Before every Immunity Challenge or Reward Challenge on Survivor, the longtime host and showrunner of the beloved competition series, Jeff Probst, famously says, “Wanna know what you’re playing for?” prior to presenting the castaways with either the coveted individual immunity necklace or a sought-after prize, from a pizza, to a spread of pastries, to a hammock, to pillows and blankets, and beyond — the list is seemingly endless!
Contrary to popular belief, someday in the future, this iconic line might cease to exist.
On The Friendship Onion podcast, hosted by Lord of the Rings stars Billy Boyd and Dom Monaghan, Probst chatted about the future of the beloved competition series, including a twist that might be implemented in a forthcoming season of Survivor that nobody saw coming. Keep scrolling to see what said twist is for yourself…
Kicking off the conversation, Probst began by discussing the format of Survivor as a whole, explaining what has worked for the hit competition show for the past 20+ years.
“I think the format is philosophical. You take a group of people, strangers typically, unless you’re doing an All-Star season, and you force them to live together where they must rely on each other to survive while simultaneously voting each other out… In the end, a group of the people that you voted out will now decide who wins, who played the best game, and what’s the best game depends on the people deciding.”
A huge element of the game that Probst failed to mention is the Immunity Challenges and Reward Challenges. The winner of an Immunity Challenge is safe at the tribal council to follow, and the winner of a Reward Challenge typically receives more fuel (in the form of food) for an Immunity Challenge that is to come — it is a seemingly endless loop!
Also on the The Friendship Onion podcast, the longtime host and showrunner of Survivor teased that there might be a season someday where Immunity Challenges and Reward Challenges are abolished entirely.
“There are reward challenges. There are immunity challenges… Maybe you don’t have to have them, right? We don’t know. We may get to a season where we don’t do that, and people will go, ‘Oh my God, you’ve blown it again!’”
Given that Immunity Challenges and Reward Challenges are a massive part of Survivor as a whole (after all, a part of the show’s motto is “outplay”), how would a season work without them? I guess we will just have to wait and see…
Until then, Survivor superfans can stream all 45 seasons of the beloved competition series on Paramount Plus now.