When the trailer for Survivor 50 dropped, fans were immediately confused by what they saw. The season was supposed to be “In the Hands of the Fans.” With that in mind, folks were confused to see the inclusion of random celebrities. Of course, Jeff Probst has an explanation.
Jeff is understandably defending the likes of MrBeast and Jimmy Fallon appearing on Survivor 50
The decision to include celebrities in Survivor 50 received feedback from fans and former players alike. Why waste an iconic season by throwing in random twists, like whatever a Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol is? In a new interview with Variety, Jeff explained the decision.
“Once we committed to turning the game design over to the fans, the next question became: ‘How far can we go with this idea!?’” Jeff said. “We knew some of Survivor‘s biggest fans happen to be celebrities, so we thought sprinkling a few of them in with their own unique twists felt like a fun way to make the game even more unpredictable!”
You’ve got to appreciate Jeff’s ability to stand ten toes down in every decision they make on Survivor. This man refuses to fold, and he went on to explain how the twist “caught the players off guard.” However, he said it “added another layer” to the game that felt important for the landmark season.
“I think it’s a legitimate concern when you start adding layers like celebrities, that they can overshadow the game and take it off course,” Jeff added. “Our job was to make sure that we stayed true to what we’re doing on Survivor, which is exploring this continuous social experiment. And now we’re adding another layer.”
According to Jeff, some of these celebrities we’ll see on Survivor 50 actually pitched themselves. It should come as no surprise that Jimmy Fallon was one of them.
“With Jimmy Fallon, it was on his show. Jimmy texts me ideas all the time about Survivor, and we put some of them in the show, and we’ve always talked about this idea,” Jeff recalled.
He added, “I think people will see, when they see these play out, I think they’ll understand these are legit Survivor fans who wanted to be a part of 50.”
Survivor 50 premieres on CBS on Wednesday, February 25 at 8/7c.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE CELEBRITY CAMEOS ON SURVIVOR 50? DO YOU THINK IT’S THE RIGHT CALL, OR TOO BIG OF A TWIST?
