Season 50 of “Survivor” may be four seasons away, but the planning is officially underway.
During a “Survivor” FYC event on Saturday night at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, host and showrunner Jeff Probst announced that the landmark season will feature all returning players.
“’Survivor 50′ is coming down the corner. The truth is, we really do focus on 47 and 48, that’s what we’re heading out to shoot next. Then we have to shoot 49. But we know 50 is coming, so I am curious, is there a feeling? Should 50 be another season with new players and don’t make it a big deal?”
After most of the audience members yelled out, “no,” he asked, “Or should it be returning players?”
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The crowd then applauded, leading to Probst making quite the announcement. “In the spirit of, sometimes letting the game be in the hands of the fans, I feel like — and there a couple of people from CBS right now going ‘Oh, my God, what is happening?’ — I feel like we should just commit and make this the moment where we decide that ‘Survivor 50 ‘will be returning players.”
He also paused to ask executive producer Matt Van Wagenen, “Is this OK?” to which Van Wagenen, who has been a producer on the show since Season 14, nodded.
Probst continued, “I don’t know what is going to happen after this, but I’m pretty sure we’re committed.”
Following the announcement, he took to Instagram to make it official, saying in a video: “About 10 seconds ago, we just decided, thanks to all the fans that were in attendance at the FYC event here in Hollywood, that ‘Survivor 50’ will be returning players — and you all are part of it.”
The long-running reality competition series first started bringing past players back in Season 8, “Survivor: All-Stars.” Season 40 was the first time the show consisted of all former winners. Since the new era of the show kicked off with Season 41, there hasn’t been a returning player, except for Bruce Perreault, who returned after having to leave moments into his first time on the show due to an injury.
Season 46 of “Survivor” is currently airing on Wednesdays on CBS.