Competing in either CBS’s Survivor or Big Brother and winning the whole thing is a heralded reality competition feat. But, to emerge victorious in a season they were voted out on? Only two contestants have scaled that mountain — Survivor: Edge of Extinction’s Chris Underwood, and Big Brother 25’s Jag Bains.

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Out of a collective 69 seasons (Survivor 45 is still playing out), Chris and Jag are the only hopefuls to have their dreams dashed only for them to be reignited, and then go on to represent their season as its champion.

Eliminated contestants receiving a second lease on life isn’t a new idea in the reality competition universe. Although it doesn’t occur in every iteration of Big Brother and Survivor, ousted players battling to resurrect their lives in the game is enough of a staple that viewers aren’t typically shocked when it happens.

In this piece, I’ll briefly break down both Chris and Jag’s respective games, and weigh in on who I believe played the best out of the two. Let’s dive in!

Chris conquered the ‘Edge of Extinction’ before winning it all

Chris competed in 2019’s season 38 as a 25-year-old sales manager from Greenville, South Carolina. The addition was coined “Edge of Extinction,” and it was because of the Edge that Chris left Fiji with a completely different story than he would’ve had without it.

The Edge was a desolate island with few resources, and every contestant who had their torch snuffed by host Jeff Probst (up until day 36) was given an opportunity to sail there instead of Ponderosa. They lived on The Edge of Extinction and awaited a shot at returning to the game proper. All in all, there were two battle-back competitions before The Edge closed up shop.

So, what happened to Chris?

Chris was part of the ill-fated Manu tribe. And by day 8, the blue squad had lost their third Immunity Challenge in a row. Two contestants had already bit the dust, and Chris was the next out. He attempted to mount a campaign to eliminate Kelley Wentworth, but when the returning Survivor player took wind of Chris’ plan, she turned the tables on him and he was sent packing five votes to two.

Unsurprisingly, Chris chose to take residence at The Edge. After a few more heartbroken hopefuls landed on its shore, the first battle-back game took place. However, it was Rick Devens who punched his ticket back to the game — not Chris. That was day 17, and Chris continued to live under The Edge’s difficult conditions for 18 more days.

Day 35 rolled around which brought the second and final Edge competition. The pool of voted-out contestants was even larger than Chris’ first go-around, but in the end, it didn’t matter. Chris reigned supreme and rejoined the game alongside the five other remaining castaways.

Armed with a Hidden Immunity Idol, Chris clocked back in. He re-established his relationship with Rick, and during the first Tribal Council, he convinced Lauren O’Connell to play her Hidden Immunity Idol on him — something he ultimately didn’t need but looked great on his resume.

Then, he used his Hidden Immunity Idol at the next Tribal Council, which nullified three votes and saved his game. Chris and Rick wrote down Lauren’s name, and the woman who gifted him her Idol a day before, and she was sent to Jury.

Chris went on to win the final Immunity Challenge of the season. But, instead of choosing one player to take with him to day 39 while the other two duked it out in a fire-making challenge to determine who’d round out the final three, Chris took a major chance. Knowing Rick was the frontrunner to win Edge of Extinction, Chris removed his Immunity necklace and challenged Rick to the loser-go-home competition.

It was a gutsy move, and it paid off in dividends — Chris bested Rick.

Because of his late-game run, which included a savvy Idol move and the extremely risky play to eliminate his biggest threat, the Jury of 13 awarded Chris the $1 million check with nine votes. It’s also important to note that Chris’ relationship with most of the Jury was likely stronger than Gavin Whitson and Julie Rosenberg’s because of the time he spent with them on the Edge.

If you want a more in-depth look into Chris’ triumph in season 38, you can check that out by tapping or clicking here.

Jag Bains became the first-ever Sikh Big Brother champion after being saved by the ‘Power of Invincibility’

Then, we have Jag.

The 25-year-old truck company owner from Omak, Washington, is the most recent player to move into the Big Brother house and exit $750,000 richer.

Season 25 aired from August to the start of November. And although Jag was evicted from the house, he never walked out the front door until the 100-day game wrapped on November 9.

Jag joined 16 other houseguests in Big Brother 25, and he was destined to be the fifth one to meet host Julie Chen Moonves outside the abode. But, a game-saving power was introduced, and Jag’s ally Matt Klotz secretly acquired it.

After his “Handful” alliance went up in flames, Jag sat beside his then-BFF Blue Kim thanks to Cameron Hardin’s Head of Household reign in week 4. On day 30, Jag’s was hit with all 10 votes and Julie announced he had been evicted from the house.

But, before he grabbed his belongings and left, a transmission from the “Big Brother Multiverse” came through that revealed Jag’s eviction had been nullified thanks to the ability of Matt’s “Power of Invincibility.”

Matt privately played it ahead of the eviction, and after he told Jag that it was he who gave him his second chance, the two formed the “Minutemen” alliance — the dominant duo of Big Brother 25. Alongside their “Mafia” ally Bowie Jane Ball, the three contestants ran the second half of the season with competition wins.

Beginning in week 10, Jag was immune from eviction during every round of play except for the second half of day 86’s double eviction. That was through winning a bevy of Head of Households and Power of Vetos, and by the time Jag became the final Head of Household of Big Brother 25, Jag set the record for most competition wins by a player in a single season of the franchise’s U.S. series.

By earning the coveted spot on day 100, Jag repaid Matt’s Power of Invincibility play by evicting Bowie Jane, and the Minutemen became the last two houseguests standing. Jag went on to blow Matt away with his Jury answers and speech, and as history has it, the 25-year-old became the first-ever Sikh winner of Big Brother by receiving five of seven Jury votes.

I also did a deeper dive into Jag’s game, and you can read that here.

So, who played a better game?

I enjoyed Chris’ game more because of the way he kicked down the door and utilized every minute he had as a player in the end game to bolster a less-than-impressive resume. Nevertheless, I believe Jag’s game was better overall.

First, Jag’s length of play was much longer than Chris’. Jag was under the public’s watch for 100 days, whereas Chris competed as a proper castaway for only 13. Surviving the Edge for almost 30 days is a feat in itself, and I’m not taking anything away from that. But, Jag wheeled and dealed inside a pressure cooker for months.

Also, Jag became the record holder for the most competition victories in a single Big Brother US season. Of course, two of his opponents in the final weeks of the game were Cirie Fields and Felicia Cannon, two of the seven oldest houseguests in Big Brother US history, as well as Bowie Jane, someone who narrowly missed the top-10 article.

Besides some strategic moves, like when Chris had Lauren fork over her Idol and Jag convinced Matt to be okay with Cirie leaving on day 93, the two winners’ games were propelled by competition wins and advantages.

On paper, neither man is regarded as a strategic or social powerhouse, hence why they were both eliminated early in their seasons. But, their resolve and competition prowess pushed them through.

But, undoubtedly the most impressive win between Jag and Chris was when the latter became a champion of CBS’ The Challenge USA season 2. And you can read all about that here.