Casting for Survivor’s landmark 50th season is still underway, but host and showrunner Jeff Probst promises the cast will span all eras, reaching back all the way to Borneo.
Ahead of Survivor 48‘s premiere, Probst spoke to TVLine about plans for Survivor 50, set to film in June. The season will feature a cast of returning players for the first time since Survivor 40, Winners at War. However, selecting the 18 or 20 players to represent such a milestone season is proving to be a tough task.
“We started with roughly 200 people,” the Emmy-winning host explained. “We had all our producers say, write down everybody you would like to see play in 50. No restrictions. So, we had about 200, and these are all interesting names. You could make a different case for each of them.”
He continued, “Then we got it down to 100. That first cut was brutal. It’s kind of like an either/or. Then we got it down to 70, and now there’s blood everywhere. So I’m not going to lie and tell you we know who’s going to be on the show right now because we don’t. And it was extremely exciting and painfully difficult to do because there are going to be people disappointed all over the place.”
“But there’s going to be a lot of people very excited,” Probst added, “to be the representative of our 50th season.”
When asked how far he’s looking back when it comes to casting, Probst confirmed all eras of the show are under consideration. “All the way back, Season 1, player one,” he confirmed. However, he kept schtum when asked if previous winners were on the table.
Survivor’s first season aired in 2000, becoming a cultural phenomenon and launching its 16 castaways into overnight stars. Since then, six of the original Borneo cast have returned, including winner Richard Hatch and runner-up Kelly Wiglesworth, in addition to Sue Hawk, Rudy Boesch, Gervase Peterson, and Jenna Lewis.
Probst shared similar sentiments at a live Survivor 48 screening earlier this week, telling the audience, “We want to satisfy you. We want a cast that represents all types of players, spanning all the eras. An array of people who have slept, bled, battled this ever-changing game design for the last 25 years.”
Summing it up, he said, “Survivor 50 is a representation of everyone who has ever played and the fans that have been with us for the entire time.”
It was announced on Monday that fans will have a chance to vote on game elements for Survivor 50, starting tonight (February 26), after the Survivor 48 premiere.
Who would you like to see on Survivor 50? Who from the first season should come back?
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