Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains - Production

Production

Unlike previous seasons where a break in production occurred between seasons, the twentieth season was shot twenty days after Survivor: Samoa was completed, taking advantage of the existing infrastructure from that season. Casting for Heroes vs. Villains was done simultaneously with casting for Survivor: Samoa. Heroes vs. Villains features ten former Survivors known for their acts of integrity and honor, the Heroes, and ten former Survivors known for their deeds of deception and duplicity, the Villains. The cast was officially announced during the 36th People's Choice Awards on January 6, 2010. Jeff Probst, the show's host, stated that while they wanted to do another season where they brought back former players for the show's 10-year anniversary and 20th cycle, they did not want to simply do another All-Stars season. On reflecting on the most popular players, they realized that these players were either seen as liked or despised for those respective seasons, and opted to use that as the theme for this season.

According to Probst, the production initially selected 50 players from the past seasons, narrowing down the list to twenty and keeping one spot open for a possible player from Survivor: Samoa. Some selections were made to match players that production thought would be exciting to see, according to casting director Lynne Spillman. While the players were classified as Heroes or Villains, Survivor's creator Mark Burnett did not expect these players to maintain these roles in the game, but rather to do what they need to survive to the end. Rather than the usual slogan "Outwit, Outplay, Outlast", the slogan for this season is "Return, Revenge, Redemption". All challenges in this season were based on challenges used in previous seasons. Due to the back-to-back filming of Survivor: Samoa and this season, the other players did not have an opportunity to see Russell Hantz's gameplay in Samoa nor reveal more information about him; however, the players were told by the production crew that Hantz was considered "one of the five most notorious male villains of all time" prior to the start of the game.

The 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami occurred shortly after the completion of filming for this season; a CBS spokeswoman stated that no crew members were harmed from it.

Richard Hatch, the winner of the original Survivor, was asked to return for this season. However, he had to apply to leave the country since he was under house arrest. His request was denied by a federal judge in Rhode Island. Jeff Probst also revealed to TV Guide that Corinne Kaplan of Survivor: Gabon, and Shane Powers of Survivor: Panama were also asked to return but Kaplan declined due to work obligations and Powers was replaced by Russell Hantz of Survivor: Samoa, although Jonathan Penner of Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia has stated that he accepted an offer though was replaced by Hantz. Penner would later return to the game on Survivor: Philippines and Kaplan eventually returned to compete on Survivor: Caramoan. Twila Tanner of Survivor: Vanuatu was asked to be back, which she accepted, but she was cut at the last minute. Yau-Man Chan from Survivor: Fiji and Survivor: Micronesia was also asked to return but turned the offer down due to an insufficient leave of absence. In addition, Jeff Probst revealed in an interview that the producers would have liked Elisabeth Hasselbeck from Survivor: The Australian Outback and Colleen Haskell from Survivor: Borneo to participate on this season, but knew neither of them would have accepted the offer.

Various other former contestants were asked to come back, but turned down the opportunity. Jenna Morasca, winner of Survivor: The Amazon, turned down the chance to appear on the show due to her partner Ethan Zohn, winner of Survivor: Africa, having cancer. Shii Ann Huang of Survivor: Thailand was asked back but she declined because she had just given birth to a baby. According to Ryan Opray of Survivor: Pearl Islands, Alicia Calaway of Survivor: The Australian Outbackand Survivor: All-Stars turned down an offer to return. Taj Johnson of Survivor: Tocantins claimed she turned down an offer to return. Sierra Reed of the same season also turned down an offer. In an interview Danni Boatwright, winner of Survivor: Guatemala also turned down an offer to compete, as she claimed she would only return for an 'all-winners' edition. Tom "Big Tom" Buchanan of Survivor: Africa and Survivor: All-Stars, Natalie Bolton of Survivor: Micronesia, Ozzy Lusth of Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia, Ace Gordon of Survivor: Gabon, Jean-Robert Bellande of Survivor: China, and Tina Wesson of Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: All-Stars were all strongly considered to appear but ultimately were not chosen to participate. Lusth did, however, play the game for a third time on Survivor: South Pacific. Rudy Boesch of Survivor: Borneo and Survivor: All-Stars was strongly considered for the show, however producers thought that due to Boesch's age and how the show forces its participants to struggle, he was ultimately not chosen. Brian Heidik the winner of Survivor: Thailand was in talks to participate in this season, however producers and even Probst himself felt "too repulsed" to include Heidik once again. Some fans of the show were disappointed that Yul Kwon winner of Survivor: Cook Islands, Mike Skupin of Survivor: The Australian Outback and Terry Deitz of Survivor: Panama were not chosen to participate, Probst revealed that Kwon, Skupin and Deitz were considered but ultimately not chosen. Skupin would eventually appear on Survivor Philippines in 2012. Some fans of the show wondered why Jon "Jonny Fairplay" Dalton of Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Micronesia was not asked to participate again, which led Probst to say that Dalton was a "Survivor quitter" and quitters are not asked back. However, Dalton later claimed in an interview that he was initially cast, but was ultimately cut when Richard Hatch was unable to return.