Is Cirie Fields the greatest reality TV competitor of all time? Those who have followed her onscreen career, which spans more than 17 years and several different television franchises, would say yes.
Fields, 53, described herself as a “couch potato” during her first season on Survivor in 2006. Despite her lack of physical prowess, she soon proved that her strength lay in her social strategy and powers of persuasion. Fields went on to play Survivor three more times before winning the first U.S. season of The Traitors in 2023.
After proving herself capable of victory, Fields decided to try her hand at another reality show. She is currently vying for a $750,000 grand prize as a houseguest on Big Brother 25 and has already outlasted her son Jared Fields, who was eliminated from the game in September.
Cirie’s impressive track record has earned the title of “The Mastermind” in Us Weekly’s reality TV issue — and Survivor host Jeff Probst explains what sets her apart from the pack in the world of competition shows.
“[Cirie’s] so good with people that even if she can’t climb the tallest mountains, somebody will help her get up there,” Probst, 61, exclusively told Us last month. “And that same person is the person that knows she’s going to get rid of [them] tonight in the game, but [they] like her so much, [they’re] still going to help her. That’s a pretty good social skill.”
Probst added that Cirie’s’ underdog origin story makes her success all the more satisfying.
“If you look at [Cirie] and you didn’t know her, and I said, ‘Would you believe this may be the greatest person to ever play this game called Survivor? Where you live in a jungle and you do all these challenges?’ You’d say, ‘No way,’” he began. “[Cirie] said, ‘I’m going to get up off the couch and give this show a try.’ She wasn’t sure if she’d be good at it. It turns out she may be the best of all time.”
Cirie is widely considered the best Survivor player to never win the game, but she did add a victory to her resume earlier this year on The Traitors. During her time on the Peacock series, Cirie was selected as one of three Traitors along with Big Brother 22: All-Stars champion Cody Calafiore and reality TV rookie Christian de la Torre. (After Cody, 32, was banished, Cirie and de la Torre, 28, recruited an additional traitor: Bachelor Nation’s Arie Luyendyk Jr.)
As a Traitor, Cirie managed to make numerous allies who trusted her completely. She turned on both Calafiore and de la Torre at the perfect time, further convincing the Faithfuls group of her trustworthiness. When she made it to the final four with Luyendyk Jr., 42, and Faithfuls Andie Vanacore and Quentin Jiles, everyone except Cirie voted to end the game, with the remaining Faithfuls feeling confident that there were no more Traitors in their midst.
Cirie then executed her final play and accused Luyendyk Jr. of being a Traitor. He owned up to his treachery, making Cirie the last Traitor standing — and the sole winner of the $250,000 prize.
“My name never even came up [as a potential Traitor],” Fields exclusively told Us in January, adding that aligning with people like Vanacore, 32, worked in her favor. “Everybody trusted Andie. To have such a close alliance, they had to kind of trust me by default.”
When Cirie was announced as the surprise 17th houseguest on Big Brother 25 in August, many of her fans worried that her success on Survivor and The Traitors would make her an easy target in the game. However, she managed to avoid getting nominated for eviction until week 10. When she did find herself on the block, she received zero votes, and Cameron Hardin was unanimously evicted.
Cirie played an instrumental role in the first several evictions of the season, but after her two closest allies in the game — Jared, 25, and Izzy Gleicher — were eliminated, she took a step back and began to play more under the radar, which has worked to her advantage thus far.
During the Sunday, October 15, episode of Big Brother, Jag Bains was crowned the secret Head of Household, giving him the opportunity to nominate houseguests for eviction without anyone tracing it back to him. Jag, 25, and Cirie were once on opposite sides of the house, but this week, Jag and his ally Matt Klotz included Cirie in much of their game talk.
As for conversations about who Jag will target this week, it’s like Cirie herself once told Us: “My name never even came up.”
For more on Cirie Fields and the other Reality Stars of the Year, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
