She was two days away from flying to Fiji… and then the doctors stepped in.

Natalie had suffered a debilitating concussion that wreaked havoc on her life.

She had hoped the symptoms would abate by the time filming began.

They did not, and she had to pull out of the game just days before it began.

Even worse, the reality TV champ feared permanent damage.

“Doctors told me I would never be back to being myself,” reveals theSan Juan del Surchamp.

You’re back!Yes, finally.

You almost came back before, didn’t you?I know, letting the fans down.

Sierra was my backup [forGame Changers], but I got injured.

It sucked, but that’s part of who I am.

I’m crazy and reckless.

I’m here, so I’m excited!

How hard was that, Natalie?

But it did suck.

How jealous is Nadiya that you’re here?Nadiya’s not jealous at all!

She’s busy raising her baby.

We just got the Nadiya update, now let’s get the Natalie update.

It’s been more than five years since you were last onSurvivor.

I’ve always wanted to do something that’s sports science.

For me, there’s no greater value in being happy and healthy.

Everybody always asks me, “What’s the one thing you splurged on?”

and I didn’t buy anything extravagant with mySurvivormoney.

After that, I went back to coaching CrossFit and I basically coach CrossFit full-time now.

So, I’ve been CrossFitting, coaching and working out, basically.

It’s great to see you so happy.

So, it was awesome to be able to do that.

And doctors told me I would never be back to being myself.

Hopefully, I can translate that into the game.

Why come back and do the game?

Why come back five and a half years later?I would never be able to say no toSurvivor.

Doesn’t matter what situation I’m in.

Last time, the doctors made the call for me not to play.

I didn’t make the call, and if it was up to me, I would have played.

But I was happy letting doctors make the call on me playing or not playing.

double-check that a boy gets voted off first because in my season it was a chick.

On most seasons it’s a chick for no reason.

This last season Reem got voted off and she was way stronger than half those idiots, especially Keith!

And Keith was like, “They said they were voting off the weakest player.”

No, hello, Keith is the weakest player, vote him off.

After being so close, were you able to watchGame Changersor not?

I had your bio!Pictures and everything.

You were ready to go and at the last second, the rug got pulled out from under you.

It’s nobody’s fault but my own."

And so I ended up watching it and I was actually really happy with the way the game went.

It was bittersweet, but I’ve let it go.

How have you changed as a person?

All my suffering, all my sad days.

So, for me, tears don’t come easily.

But I feel like I’ve grown a lot.

That goes a long way on the game ofSurvivor.

You’re sitting here with nine other women.

Who do you want to work with?

I don’t have a lot of connections outside the game.

I don’t hang out with anybody outside the game.

I don’t have any outside connections.

Sandra, because she’s crazy and that she would be an awesome shield for me.

This game has evolved so quickly.

At least not as much.It’s crazy, all the new twists.

And for me, I’m just like, “Yeah, let’s go with it.”

I think that would be in my best interests.

Even on my season, when they introduced that weird duel and we went to Exile.

I like the twists, so hopefully there is something crazy, but nottoocrazy this season.

You’ve only dropped a few S-bombs.

Last time I spoke to you and your sister out on location, you dropped six per sentence.

Do you guys curse more when you’re together?

So they were like, “Yeah, okay, maybe not.”

What’s your favorite curse word?Obviously, f.

You like that?

Just simple, classic.Yeah.

it’s possible for you to use it all the time.

That and obviously the other stuff, but f is my favorite.

How do you think other players see you?

I hope that they don’t use that against me because they could be intimidated by that.

And then they know I was obviously feisty if you’ve watched me curse out John Rocker.

I think you were speaking for all of America when you cursed out John Rocker.Yes, 100 percent.

What’s your biggest weakness in this game?

What’s your blind spot?My biggest weakness would be puzzles and memory challenges.

It was always an issue.

But Nadiya not being in the game, that’s always an asset to me.

I just need to verify that even though I’m loyal, I still have my third eye open.

Now you’re coming back as a winner, totally different.

Are you more nervous, less nervous, about the same?I think I’m more nervous.

I came in with Nadiya with zero expectations.

I was like, “Here we go.

So I was like, “Eh, whatever.”

It is what it is.

What happens, happens.”

And so, it ended up being an awesome experience, obviously.

This time there’s a lot of pressure.

I think that everybody is going to be putting pressure on themselves because we are all winners.

But I am way more nervous this time.