History TearJerker / Survivor

* When Angela reunites with her daughter in ''Ghost Island'' for the family visit, even Jeff gets choked up a bit, at the idea that Angela had to sacrifice her family for her career, and it was previously stated she got divorced because her marriage couldn't handle it. It hits very close to home for him: Probst's personal background includes a divorce triggered like hers with Shelley Wright for similar reasons, as it took place a year after he began his dream job as host of ''Survivor''. He also dated a contestant and broke up with her, Julie Berry. His current spouse, Lisa Ann Russell, didn't become his wife until 2011, so Jeff had to deal with these unresolved problems for ''ten years''.

* Many people felt really bad for Michael Skupin when he had injuries which resulted in the show's first evacuation in only the second season, ''Australian Outback'', and had proven himself to be a very adept player. They continued to feel bad when he got a second chance and came just short of winning in the ''Philippines'' season. But all that sympathy capcized when he was busted with [[http://www.intouchweekly.com/posts/survivor-alum-mike-skupin-arrested-for-possession-of-child-pornography-report-89999 child pornography.]] That fall from grace, unlike his fall into the fire, is one he will likely ''not'' recover from any time soon, if ever.

* Many people felt really bad for Michael Skupin when he had injuries which resulted in the show's first evacuation in only the second season, ''Australian Outback'', and had proven himself to be a very adept player. They continued to feel bad when he got a second chance and came just short of winning in the ''Philippines'' season. But all that sympathy capcized when he was busted with child pornography.
* After ''China'' winner Todd Herzog won the show, he started to have an drinking problem. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPIwPrvwoQs He made an appearance on Dr. Phil]] where he could barely walk and was clearly miserable. It's hard not to feel bad for the guy.

** From the final tribal council- we learn Joe [[CommittmentIssues doesn't want to get married.]] There is something incredibly depressing about learning from Chrissy that Joe said [[FreudianExcuse he doesn't think marriage works because his parents got divorced when he was little.]] And Joe is playing for family nonetheless.

** Unfortunately, circumstances force Ben to undergo a FaceHeelTurn later in the season, and the buildup to it is genuinely tragic. His conflicting loyalties force him to betray one of his closest allies, Chrissy, for the sake of his long-term game, and his role as a DoubleAgent effectively destroys his friendship. Then he lears that his new allies, including his friend Lauren, are planning to thank him by double-crossing him. Ben responds by revealing all of Lauren's advantages to Chrissy, Ryan, and Mike to blindside her, escalating the situation into a dramatic showdown at tribal in which it becomes clear that Ben and Lauren are no longer interested in being civil with each other. Ultimately, Ben uses his idol to single-handedly eliminate Lauren. This is tragic because Ben states in several confessionals that he was trying to escape the darkness of his past and leave behind some of the horrible things he says he did, but the game of Survivor forced him to backslide into it.

* ''Heroes Vs. Healers Vs. Hustlers'' sees a painful moment in "Knights of the Round Table" when, for the first time in the game's history, someone is foolish enough to uncover a Hidden Immunity Idol in front of everyone... Cole. And then we see just how ''horrible'' things can get if a desperate search for an idol comes up positive... where the game suddenly turns very personal and barbaric as several other guys on the tribe suddenly pounce him and get into a wrestling match, some trying to break it up, and poor little Ryan looks at them transfixed in terror, wanting to do something but knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to get involved. Just throw the damn idol into the fire if it's going to cause that much chaos. It's not worth getting beaten up over, and none of the jerks who fought Cole over it deserved to keep it. ''Survivor'' can get pretty heated, but this is a step too far.

* ''Heroes Vs. Healers Vs. Hustlers'' sees a painful moment in "Knights of the Round Table" when, for the first time in the game's history, someone is foolish enough to uncover a Hidden Immunity Idol in front of everyone... Cole. And then we see just how ''horrible'' things can get if a desperate search for an idol comes up positive... where the game suddenly turns very personal and barbaric as several other guys on the tribe suddenly pounce him and get into a wrestling match, some trying to break it up, and poor little Ryan looks at them transfixed in terror, wanting to do something but knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to get involved. Just throw the damn idol into the fire if it's going to cause that much chaos. It's not worth getting beaten up over, and none of the jerks who fought him over it deserved to keep it.

* ''Heroes Vs. Healers Vs. Hustlers'' sees a painful moment in "Knights of the Round Table" when, for the first time in the game's history, someone is foolish enough to go idol hunting in front of everyone... Cole. And then we see just how ''horrible'' things can get if a desperate search for an idol comes up positive... where the game suddenly turns very personal and barbaric as several other guys on the tribe suddenly pounce him and get into a wrestling match, some trying to break it up, and poor little Ryan looks at them transfixed in terror, wanting to do something but knowing that he wouldn't stand a chance if he tried to get involved. Just throw the damn idol into the fire if it's going to cause that much chaos. It's not worth getting beaten up over, and none of the jerks who fought him over it deserved to keep it.

** The end of the Episode 4 reward challenge in ''Kaoh Rong'', where '''THREE''' people went down after the challenge and the entire production crew getting involved to care for the fallen contestants. It is then deemed that Caleb had to be pulled from the game in a very heart wrenching scene. His tribe members, especially Tai, who really bonded with him, were absolutely distraught. For those who disliked him in [[Series/BigBrother Big Brother]], you can't help but to feel sorry for him, especially since he [[TookALevelInKindness Took A Level in Kindness]] since his time on ''Big Brother''.

* The entirety of the ''Game Changers'' episode 7 Tribal Council. Varner had no one in his corner and saw an opportunity to make everyone flip their trust on Zeke by painting him as untrustworthy, but took it a step too far by indicating he was secretive of a fact that he didn't want to be shared- he was once a female. After Varner outed Zeke as transgender in an effort to save himself, the entirety of the tribe turned against him, as what he did was a personal attack that went way beyond the game. What makes it even worse is when Jeff hammers in the fact he was not just telling the tribe this- he just made this public knowledge to ''millions'' of people watching the show, [[DidNotThinkThisThrough as if he got so caught up in the game play within the tribe he forgot it was being filmed for an at-home audience]]. In fact, there was absolutely no mention of this information in Zeke's previous appearance on the show- his sexual orientation was the only thing viewers knew, but the vast majority would not have realized this was just the tip of the iceberg without intimately knowing Zeke or doing some morally questionable digging into his personal history. In short, he ignored Zeke's confidentiality, did so in front of Tai, who himself is homosexual, made Sarah break down crying, and set a tremendously bad example of what one must ''never'' do on a competition- inflict irreparable damage to someone's personal life beyond the game so bad that it will never be the same when they go back to it- that will go down in infamy. Jeff even warned him of the ripple effect it would have on the LGBT community as well. Varner basically resigns from the game and the vote is completely skipped because everyone else on the tribe is unquestionably united in ousting him from the competition. When he says his parting words in the post-elimination confessional, Varner is in tears with his hands over his face in shame, knowing he's going to bear a mark of disgrace for the rest of his life.

* Jessica's exit from the game in ''Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen-X'', is heartbreaking. She really didn't want to draw rocks but she went to do so believing that it is her only shot at winning the game. As she ended up pulling the black rock, she was crying on her way out of tribal council, and in her final words she broke down again mentioning that if she flipped she wouldn't be sitting there. Not only that, but many of the cast members were crying at her sudden elimination- even Jay, who had a history of being brutal and hardcore and had no allies.

* Debbie casting her vote for Brad to win the game and prefacing it with "It's good to know in this jaded, crazy world that good guys finish first." Sarah, the person who rubbed her the wrong way, ended up winning anyway, because Brad decided to browbeat Tai into submission.

*** It gets [[FromBadToWorse even worse]] when you find out that Varner was fired from his real estate job due to the negative backlash, because some fans of Survivor had contacted his work and demanded they fire him. Not only did he damage Zeke's life, but his own as well. Many fans are worried that he'll relapse in depression and become suicidal again and are trying to get his work to rehire him. [[CryForTheDevil You can't help but pity a man who's life is in shambles after an ill thought-out mistake that he clearly regrets.]] Fortunately for him, he [[http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/gotriad_extra/greensboro-s-jeff-varner-survives-survivor-with-new-job-outlook/article_80c11fa3-82a5-5322-937f-eefecc10ffdb.html got a new job]].

*** It gets [[FromBadToWorse even worse]] when you find out that Varner was fired from his real estate job due to the negative backlash, because some fans of Survivor had contacted his work and demanded they fire him. Not only did he damage Zeke's life, but his own as well. Many fans are worried that he'll relapse in depression and become suicidal again and are trying to get his work to rehire him. [[CryForTheDevil You can't help but pity a man who's life is in shambles after an ill thought-out mistake that he clearly regrets.]]

* The entirety of the ''Game Changers'' episode 7 Tribal Council. Varner had no one in his corner and saw an opportunity to make everyone flip their trust on Zeke by painting him as untrustworthy, but took it a step too far by indicating he was secretive of a fact that he didn't want to be shared- he was once a female. After Varner outed Zeke as transgender in an effort to save himself, the entirety of the tribe turned against him, as what he did was a personal attack that went way beyond the game. What makes it even worse is when Jeff hammers in the fact his just made this public knowledge to ''millions'' of people watching the show and there was absolutely no mention of this in Zeke's previous appearance on the show- his sexual orientation was the only thing viewers knew, but the vast majority would not have realized this was just the tip of the iceberg without intimately knowing Zeke or doing some morally questionable digging. Varner basically resigns from the game and the vote is completely skipped because everyone else on the tribe is unquestionably united in ousting him from the competition. When he says his parting words in the post-elimination confessional, Varner is in tears with his hands over his face in shame.