivor, alongside Survivor winners Tony Vlachos and Cirie Fields.

Parvati discusses her time on Deal or No Deal Island. She earned safety from elimination in the first nine rounds of the competition. Had she not won safety, Parvati would have been targeted much sooner. Why were so many contestants going after Parvati, and is there anything she could have done differently to get them off her back? How does Australian Survivor winner David Genat rank among her greatest allies from all of the shows she has competed on? And how was Parvati able to identify David?

Parvati also chats about her life on reality television. Did she ever think she'd still be doing this thing in her 40s, with a young daughter? Why does she keep returning to TV, and how selective has she been over the shows she's done? Parvati reveals in this interview that she has declined opportunities to compete on CBS' Celebrity Big Brother, USA Network's Snake in the Grass, E!'s House of Villains and Amazon Prime's The GOAT. Parvati explains why she won't accept just any opportunity to be on television, and why it needs to be the right opportunity.

For over a decade, Jeff Probst has hyped Parvati up as the ultimate flirt and heartbreaker. But does Parvati think that's a fair assessment of her gameplay on Survivor? This is a question Jack has always wanted to ask Parvati. Parvati reflects on her time on reality television, looks ahead to her next chapter and discusses how the genre has changed in her near-20 years of reality TV stardom. All this, and much more, in an exclusive interview on the Jack Vita Show!

Each week on the Jack Vita Show, Jack sits down with the most recent eliminated contestant from NBC's Deal or No Deal Island for an exit interview. This week, he speaks with the ninth contestant eliminated, 37-year-old Austin native Phillip Solomon.

Phillip worked in a group of five that targeted "The Family" all season long. The original five was him, Lete, Luke, Storm and Seychelle. After the group lost Luke, Dr. Will began working with the group. Phillip had formed a bond with Parvati early on, but once Parvati used his own childhood trauma against him, their bond was broken, and Phillip found himself at odds with Parvati.

In this week's episode, Phillip agreed to a deal with David, which allowed him to collect a $75K prize. David promised Phillip safety, but went back on his word, sending Phillip home and making him the ninth contestant eliminated and the season's fifth-place finisher.

Jack chats with Phillip about his time on the Banker's Island, his confrontation with Parvati, and whether or not he tried to "emotionally manipulate" the four-time Survivor contestant. Did Phillip expect David to stick to his word? How much of his game was dependent on trust? Why did Phillip take the money over power and safety? Does he have any regrets? And how will this money change his life? All this, and much more, only on the Jack Vita Show!

Each week on the Jack Vita Show, Jack sits down for an exit interview with the most recent eliminated contestant from NBC's Deal or No Deal Island. This week, he speaks with the eighth contestant eliminated, 24 year-old Wood River, Illinois native, Dickson Wong.

Dickson created an alliance on day one with four-time Survivor player Parvati Shallow and two-time Australian Survivor contestant David Genat. They called themselves "The Family". The Family was targeted by just about everybody else on the Banker's Island, tracing back to the first episodes of the season. With Parvati and David winning safety most of the time, Dickson was targeted early and often. He played the banker in Episode 4, collecting the largest total in DONDI history. Earning a good deal, Dickson blindsided Storm.

Dickson skated by in the following weeks, but in Episode 9, he finally ran out of lives. David selected Lete to play at the Banker's Temple. Lete secured a good deal and sent Dickson home.

Jack chats with Dickson about his strategy and gameplay. Why did he choose to align himself with two of the show's biggest threats? Is there anything he would have done differently, if given another chance? He also shares some new, behind-the-scenes information about some things that happened on the Banker's Island that weren't shown on television, and what role they played in the story. Later, Dickson gives a rundown on his favorite baseball team, the St. Louis Cardinals, as they prepare for the coming season! How does Dickson think the Redbirds will fare in 2025? All this, and much more, only on the Jack Vita Show!