Who Is Kelley Wentworth? New Details About The 'Survivor' Veteran Who Is Back Again To Win
Is third time a charm? Kelley Wentworth is back.
Instagram Kelley Wentworth is back to try winning Survivor for a third time. The two-time Survivor contestant has returned again to compete on Survivor: Edge of Extinction.
Wentworth previously competed with her father, Dale Wentworth, in Survivor: San Juan de Sur in 2014. She was voted back on by fans for 2015’s Survivor: Second Chance filmed in Cambodia and finished fourth that season.
Now, the 33-year-old is competing once again on the show’s 38th season, which premiered on Feb. 20 and is being filmed in Fiji. This season has 14 new players, along with four veteran contestants including Wentworth, Joe Anglim, David Wright and Aubry Bracco.
The four veteran players have been split between the two tribes. This season has a new twist; host Jeff Probst told US Weekly that once contestants are eliminated during tribal council, they’ll be given the option of going home or continuing to play in a remote, desolate location called Extinction Island. Why is she back a third time?
“I have one thing left to do in this game: win." Wentworth also once said. "I'd also like to prove to myself and my dad that I can do it. To push myself and never give up in the toughest situations."
When asked why she’ll be the sole survivor, she once said, “I'm competitive and I'll never back down. I'll always keep trying to move to the next step and I'm not afraid to fib a little or hurt people to be at the top. Everything I've ever tried to do in life I've succeeded so I know I can do this too.”
So who is Kelley Wentworth? Here’s what we know.
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1. She’s from Washington.
Kelley Wentworth hails from Ephrata, Washington. She was born on June 7, 1985, and grew up on a farm which prepared her for Survivor.
“I grew up on a farm so I've seen and done it all. I've fed cows, cleaned up poop, driven a tractor, hauled firewood and the list goes on. I'm also very competitive and would never give up in a challenge."
Her CBS cast bio says Wentworth graduated from Ephrata High School in 2004 and received a bachelor of arts in business from Bellevue Community College in 2006. One of her biggest accomplishments was “moving out of a small town with very little opportunity of 'making it' on [her] own."
"I've never asked for money or help and moved my way up to the position I'm in now. I'll never stop trying!” she once said.
2. She’s a program director.
The 31-year-old is the program director at Highway 9 Marketing & Events in Seattle, according to her LinkedIn profile. Before that, she worked as a senior account manager at the company for one year. She previously worked as a field marketing manager at KeVita, an area marketing manager at CytoSport Inc., a MBN supervisor at Legacy Marketing Partners, and a team and event manager at Switch.
3. She likes to stay active.
She says she enjoys hobbies such as "soccer, jigsaw puzzles and kicking everyone's butt at Scrabble (or any other board game for that matter).” She also doesn’t like “lazy people, overconfidence, not sticking to your word, bad drivers and angry people (get over it already!)" according to Survivor Fandom.
4. She's doing Survivor again.
Wentworth is ready to win this time around. During Survivor: San Juan del Sur, the 29th season, Kelley was one of the quieter castaways. While she had made a good name for herself in the Hunahpu tribe, the tribe switch sent her to the Coyopa tribe to be with her father. It sounds nice, but it was the rival tribe, and she became a target once again after his tension with another tribe member.
Because other tribe members thought she was a bigger threat to them than her father Dale, she was voted out. She was the next one voted out, right ahead of the merge.
But, America loved her, and she was voted to return in Cambodia by the public. She used the opportunity to take a more aggressive approach. She used a Hidden Immunity Idol to blindside Andrew Savage and managed to survive the first two votes, even though her tribe lost the challenges. She also shocked everyone when she played her hidden immunity idol and was able to negate nine votes against her. She survived a few more votes, even though she was a strategic threat. She then found another Hidden Immunity Idol to save herself once again.
She then won the immunity challenge at the final five votes, but unfortunately, the three remaining players had a strong alliance, and she was voted out at the final four.
5. She’s married.
Kelley married Arlen Pritchard in June 2017, but they haven’t started a family which allowed her the opportunity to participate in Survivor yet again.
“Still no kids. I’m married now, but it’s just like…you never know, in the next few years what might be in my life, and this just seemed like the perfect time," she said.
6. Her grandparents are an inspiration.
She says her father’s parents are an inspiration to her.
“They are two of the toughest, hardest working people I've ever been around. My grandpa was in World War II and my grandma was a nurse. They moved to Washington to start a farm from scratch," she said. "They are still alive and are more active than most 80-year-olds should be!”
7. She loved being on Survivor with her dad.
When she played with her father in the first season, she was happy to have that time together.
“We've had many ups and downs over the past few years and I would love for this unique opportunity to improve our father/daughter bond. He is truly the only person I would want to do this with!" she said.
Maria Lianos-Carbone is author of "Oh Baby! A Mom's Self-Care Survival Guide for the First Year" and publisher of amotherworld.com.
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