Survivor is gearing up for a major milestone with its 50th season debuting Spring 2026 — and this time, the fans are in control to some degree.
For the first time ever, viewers were asked to vote on various game elements they wanted to see their favorite past players navigate. Do they want to bring back old-school Survivor with rice and supplies? What about immunity idols and advantages? And of course, what about the ever-controversial question of a fire-making challenge at final four?
“Part of it’s going to be defined and decided by the fan vote because we really did put the game in their hands,” Probst exclusively tells Men’s Journal. “CBS told us: if you make it a vote, you must follow the fans. That was simultaneously the most exciting and terrifying thing we’ve done in a long time.”
The Emmy-nominated host admits he had hoped the game would keep evolving forward, but also recognizes that fans might want to get back to basics. “I wanted the game to go into the future, but there might be fans that want it to go backwards,” he says. “Either way, it’ll dictate 51. First, we’ll play 50 and see the fan reaction to it, and then we’ll sort of decide where do we go from here.”
That makes the upcoming 50th season a defining turning point for the franchise. Probst, who also serves as Executive Producer, says the casting process reflected that as well. In fact, when production began on Season 49, the Season 50 cast wasn’t even complete. “We were not fully cast for 50 when we started shooting 49, and everybody involved in 50 knew that,” he explains. “It was day by day — evolving, assessing, looking at the group. It’s a monumental task, and everybody’s got opinions on how we should do it.”
Two unnamed players from Season 49 – who will be revealed at a later date – ultimately earned their way into the historic 50th season. “We didn’t go in thinking it had to be a man and a woman, or any specific type. They just emerged,” Probst tells MJ. “That impacted 50 in a different way and changed how we balanced the rest of the cast. It was a fun puzzle to keep putting together.”
Now, the bigger puzzle is what happens after Season 50 because Probst says the fan vote will influence whether the show leans more nostalgic or pushes forward à la the “new era.” “They’re going to decide what kind of era do you want to play in,” he says. “Do you want to go back old school and give them supplies and rice? Do you want to get rid of lots of advantages and twists? Or do you want to go bursting into the future and say they don’t get anything and bring all the game you got, folks?”
Whatever the outcome, Probst seems ready to embrace it: “It was going to be really fun to go whichever way they wanted. We’re always trying to evolve. It’s a fun puzzle every single time.”
Survivor season 49 premieres on CBS Wednesday, September 24 at 8/7c.
