Where Is ‘Survivor’s Amanda Kimmel Now? Inside Her Life 15 Years After She Last Played

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It’s been 15 years since we last saw Amanda Kimmel on Survivor. In just three years, the former pageant queen played the game three times, but since then, she’s been one of the most elusive former players.

Kimmel’s first appearance was on Survivor: China in 2007. She came in third place against Todd Herzog, the winner, and Courtney Yates, the runner-up, in a 4-2-1 final vote. The Montana native returned for the following season, Survivor: Micronesia, and made it all the way to the final tribal council once again. That time, she was part of the final two with Parvati Shallow, but once again fell short, losing 5-3.

In 2010, Kimmel returned for Season 20, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, and admittedly didn’t like how much the game had changed in the few years since she’d last played. This time, she finished in ninth place.

But what has Kimmel been up to since then? TV Insider did a deep dive into where she is now.

Where is Amanda Kimmel now?

Kimmel has retreated from the public eye in recent years. In 2015, she got engaged to her now-husband Matt Cooper, per an engagement announcement in the Daily Interlake. They tied the knot that August in Bozeman, Montana.

The couple reportedly has two children and lives in Montana. Kimmel does not have any public social media accounts and there is no activity on her LinkedIn profile.

In October 2024, the Drop Your Buffs podcast posted one of Kimmel’s modeling photos with the caption, “BREAKING: Amanda Kimmel Resurfaces.” However, it’s unclear when the photo was taken, and there’s been speculation that it’s an old photo.

Kimmel has a few acting credits from her time after Survivor. She made appearances on Cinema Salvation, Parenthood, Bamboo Shark, and All Together Now. She also appeared in the 2013 reality series Living the Dream alongside MTV’s Trishelle Cannatella. The ladies were documented traveling the world while trying to become professional poker players.

Are Amanda Kimmel and Parvati Shallow still friends?

One of the biggest questions fans have about Kimmel is whether she’s still friends with her Season 16 costar Shallow. The women were aligned on the show and made it all the way to the final 2 together. Shallow was named the winner, with Kimmel being crowned runner-up.

Both ladies were on Season 20, as well, but on opposing tribes. Around that time, fans began speculating that they’d had a falling out, which Shallow essentially confirmed in a 2010 interview with The Los Angeles Times.

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“Amanda and I have serious trust issues,” she admitted. “We have a real problem actually believing what everyone is saying, so we don’t have a solid foundation for a friendship. We haven’t really had a friendship since the game — after I won, she really had hard feelings because we played that game together from the first day to the last day.”

While appearing on The Social Game podcast in 2025, Shallow didn’t seem to have a bad taste in her mouth about her former tribemate. Although she didn’t discuss the specifics of their relationship, she said, “She’s stunning. That’s how they make ’em in Montana. She was a beauty queen. She was, like, Miss Montana. But she’s been MIA for a while.”

She gave more insight into the relationship today in an interview with Zachary Reality in March 2025 where she admitted she’d “love” to see Kimmel return for Season 50 of Survivor. “If they could get Amanda Kimmel out there, then I will tune in,” she said. “I will be cheering for my girl, who I haven’t seen or heard from in years. Let’s get her back on our screens and see what she’s got.”

She continued, “I haven’t heard from her or seen her in ages. You know what I think happened? Two seasons in a row, she lost twice, back to back. That’s hard. And she was really young. I think for her it was too much and she had to get out. I wouldn’t even want Survivor to be around my world if I had been her. But I would love to see her on 50.”

Will Amanda Kimmel play Survivor again?

After being voted out on Heroes vs. Villains, Kimmel was adamant that she’d never return to the show.

“My Survivor career is over,” she told TV Guide. “I’m really proud that I went over 100 days. I never thought I would do anything like this in my whole life, but, I mean, I wouldn’t come back. It takes a long time to get over. It’s hard to explain it, but it’s mentally and physically really hard on your body and I don’t want to put myself through it again.”

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She reiterated this sentiment in an interview with People, adding, “I will never play Survivor again. Russell [Hantz] has changed the game in a way I’m not interested in either. The show isn’t pure on any level anymore. When I left, I said, ‘Good riddance.’ I was glad to be done with him. I have other things going on in my life.”

Two years later, she had a different stance. “I still want to go back,” she insisted on a 2012 episode of Rob Has a Podcast. “I still want to win. I’ve gotten off the show before and I’m like, ‘I’m never doing that again. I’m over it. Get away from me Survivor. I’m done.’ And then a little time goes by and that yearning of winning this freaking show is driving me crazy. I would love to go back and do it again. You learn something every time and I just want to win. I just want to win the show.”

In 2022, a Reddit user also claimed that Kimmel did a rare magazine interview and discussed her desire to return. The interview does not appear to be available online, but the commenter grabbed a screenshot of the alleged Q&A. “I think it’s still funny when people recognize me in Montana. But I really want to go back one more time,” Kimmel reportedly said. “The competitive part of me wants to do it again. I definitely did some things wrong each time I played and, I don’t know, I wish I could go back and redo it.”

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