After $1 million win, Boise man returned to ‘Survivor’ last night — then got ‘starstruck’

Boise native Ben Driebergen, who won $1 million on “Survivor” in 2017, returned to a new higher-stakes version of the series Wednesday.

But if Idaho fans want to see him win again, he’ll have to step up his game.

Driebergen, 36, managed to keep himself off Extinction Island in the season premiere of “Survivor: Winners at War” on CBS.

But the former Marine made a potential misstep when he shared sensitive information with series legend Boston Rob. The blunder was not missed by websites providing “Survivor” episode recaps.

TooFab gave Driebergen a D-minus for his performance. Ouch.

Entertainment Weekly noted that Driebergen did seem to recognize the error of his ways.

“I was starstruck and just told him everything,” Driebergen explained on the show. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

There’s still plenty of time and strategy for the Capital High School graduate. Driebergen, who lives in Boise with his wife and two children, has proven he should never be written off when it comes to this show.

A whopping $2 million is on the line on the 40th season of “Survivor,” which features 20 former winners spending 39 days in Fiji.

This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 1:05 PM.