Always A Bridesmaid: The Story of Amanda Kimmel - Survivor: Micronesia

[@elliekitabjian2069]

Amanda was so much fun to watch on these back to back seasons. Underrated strategist and challenge beast and I miss watching her play survivor. Taught generations of survivor players the importance of finishing strong with a knockout FTC speech 😅

[@austinemms9772]

To be clear, every Survivor player has a weakness but I still believe that if Amanda had owned her game in China & FvF, she could’ve had the chance to be a two-time winner, whether she sat beside Parvati or Cirie.

[@066kshitizvsingh4]

Had Amanda won China, they would've probably invited Todd/Courtney to Micronesia, completely changing the game altogether

[@markjackson6431]

LOL if she won China, she wouldn’t have been brought back for Micronesia 😂😂

[@nvm9040]

I could see that if she owned her game but if she did then she wouldn’t be on FvF’s but who knows 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@nvm9040]

@natalie7662 I didn’t see many villain moments from her confessionals or actions from her back to back seasons before HvV’s

[@eksteinmalan3517]

Both Parvati & Amanda didn't stand a chance vs Cirie in a FTC. Amanda could have won Micronesia if she actually owned up to her game and fought in FTC (vs Parvati.). She would not have been able to win China though She was 3rd and not nearly on Todd's caliber.

[@eddiemarlin1129]

Amanda: gets to Final Tribal in China and gets third Amanda: gets to Final Tribal in Micronesia and gets second (by default) Jeff at HvV finale: “you just lack that tenacity or fire you need to-“ Amanda: “WoOoOoOoW!”

[@kingofthorns203]

One of Jeff's better reunion moments. She actually gave a great answer to him too

[@AkronJosh]

To be fair to Amanda she made it to the finals multiple times and it seems like Jeff didn't repect her for it ffs. Jeff is most definitely a bit of a mans man 👨 😄 🤣 in other words he hates women 😮 😲 JK

[@41052]

@@AkronJosh jk but not really 😂

[@BurntToast-m3s]

@@AkronJosh you say that but he's only ever been mad when men won the game before

[@tubagal13]

So interesting to see how Amanda was more of a villain than a hero, according to your metric. I sort of understand why Amanda ended up with a "hero" reputation and Parvati ended up as a "villain" in Heroes vs Villains, but honestly, as I was rewatching Micronesia recently, Amanda's behavior toward Cirie and ESPECIALLY Erik was way more distasteful than anything Parvati did all season. Parvati comes off as kind of your stereotypical "mean girl," but she treated the people she blindsided with respect (just see her trying to talk to James after the Ozzy vote) and seemed to know it was all just a game. Meanwhile, Amanda can be REALLY manipulative with her "how dare you hurt my feelings" schtick in a way that gets WAY too personal for me.

[@zeaferjones1404]

I'm with you. Amanda wants to come across as like a Colby type player, but she is one of the first game bots in Survivor even having Ozzy around didn't change her very calculated ways. While Parvati likes coming across as shady yet other than situations where she takes out the person in the obvious power position like Boston Rob, Ozzy and JP she does stay pretty loyal like with Danielle or Amanda.

[@markjackson6431]

in fairness Parvati was on the Hero tribe but switched with Candace because of abundance of Micronesians on that tribe. they would’ve had 4 people out of the gate.

[@majomoranh]

not the "always a bridesmaid"😭☠why'd you have to do her like that.

[@Lsaldana92]

It was a fan suggestion, because will she always comes close but never gets the w.

[@SpanishFly120]

I will say, in defense of Amanda being two votes short at the end, I feel like literally ANYBODY who faced Parvati at the Final 2 (other than Natalie) would instantly come in at a 1 vote deficit. There was no way in hell Natalie wasn't going to vote for Parvati to win if it was possible. Natalie was even more down bad for Parvati than Ozzy was for Amanda, lol.

[@dovahkiin2259]

The key votes were Jason and Eliza, the others were locked. It could easily had been a draw, or an Amanda's win.

[@zeaferjones1404]

@@dovahkiin2259 I think Amanda could have swung Jason had she thrown Parvati under the bus and been like, "Parvati didn't like you!" "I voted you out, but I didn't talk crap about you like she did." At the same time, I think Parvati could have swung Erik and said something like, "Your vote out was because of Amanda's guilt trip, and I was shocked that you gave your necklace away."(sort of like how Sandra says she would have stopped JT from giving away his idol to get JT's vote.)

[@Romans8-9]

@@dovahkiin2259 Eliza basically told her to her face she hated her personality. She was never getting Eliza's vote.

[@survivorbest4589]

Cirie would've beat parv she was obviously edited to be the fan favourite since she won but Amanda was behind lot during the season and could've won if she didn't miscalculate that she mustn't own her dirty game

[@calebjohnson9740]

18:11 that has to be one of the most merciless expressions I’ve ever seen on Jeff’s face… and that completely deadpan delivery of “the tribe has spoken”… absolutely devoid of any human sympathy or emotion

[@eddiemarlin1129]

“You always have a glazed over look on your face. Was that your strategy to play the zombified pretty girl cliche? Is that who you are as a person?” -Natalie Dude, she got three jury votes and her expression never changed the whole time

[@giovanniorellana2200]

I think her better game was in China, despite her getting more votes her than she did in China.

[@huda5725]

Castaways who play back to back seasons seems to make the same mistakes, don't have the chance to learn or sees their game from other point of view

[@roguemerc]

man, that Cirie question was a meatball down the middle, and she swung at it like the blond dude in Benchwarmers. A complete double fiasco, as she is saying the person next to her deserves to win, whilst calling Cirie bad. "why does Parvati deserve to be up there over me?" "Because I can beat her,thats not something I can say about you, Cirie"

[@markjackson6431]

ik she’s done with the show but id like to see Amanda return. she’s in my top 10

[@Thepokedek]

I dont think we will ever get returnees from seasons prior to 41 again.

[@katiechan7348]

@@Thepokedek yeah, we’re in a new era of survivor. It’s practically a whole new show now.

[@bryancarson5908]

She said she isn’t completely done! If they did an all returnee or legends season again I think she said she’s wanna return

[@TDRyan]

Amanda came out in 2021 that she would return in a legends or runner up season

[@barrymccockiner9816]

@@Thepokedek I really hope that your wrong they can’t just ditch on all the good players who never got a chance to return

[@ParvatisIdol]

It was confirmed by Parvati and Ozzy on the Drop Your Buffs podcast that Amanda was in on Ozzy’s blindside, meaning that her reaction at tribal and her confessional in the next episode was all in act! And the reason for Alexis’ injury is her, James, and Ozzy stole food from production and would storm back to the camp causing her to trip.

[@willmccants343]

It was her James and Erik but yea that probably why she has it😊

[@Shutterbun4]

Shame on you for cutting out Amanda's iconic "idol twirl" as she brought it to Jeff! That was a top 10 idol moment, man!

[@markjackson6431]

Amanda’s weakness is what costs her the wins. it’s not JUST her FTC performance…people have had bad FTC and still won or got votes. Amanda has an ego, she’s a pageant queen, and at the time was an “aspiring designer”. she obviously doesn’t want to look bad on TV so why go on the show if you can’t the heat. if your image is important to you then you wouldn’t agree to go on a show that can highlight your flaws…

[@krisvalderrama9043]

i agree. imo parvati's ftc performance is not even that good, it's just that amanda couldn't sell her game enough, and is actually worse

[@Romans8-9]

@@krisvalderrama9043 Tbh, Amanda's FTC performance in Micronesia is much better than it was in China but I feel like while jurors were more open to having their minds changed in China, I feel like that wasn't the case here. Natalie, Alexis and Eliza just opened their speeches by straight up criticizing her, she had no chance. Natalie didn't even ask anything about strategy to Parvati, just asked her about her sex life which was straight up weird.

[@davidandmercywhipple]

Glad I found this channel! It gives different perspectives on the game of Survivor!

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

Thank you!

[@davidandmercywhipple]

You are welcome

[@b.k.9797]

Apparently Amanda was in on Ozzy’s elimination and planned it with Parv.

[@Pannnthemannn]

I really enjoy these video essays. It’s tough to watch all of them all in succession due to the repeated filler content. For Micronesia it is definitely all of the FairPlay talk. I like the little diversions from the character story but would like them better if they weren’t the same in all of the different character videos.

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

Thank for the feedback. It's hard to talk about the same exact moments differently unless something is through the eyes of the videos subject. This is typically why I don't release them back to back.

[@Quetzal00358]

My favorite contestant and first Survivor crush

[@teamsteed1]

Thank you for posting the video.

[@eddiemarlin1129]

Amanda not winning Micronesia is like the one thing we can’t blame on Chet this season. She’s just bad at Final Tribal performances. Great player. Bad closer

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

Idk... we can always blame Chet.

[@Goldenp53]

😂😂😂😂 we need more of Chet 😂

[@Missingonesmatter]

I cackled so hard at the title of this video🤣

[@bryancarson5908]

Forever my favorite player!

[@itzwakk335]

Has a b2b returnees ever won? It seems like a lot of them do well but because they don't see their mistakes from last time they don't close the deal

[@itzwakk335]

Stephenie LaGrossa comes back on s11, gets 2nd, Rupert, comes back in all stars gets 3rd (not entirely on him though), Russell hantz we obviously know, like jeez

[@markjackson6431]

@@itzwakk335 Rupert finished 8th and 4th Steph finished 7th and 2nd Bobby Jon finished 10th and 9th Amanda finished 3rd and 2nd James finished 7th and 7th Russell finished 2nd and 3rd Malcolm finished 4th and 9th Micheala finished 14th and 7th and Zeke finished 9th and 10th i believe that’s everyone back to back

[@itzwakk335]

@@markjackson6431 also shirin

[@de-niall]

@@markjackson6431 so they either stayed the same, greatly improved or are Malcolm

[@tenleeso10]

@@itzwakk335Shirin wasn’t actually back to back tho since Kaoh Rong was already filmed before Camboadia and she got to watch her season before coming back

[@AkronJosh]

Amanda was so hard on Eric and reacted the way she did and then complained about it to others BECAUSE she was trying to convince them all that she didn't have the idol that way they all voted for her and gave her the power to vote out whoever she wanted.

[@2ctheocean]

Its tough because she's clearly an introvert in a game that favors extroverts.

[@andrewgentile2643]

I love her lack of energy, go girl give us nothing!

[@Varg84]

Haha and the Fairplay clip. The best.

[@diandranyirinkwaya7770]

One of the most beautiful girls to ever to be on survivor 😍such a baddie 😍 she looked so good the entire time Lmaoo

[@imsimba._]

From what I remember she lost 5-3 by votes..... but what would have ended up happening if it was a 4-4 tie in a Final 2 scenario? Does anyone know?

[@MariaJose-os8ll]

A fire Making challange in the the reunion

[@imsimba._]

@@MariaJose-os8ll Now if that happened..... I think she would have won

[@ryleycarroll9486]

@@MariaJose-os8ll it risky, especially after Cook Islands, what if it took them 1/2 hr

[@ladysnowsu10]

absolutely not fire making. pretty sure they would do a revote before fire making. althoughhh…it would be skewed by the jury viewing the season…so maybe fire making after all

[@JoeySethBeauregard]

You should make a video about every season’s first person voted out for each tribal council!!

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

Great idea! The patrons pick what topics I cover :)

[@felicityherod4009]

I love Amanda!!!

[@TheChamp33]

She definitely played a great game, but just failed to own up to her game, messed up relationships she had with Alexis, Erik, & Cirie. She’s in my top 10 for the best players to never win.

[@TorontoGuy]

Amanda and Parvati on the same seasons. Good Lord!

[@michaelholley1973]

Bring her back

[@Quetzal00358]

I’m in love with her

[@craigash189]

Great video, but wow you totally misunderstood the genius of Amanda's prepwork to her idol play. She wasn't genuinely upset with Erik. At this point Amanda knows that she was 100% safe. She was intentionally guilting Erik to prepare for the next round which ended up being successful as Erik took Amanda to reward and sent Parv to exile. She also smeared him with Natalie so that they couldn't possibly trust each other. She was so gentle with Cirie on purpose, not because she was being a hypocrite. The edit isn't so clear but you can see Cirie clearly states she will go to rocks if Amanda wants and Amanda tells her no, just vote her out. She was securing that Cirie was actually loyal to her so she knew she was guaranteed the numbers at final 5 with Cirie and Parv. What was so beautiful about the idol play was not just the negating of the votes, but the masterful way she prepared for the next round.

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

Hmmm. That's an interesting way to look at it.

[@craigash189]

@@OnceUponAnIsland this is also informed by 16 year old me's obsession with watching behind the scenes clips and they used to have the tribal council voting confessionals available lol. so certainly not explicit in the narrative

[@Romans8-9]

@@OnceUponAnIsland This is 100% what was happening, I am surprised you didn't pick up on it. The problem was that she lied to Erik at FTC when she said everything she said out tribal was honest, when she was clearly being dishonest by guilt tripping him. She kinda painted herself into a corner by not fessing up and owning her play.

[@kingofthorns203]

Are you familiar with Australian Survivor? I saw a few videos on the very similar game plays of Amanda and Sharn Coombes, it was quite telling.

[@OnceUponAnIsland]

I have watched a few seasons of it and even made some videos.

[@kingofthorns203]

@@OnceUponAnIsland Do you see the similarities between Sharn and Amanda's games?

[@k2nsh137]

I LOVED her on China, and I remember when I first watched Micronesia that she would 100% win over Parvati. But she was actually pretty horrible socially- Notice how she used the whole ‘when did you ever not feel included’ to both Ami AND cirie, despite calling her alliance a ‘clique’ (which is pretty ick to me). Literally all of her post show interviews are her complaining about how Alexis and Natalie didn’t like her, plus her endgame treatment of Erik and cirie was pretty awful (and came back to bite her in the ass at final tribal council) Had it not been for her idol play against Alexis I think she would have only been remembered as Ozzy’s vapid girlfriend. Which is a shame because I actually really like Amanda, but after rewatching I’m surprised how much I didnt like her game this season. She’s still the rightful winner of China to me though (NOT a Todd fan)

[@survivorbest4589]

Amanda is like super calculative and strategic but wants to come off as the nice girl to other people. Thats why she seems unlikeable to people, if she owned her game she could've won both times because people like honesty better than her acting. Parv even said that Amanda was in on the Ozzy vote but lied to insane lengths to hide this because apparently she thought she would have a better chance of winning as a nice girl smh

[@bufficliff8978]

Psalm 95:1 "Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!"

[@Oonggaboong]

You go girl, give us nothin!!

[@stevethea5250]

AMANDA ALREADY GOT AN 16YR OLD KID AND MORE. I FEEL DAM OLD

[@Goldenp53]

She does really??

[@stevethea5250]

and shes ageing like milk @@Goldenp53

[@entertainer_ev2747]

Dawg no she doesn't

[@Romans8-9]

@@Goldenp53 He's lying. Heroes v Villains was 14 years ago and she had no kids. She has two kids now though, one is about 2 or 3.

[@secrets.295]

Parvati is hotter body wise. But Amanda's face is perfection. Probably the most beautiful woman in Survivor.

[@Romans8-9]

I dont know, Amanda seems like the complete package.

[@Pulldatcashout]

15:00

[@gymrules27]

I think if Amanda took Natalie or Erik to the final two, then Amanda would have won.

[@Drake_Dimes]

Top 5 hottest female in US Survivor 😊

[@Miguel-jb2ww]

Always a Clydesdale never a Clyde huh?

[@Nick-NY]

She looks great in that thumbnail

[@mississippitornado6842]

literally how can you not click on the video

[@Quetzal00358]

She always looks great

[@northernking4787]

😍🥰

[@mdiddio]

Amanda calling herself the 'most strategic player' to Erik...omg. Girl. No. Youre so not. 🤣🤦‍♀️

[@survivorbest4589]

Amanda is actually insanely calculative. Parvati revealed she was even in on the Ozzy vote but hid this from everyone because her entire agenda was to keep the good girl image. That was her mistake she could've won if she revealed her actual dirty game but because she acts calculative and sweet at the same time people dislike her and she comes off disingenuous. She's almost Russel hantz level of controlling and manipulative. If she won/didn't hide some of the stuff she would be edited fairly and since parv got the winning votes she will obviously be edited better

[@andrecanton7591]

Honestly Amanda is such a boring character. Like Natalie said, she always has this dull look in her eyes, like she has no idea what’s going on around her. She’s a good player but doesn’t have much of a personality

[@Romans8-9]

Who cares? Being reserved doesn't make her a bad player.

[@megabladechronicles962]

If anyone is a boring pretty girl its Natalie, she was nothing but a coattail rider

[@reeefman]

i only clicked because of the thumbnail

[@terrypanama8004]

great title.