People change in a year.

Robyn Kass cast Big Brother for twenty seasons, and her advice to people who didn’t get on was not “try harder.” It was: “people change in a year and your life can make you a different person.” She meant it as encouragement, and as instruction. The new job, the marriage, the year abroad, the divorce — that’s the material.

The rule

Every show requires a new application and a new video, every cycle. The Race says explicitly that old tapes aren’t carried over. Survivor’s casting team asked people in 2018 to send exactly one tape per cycle. So “applying again” means making something new, not re-sending last year’s.

One exception, and it’s important. If you were a Survivor finalist in Los Angeles, the eligibility sheet says don’t reapply. They keep your file and re-review it every year; new submissions from past finalists are ignored. Tannenbaum confirmed the list is real in 2026 by naming two past finalists still on it.

They remember you, and that’s good

Kass: “they might not be right THIS season, but they might be great next season.” Tiffany Ervin’s first Survivor tape was rejected — Tannenbaum’s phrase was that it wasn’t what they were looking for at that time. She came back years later, after pursuing art, and he says the growth in between showed up in the game she played on season 46.

Cameron Hardin was the Big Brother alternate the year before he was cast. Kellie Nalbandian was passed over for two seasons, then fast-tracked, then an alternate, then on season 45. The file doesn’t reset.

The people who kept going

Savannah Louie was cut at 18 and emailed casting to say she wouldn’t stop applying until she got on or the show ended. Fourteen years later she won season 49.

Brandon Donlon started sending Survivor tapes at 11, after the Gabon premiere, years before he was eligible. He nearly made Big Brother 21 on the way. He told casting he’d die or do this every year. Season 45.

Chelsea Walker applied six years running from 21, reached finals three times, and finally wrote Probst a letter. Her first tape was gimmicky and got a hundred thousand views and nothing. Her last had her in tears. Season 39.

Dan Gheesling applied for four years and made finals three times before winning Big Brother 10. Cameron Hardin, five or six tries. Kenney Kelley at 52, after years of applying when nobody knew he was.

Nick and Mike Fiorito sent five tapes over seven years and made finals three times before The Amazing Race 37. Colin Rose and Matt Roberts, ten straight years to the Canadian version. Jonathan Knight, four seasons blocked by tour dates.

Lindsay Carmine first applied for season 2 as a college student, was cast in 2021, was bumped by a positive COVID test twelve hours before departure, and got on season 43 the next year. “That isn’t a dream that goes away.”

Mary Hill was at a Survivor open call in 2025 in her twentieth year of auditioning, singing, in Probst-themed clothing. Scott Stoll has sent tapes since 2008 — a VHS with a twenty-page paper form, a Survivor-logo cake, a giant slide puzzle, a tarantula eaten on camera. CBS made him an official Survivor Superfan and used his videos in promos. He has never been cast, and he wrote that he loved it anyway.

What changes between tapes

Scott Stoll, looking back at his 2008 tape from 2021: “I’m surprised how 11 years can put a whole new perspective on my life and how I portray myself to the world.” That’s the whole point. You aren’t correcting last year’s video. You’re making one about a person who’s a year older, with a new story.

Casting is also changing. Probst says the show is looking at younger applicants; Tannenbaum in August 2026 said they want fresh faces for 53 and 54; the diversity commitment came and went; crossovers arrived. What was wrong for one season may be right for the next, and there’s no way to know from outside.

The practical version

• One new video per cycle. Don’t resend.
• New stories. The wedding, the job, the loss, the move. Whatever a year did to you.
• Same rules as the first time: no script, horizontal, under 3 minutes, under 50 MB.
• Update the written form; it’s part of the same file they’re re-reading.
• If you were a Survivor finalist in LA: don’t. They’ve got you.
• Check the calendar. Survivor opens late July, Big Brother reviews from February, the Race looks January to May — so a person who missed one window is four months from the next one, on a different show.

Kass’s line is the one to keep. People change in a year. So does the tape.