Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick has been outlasting people on Survivor since 2005, longer than most of the franchise’s current fans have been watching the show. She’s a two-time near-winner, a Division I athlete turned MLB wife, and one of two Traitors Season 1 castmates who went straight from that game back onto Survivor, alongside her longtime castmate Cirie Fields. In 2026, she competed on the milestone Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, more than two decades after her first tribal council, and left saying that trusting Fields too much had been her biggest strategic mistake yet.
Before any of it, she was a lacrosse player good enough to start for four straight years at the Division I level.
A Division I Lacrosse Career
LaGrossa Kendrick began her college career at Temple University before transferring to Monmouth University, where she played Division I lacrosse and started for all four years. She was a three-time North East Conference All-Conference selection, an NEC Scholar-Athlete Award recipient, and a nominee for the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year, an athletic résumé that predated her reality-TV career by several years.
Palau, Guatemala, and Heroes vs. Villains
LaGrossa Kendrick’s Survivor career began on Survivor: Palau in 2005, where her tribe, Ulong, lost every single immunity challenge they competed in that season, an almost unheard-of run of bad luck. She still managed to finish 7th individually despite her tribe’s collapse. She returned for Survivor: Guatemala and finished as runner-up, then came back again for Heroes vs. Villains, cementing a reputation as one of the show’s toughest and most consistently competitive castaways across multiple eras of the format.
| Season | Year | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Survivor: Palau | 2005 | 7th place (tribe lost every immunity challenge) |
| Survivor: Guatemala | 2006 | Runner-up |
| Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains | 2010 | Competed as a returning veteran |
| The Traitors Season 1 | 2023 | Murdered Episode 9 |
| Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans | 2026 | 10th place, unanimous vote-out |
Marrying a World Series Champion
LaGrossa Kendrick married Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick on November 13, 2010. Kyle was part of the Phillies’ 2008 World Series championship team and played for the club through 2014 before a one-year run with the Colorado Rockies, a season in the minors, and a brief stint with the Boston Red Sox that ended his career in 2017. The couple has three children together: Sophia Marguerite, born in 2011, Kyle Jr., born in 2013, and Sloane Danielle, born in 2018. For several years, Stephenie also owned and ran a restaurant called Gigi’s, eventually selling it because keeping it running while the family relocated for Kyle’s career had become too much.
Reading Traitors Correctly, Then Getting Caught
On The Traitors, LaGrossa Kendrick allied closely with fellow reality veteran Rachel Reilly, and the two were instrumental in helping identify Cody Calafiore as a Traitor early in the season. Her own game ended in Episode 9, when she was murdered by the remaining Traitors, finishing just outside the show’s final group after one of the stronger reads of the season.
Survivor 50: A Costly Trust in Cirie Fields
With Kyle retired from baseball and settled into life as a stay-at-home dad, LaGrossa Kendrick found her way back to competition television. She turned down offers to appear on The Amazing Race and Dancing with the Stars before agreeing to join Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans in 2026, competing alongside Cirie Fields in the franchise’s 50th-season milestone edition. Her run ended in a chaotic Tribal Council fueled by a surprise Rick Devens revelation and a high-stakes “Beware Advantage,” and she was voted out unanimously in 10th place. In exit interviews, she said her biggest mistake was over-trusting Fields, and that she prioritized loyalty to her closest ally, Jonathan, over the strategic move that might have kept her in the game longer. She also revealed she had nearly flipped a coin, a nod to a season twist tied to MrBeast, rather than make the call herself.
Life Now
Two decades after Ulong’s historic losing streak, LaGrossa Kendrick is still finding new ways to put herself back on a beach in front of cameras, and still doing it in her fifties against castmates half her age. Her Traitors Season 1 run and her Survivor 50 appearance bookend a competition-TV career that has now spanned five different Survivor-format seasons and one very different castle in Scotland.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times has Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick played Survivor?
She has competed on four traditional Survivor seasons (Palau, Guatemala, Heroes vs. Villains, and Survivor 50), plus one season of The Traitors.
Who is Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick married to?
She married former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick on November 13, 2010. He was part of the Phillies’ 2008 World Series championship team. They have three children.
How did Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick do on Survivor 50?
She was voted out unanimously in 10th place in 2026, saying afterward that over-trusting fellow castmate Cirie Fields was her biggest strategic mistake.
