Beloved ‘Survivor’ Alum Says They ‘Lost the Right’ to Appear on the Show Again

One of the most popular Survivor contestants won’t be joining the show again anytime soon.

Shane Powers appeared on the twelfth season of Survivor, titled Survivor: Panama — Exile Island. He went on to be one of the most exciting players to ever participate in the series along its fifty-season run, alongside the first appearance of Survivor icon Cirie Fields—who would end up on the series three more times.

It’s surprising, then, that Powers has never made a second appearance on the show. He’s gotten close several times, after being nominated for Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and making the fan vote list for Survivor: Cambodia — Second Chance, but has never appeared on the classic competition again. What gives?

According to Powers, the reason he hasn’t been brought back a second time is himself. After Panama, he showed up to a Survivor casting event drunk while angling for a second appearance.

“I was so drunk, and I was lying to everybody saying, ‘I’m not drunk,’” he said in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I peed like a 0.28 to the physical and took the psych test drunk with Dr. Liza.”

He continued to say that because of the test, he “would not have been called [for Survivor 50.] And most of that is my fault.” In addition, he said he “lost the right” to appear on Survivor because he’s been publicly “mean and grumpy and nasty” to series host Jeff Probst after the show’s longtime casting director was fired. But Powers has only nice things to say about Probst now.

“He’s been a wonderful host, and he’s been an amazing executive producer,” he says. “And I’ve made the choices I’ve made, and I really respect who he is and what he’s done with that whole thing. It’s been really beautiful.”

Powers also said that he’s anxiously awaiting the release of Survivor 50.

“The more and more I look at the cast, the more excited I am, man,” he tells EW. “It’s gonna be a really cool celebration of a show that’s been on for a very long time. It’s part of the human lexicon. It’s a beautiful thing.”