Survivor 50 is set to premiere this February, and fans can’t wait. Returnee seasons are always special, and this one is extra special as it celebrates the show’s 25th anniversary. The cast brings together 12 players from old-school Survivor and 12 players from the New Era. But no matter how hard they tried, the show couldn’t bring back all the fan favorites. Host and producer Jeff Probst shares that the cast snubs were heartbreaking but necessary.
Jeff Probst talks the “heartbreaking” casting decisions for Survivor 50
Fans had so many ideas of who they wanted to see in the super special Survivor 50 cast. Rumors floated around until the official cast list was revealed last May. Some fans and former cast members were disappointed by the cast snubs, but Jeff said it was all part of the process.
Jeff spoke with PEOPLE while filming the landmark season and discussed how they came up with their lucky list of participants. He shared that they started with 200 past cast members before narrowing it down to 24.
“We did it one player at a time,” Jeff shared. “I was just looking through my season 50 notebook at the first stack of players. It’s crazy how many people we start with, and we have a case for all of them.”
He went on to explain that they immediately cut the initial list of 200 in half. The team held tough discussions. “You start putting people in the other pile, going, ‘Oh my God, this is heartbreaking.’ Because I care.”
Jeff stays highly involved in the casting process for Survivor. Former players even mentioned that they always strive to ensure that they impress Jeff and deliver good TV. Survivor’s Cirie Fields said she always wants to make Jeff proud. And it looks like it paid off as she made the cut for Survivor 50.
While Jeff feels heartbroken for some casting snubs, overall he feels “really good” about the final cast they have and its representation of Survivor’s 25 years on television.
“Our job is to always big picture it,” Jeff said. ‘I’m really happy with this group, but if there was anything I could change, it would be just softening the blow for the people who didn’t get on.” He really does care about all the participants of the popular reality competition series.
Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK THERE ARE NOTABLE CAST SNUBS FOR SURVIVOR 50? DID YOU FAVORITES MAKE IT?
