Jeff Probst just made a bonkers ‘Survivor 50’ announcement that runs the risk of ending the entire franchise

The Survivor season 46 finale aired on May 22, 2024, but just a month later, the reality show’s host and executive producer, Jeff Probst, is already planning for season 50(!). He made a big announcement while at the FYC event on April 27 held in Los Angeles.

Just days before the FYC event, Entertainment Weekly asked Probst about what’s in store for the milestone half-centenary, and he answered that they haven’t come up with any ideas, as they are currently focusing on seasons 47 and 48, which will be filming in Fiji back-to-back this year. Despite no details yet, the longtime Survivor host agreed that season 50 has to be special.

At the FYC event, however, it seemed that Probst and other decision-makers had agreed on one thing regarding season 50. While talking to the audience, he asked whether they shouldn’t make a big deal out of season 50 and have all new players, just like what’s been happening since season 41. The crowd answered with a resounding “no,” which prompted Probst to ask, “Or should it be returning players?” The question was met with applause, and the host said they should let “the game be in the hands of the fans.”

Probst, who also seemed shocked at his declaration, said, “I feel like we should just commit and make this the moment where we decide that Survivor 50 will be returning players.” He turned to his fellow executive producer, Matt Van Wagenen, who nodded in response. Afterward, he took to his Instagram to share the announcement.

What’s in store for future seasons?

The first season of Survivor aired in 2000, and since then, there have only been five seasons wherein all of those featured were returning players: Survivor: All-Stars (2004), Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (2010), Survivor: Cambodia (2015), Survivor: Game Changers (2017), and Survivors: Winners at War (2020).

Survivor heightened the intensity in 2020 for season 40, which was also the 20th anniversary of the show, and invited 20 of Survivor’s previous winners. Furthermore, that was the only season with the biggest prize money of $2 million. twice the usual prize. Tony Vlachos emerged as the sole survivor. He, along with Sandra Diaz-Twine, are the only two players who have won the game twice.

Season 50 will most likely air in the spring of 2026, and despite still being a couple of years away, Probst says he feels the pressure. It’s a good type of pressure, though, he told Variety. “This is the greatest job I will ever have. I do not want to be the one to drop the glass ball. I care so much. We’re not going to get stuck out of fear.”

There have been many changes on Survivor in the last several seasons, one of which was the number of days they played. Instead of the usual 39 days, the castaways now have only 26 days to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other. The change was mainly due to the pandemic, and initially, it was thought that the significant change would “kill the franchise.” However, it seemed to work. 

Another big adjustment was the players’ food rations. Before the change, tribes had to ration a bag of rice. Now, however, rice has been eliminated, and players must use the island’s resources and skills to get their nutrition. They’re calling the new format “dangerous fun,” wherein players are pushed to their limits without harming them in the process. Probst said:

“It is a weird world to live in where you’re designing a game to break people, to see what’s in their tank, but you don’t want to injure them. You just want to push them further than they will probably ever be in their life.”

Probst is all about pushing boundaries, but will changes go too far? He admitted that not all of his ideas have been spectacular, and there are some cases where he went too far. Only time will tell what season 50 has in store, but we can assume that it’ll be bigger and better. As Probst said, “If this show goes down, it will go down in a blaze of fire. It’s not going to go down because it’s boring.”