Survivor nonetheless isn’t revealing the identities of the 2 Season 49 gamers who will likely be in Season 50 in 2026. However Jeff Probst has defined why they forged them, and the way it led to the 24-person forged, one of many largest teams within the present’s historical past.
The Survivor 49 forged was revealed on August 20. Two of the 18 contestants impressed the Survivor crew a lot, they made area for them in Season 50 versus bringing in returning gamers followers already knew.
“What we agreed to as a gaggle was, ‘If anyone makes a giant impression, we’re going to need them on 50. So let’s go into 49 with our personal state of flux,” Probst advised Parade. “And what occurred was two gamers impressed us.”
“We didn’t go in in search of two gamers,” he continues. “We didn’t go in saying, ‘If we do it, it needs to be an individual of this age or this gender.’ We didn’t have something. We simply mentioned, ‘Let’s simply keep open.’”
Opposite to some fan feedback on-line, the collection wasn’t attempting to prioritize new period gamers in its Season 50 forged record. Former contestants and followers alike expressed disappointment concerning the 50 forged when it had a considerable variety of gamers, practically half, from Seasons 41-49 alone, whereas Seasons 1-40 weren’t as equally represented.
“We had been by no means going to place anyone on simply to have 49 represented,” Probst advised Parade, insisting that manufacturing merely discovered the 2 from 49 so compelling that they needed to ask them again to play once more instantly (Season 49 filming wrapped simply weeks earlier than the beginning of Season 50 filming). Probst mentioned this allowed them to deliver again extra gamers from earlier seasons than initially deliberate; at first, they had been going with 18 Survivors.
“What it ended up doing was benefiting everyone, as a result of it expanded what number of gamers we placed on 50,” Probst mentioned. “We began out at 18 and instantly mentioned, ‘Properly, that can by no means work. After which we simply began doing variations on the mathematics primarily based on whether or not we had been going to have two tribes, three tribes, or 4 tribes. And you are able to do the mathematics and determine which numbers work, 20 or 21, no matter.”
“We landed on 24 partly as a result of we noticed these two gamers on 49 and mentioned, ‘We received to have them,’” Probst went on. “However what does that imply for our math? Does that imply we are able to invite extra individuals onto 50? So it was actually a win-win. But it surely was not assured.”
The Season 49 forged is shaping as much as be a singular bunch. There’s the 2 gamers coming again in 50, and there are two alternates who had been introduced into the sport 12 hours earlier than filming started. Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu went to Fiji as alternates, understanding that the probabilities of taking part in in 49 had been slim and within the hopes that they’d be forged for a later season. However they had been fated for 49. Two gamers, a person and a girl whose identities haven’t been shared, had been lower from the competitors for reported guidelines violations within the last hours of their pre-season sequester.
This was the quickest alternate turnaround in Survivor historical past. And when a present’s been round for 25 years and 50 seasons, firsts are arduous to come back by. However as Probst all the time says, the casts are what make Survivor so watchable.
Survivor, Season 49 Premiere, Wednesday, September 24, 8/7c, CBS