'Survivor:' Why is J.T. Thomas Not On 'Winners at War?'

Gettyimages | CBS Photo Archive

The most anticipated season of Survivor is finally here and it's been everything we've hoped for. The two-hour premiere was last Wednesday and it's been filled with the gameplay that we hoped for. Two big names were the first to bite the dust, Natalie Anderson and Amber Mariano were the dreaded first boots that no one ever wants to be. Being able to see how the winners are playing the game in modern Survivor, you can only imagine how the other winners that weren't invited would've played, like the one and only J.T Thomas.

Gettyimages | Janette Pellegrini

The first time we saw J.T. introduced in the Survivor world was during season 16 back in 2009 when he was a mere young buck. J.T. won over members of his tribe by simply being himself and relying on his ride or die alliance that he made with Stephen Fishbach. The two made it all the way to the final tribal council. It's debatable who had a more deserving winning game, but the jury felt J.T. was the head of the alliance and ultimately awarding the title of sole survivor.

Gettyimages | CBS Photo Archive

J.T. would appear a second time for Heroes vs. Villains back in 2010 being taken out by the legendary Parvati, but his latest time out to play was in Survivor's 34th season, Game Changers. The season saw all kinds of returning players, but it was a poor showing for J.T. He was 5th voted out, some thought he'd been away long enough from the game to not be a threat. He proved to be too much of a wild card and was quickly disposed of from his tribe.

Gettyimages | CBS Photo Archive

Probst was on a press tour before the premiere of season 40 and he was explaining the reasoning for bringing back certain winners, which winners they approached, and the type of gameplay they were expecting from this season. J.T. wasn't the topic of discussion which may be because he's brought everything he can bring to show. His time in the Tocantins clearly being his best performance and his game slowly deteriorated with his other two times he played. Who knows if J.T. will ever play again.

The game of Survivor has evolved immensely since some of the winners last played. The game now moves incredibly fast sometimes alliances will change day to day. There were many winners that weren't asked to return to the all winners season and J.T. is on the top of that list as to why he was not asked to return. As we continue to see Winners at War play out we're going to see some top tier Survivor gameplay and above all else some great TV.