FILMING / LOCATION
While the priority is to still film in Fiji if possible, an Inside Survivor source told us a couple of weeks ago that the show is looking into the Caribbean as a potential back-up location.
Initially, I wasn’t sure how much stock to put into that rumor, but I was later able to verify with other sources that Survivor has indeed “looked into/considered” the Caribbean as an option, specifically, the Dominican Republic. As far as I know, though, nothing is set in stone, and this remains very much in the “potential option” stage based on the status of Fiji.
The Dominican Republic was recently used as the location for Survivor Mexico, which was filmed throughout July and August. The country has also been used as the location for various other international Survivor seasons in the past.
Even though there is a Level 3 Travel Advisory recommending U.S. citizens to reconsider travel to the Dominican Republic, the country is open to international visitors with no negative COVID-19 test required to enter. Meanwhile, there remains a ban on international visitors in Fiji, with possible exceptions for those arriving by sea.
There is still no set-date for filming, but the proposed plan seems to be Spring 2021, with the hope that Fiji will relax restrictions early next year.
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CASTING
Casting (or, more specifically, recasting) is still taking place for seasons 41/42. Finals have been happening over the past couple of months, all done online, including a week’s worth of psych tests and a further week of interviews with casting/producers/executives.
As was officially announced earlier this month, CBS now has new diversity goals for its unscripted programming. This means that Survivor casts will now aim to be at least 50% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). That is currently a big push in casting and a major reason why recasting is taking place.
Casting for seasons 41/42 originally wrapped up earlier this year; however, people are now being swapped or cut completely and replaced. Some of those originally in the mix have been asked to send in new videos “updating” casting on their lives.
SEASON 43?
Even though there is still no set-date for the filming of seasons 41/42, sources have told us that recently CBS has been pushing to film three seasons in 2021 and airing one of them in the summer. This would likely mean S41 airing in summer 2021, S42 airing in fall 2021, and S43 airing in early 2022.
Of course, as with everything, this is all up in the air and dependent on numerous factors. We’re also told there is some pushback on the production side regarding filming three seasons consecutively.
Given the state of the world, things are changing day-to-day. Stay tuned to Inside Survivor for further updates.
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it was time for them to FINALLY consider an alternative to the filming location, and then the Caribbean would be the first time
Not cool, 50% black cast, since only 12% of Americans are black. If you want to be properly diverse, do your percentages appropriately!
White: 62%
Latinos: 17%
Blacks: 12%
Asians: 5%
Mixed: 2%
Other: 2%
Too many blacks are just as bad as too many whites. Where’s the justice for the Latinos? Where is their DC Marvel Superhero?
It’s 50% BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of color) not 50% black.
just stop. let us poc have the representation we have’t had since the beginning of media. white people like you are so fucking annoying.
How about blacks versus Asians whites?
They did that already
Thanks for the update.
Looking forward to seeing Survivors again.
Sincerely
Susan Whitlock
It’s about time! Come film in my beautiful country! We have nothing to envy Fiji or other tropical locations they have used in the past! I hope this also puts us in the map for The Amazing Race! We’ve been featured at the center of the credits map screen for quite a while now!
Miss seeing Survivor! Hope it returns soon. Lov jeff prost……hope he doesn’t retire anytime soon.
So basically TV has to be concerned with 50% diversity on it’s programs rather than whether someone fits a part or not?
Exactly what I was thinking. Color of skin should not matter.
I f they initiate the 50% diversity standard my family is done watching the show diversity is necessary but should be in step with national race percentages!!
Shut up! Nobody cares about whether your family will continue watching or not
Interestingly enough, nobody cares about nasty rude idiots like YOU either!
Even more interestingly, y’all are bitchin over nothing.
Who asked
So if lack of color diversity is a problem, what about lack of diversity in age or size of the contestants? I am pretty tired of watching twenty somethings with rock hard bodies on Survivor when that is absolutely not representative of the general population or even most likely the people who have applied.
I have to say that goes along with the people that apply. I mean, in all honesty, what is the likelihood of say a big/heavyweight/overweight/obese person applying (much less getting on)? If you want to see that watch My 600lbs. Lie….
To play devil’s advocate here, having a very obese person live on meager food for 39 days could have some serious health repercussions.
go cry about it snowflake
This is racism at it’s core. You just lost 4 viewers for sure. Also will advocate for everyone I know that has been watching and been fans for decades. Dispicable choice. This sends the worst message possible to my children. People on the show to satisfy numbers, and not on entertainment value. You make me sick.
How is this racist, I am pretty sure you are the racist!
It’s not racist. If they take able bodied people off the show just to appeal to a “diversity” standard, they may get more viewers, but the overall quality of the show will suffer. If they take “white” people out of the show, they need to at least make sure it’s for someone of equal or greater skill. I would like to point out that the only female to win twice (Queen Sandra) was part of the diverse group. I’m all for the change as long as they find able-bodied contestants.
Hiring (or not hiring) people for jobs based on their skin color is the definition of racial discrimination a.k.a. racism. The obligation of an “at least 50%” non-white cast is not even based on “representation”, since the actual ethno-racial composition of the US population is very different (61% Whites, 17% Hispanics, 13% Blacks, 6% Asians, 3% Mixed, Native Americans and others… if you go strictly by racial lines and add all the Hispanics to the corresponding racial groups, the population is 76% white). Not that everything should be representative in the first place, regardless of skills, qualification, amount of interest on the part of different groups of people… or entertainment value and personality type in the case of reality shows… But to go as far as creating a mandate that’s explicitly set up to not be representative is hardcore discrimination that can be surpassed only by not hiring certain people at all just because of their looks.
People who push for this think they are righting some past wrongs, but in reality they are just bringing things back to the past and creating new wrongs. The diversity hires in different fields will eventually also drag down (perception-wise) all the individuals with minority background who genuinely became successful on their own without external help and lowered expectations. In general, it’s pretty racist and paternalistic even towards the minority groups that are being advantaged through these policies – treating them like inept people who are dependent on the help of some wannabe white saviors seeking to impress their peers.
Not casting someone because they are white is racist. Maybe you should review the definition.
There are still going to be white people on the cast, calm down.
You like quotas , do you?
Personally I feel the entertainment level has risen with their efforts to increase diversity. The two seasons where they based tribal lines based off race are two of my favorites due to seeing so many people of different walks of like. As a person who is biracial i’m proud survivor is taking steps to make people feel represented and show others different cultures. I believe these efforts will do more good than harm.
The issue I have with it is that people want to make comments about it being racist not to do it but I think people have to think about how many people from each race apply. If say, only 5 POC apply & 90% of those that apply to a specific season, does that mean every single 1 of those 5 POC get on by default? That wouldn’t be right either. Making it 50% POC means other people get screwed to make room for them! I feel bad for the people that were already finalized for 41/42 that are now being cut to make room for the50% POC!
In your view then, Survivor casts should be majority white men because that is the biggest demographic that applies? You don’t think it should be 50% men and 50% women?
Hum, it has ALWAYS been 50% men & 50% women! That doesn’t completely change the casting format like 50% POC does. That being said, I can’t believe you said that….
So because something has always been that way it means it should never change? You were arguing for casting based on the percentage of people that apply. Well, far fewer women apply then men, so by your own argument you’re saying the casts should include more men than women.
Thanks for the update!
Nobody wants to see boring fiji again seriously I swear!! can you please tell the production the fans want something exotic like desert or even Europe for once. and pls get rid off those idols anf twists its sooooo not enjoyable to watch
What! No the idols especially the hidden idols make this game amazing
Hmm, I’m not sure how I feel about the recasting. On the one hand I completely understand trying to make casts more diverse. That just makes sense and it’s something they should strive for going forward.
But from what I understand these casts were FINALIZED. They had promised these people the chance to play for 1 million dollars. And just being on the show is a huge opportunity for marketing yourself in other ventures. Yet now some of these people are having that opportunity taken from them because their skin color wasn’t right for this new effort to have diversity. Seems like a bit of a counterintuitive action. They’re doing it to try and send the message to be more inclusive and support the idea of skin color not mattering. But in doing so they are inherently saying to the people cut “sorry, you don’t have the right skin color”. In my opinion they should have started this push for the season 43 cast and all casts going forward.
Had they not finalized the casts I wouldn’t have an issue with it. But they did, and that’s the part I take issue with.
People are finalized and then cut all the time. It’s been happening for years. Casting mess applicants around constantly and have always done so. Nothing is final until Jeff welcomes you to the game.
Oh no white people getting cut is so bad, get over it, it’s the first time you guys have been left out of anything
Please people, your making this a bigger deal than it needs to be. This is a good move the Survivor team as while a bit forced I’ll say, it avoid’s this controversy when the show doesn’t need one after the Dan Spilo incident. As for the cast being changed after being “finalized” as people say, With this show, The Amazing Race, Big Brother and other shows like this, the cast is changed multipile times and like martin says isn’t finalized until the host and producers tell them to come in. With Covid as well, we don’t how many of the orignal “finalized” crew will want to play now. To the people complaining about this change are eithier over-complicating things or just a straight up racist. It’s a good change and I think would of still happened without the riots. Deal with it.
Hum, it is a bigger deal when they take sports away from actual applicants to put on people that they’d have to recruit. Because if only 3 POC apply, (1) they are all guaranteed to be on & (2) that still wouldn’t be 50% so they would still need to recruit the rest! So what about all the people that actually legally applied?
“Legally” haha. As I’ve said before, if you think all Survivor casts are made up 100% of applicants, you’re dead wrong. They’ve been recruiting cast members since Season 2. It happens in all reality TV. For Survivor, that’s because the majority of people that apply are young white males. And you might want a cast made up 80% of young white men, but others think that would be boring.
Oh, so I made a typo & you give me hell over it? In any case, you go on & on about only “young white males” applying, so I suppose you want to see a cast of all 80-something’s? You say they have been recruiting since session 2 but let me pose these questions to you: (1) how long have I said before that I’ve said I’ve been applying & (2) what does that say about season 1 when nobody even knew about the show to apply? Seems to me they all would have been recruits (which I think is well known that the original Fiji was….which I had [also] applied to, by the way)!
You’re not even making sense anymore. It just sounds like you’re mad at the world because you’ve been applying for years and they’ve never cast you.
And Season 1 wasn’t recruits. Survivor put out casting adverts in magazines, newspapers, radio, etc, asking for applicants. You can read all about it in my Oral History of Borneo article: https://insidesurvivor.com/birth-of-a-phenomenon-an-oral-history-of-survivor-borneo-43932
Casting is just getting worse by cutting people that were previously told they were on but are now being cut because of the new casting policy. Telling them to make new videos “updating” casting about their lives is basically no different than making them reapply (even though they were already on). What they are doing by recasting a previously casted cast is unjustifiable!
Not Really. Yes it ruins a potential chance, but it isn’t confirmed. Even without this new change, that person still might not make the final cast. I think people need to learn the term racism and recasting and finalizied.
Another Note is that if we do go by the ethico-racial US population, there’s always going to be people left and people are still going to complain about the casting. Also going by that population number, there’s going to be more people of that population and will get cut for nothing but racism. I’m mainly talking about the smaller percentages. If you want 30-40 white males and females only, this isn’t the show for you. Also let’s not forget in Survivor Fiji: only 1 of the 19 castaways applied for the show, the rest where chosen by the staff. As bad as that season was, the way the cast was done should of been a sign of things to come.
Hi Australia has some amazing locations that you guys could film the show on…
Have you checked out downunder
Injured my ankle 2 months ago so what I been doing…
All 40 seasons of survivor of cource love the show so looking forward to the next season’s..
Have yas ever thought of 4 Aussies 4 kiwis 4 south Africans and 4 Americans for a season ??????
I’m in as agreement with most of the other people. If they have been cast then let them have there chance at the million dollars. Change the policy afterwards. This is unfair in every sense of how things are done. I also have watched the show for decades but if this is how you are doing the show I’m done watching it!
What the hell is wrong with you on a diverse cast?
When you were 99% white, you enjoyed watching it casually, but you said you were uncomfortable because 50% of the colored people are now.
please give it a chance for colored people.
It’s not the matter of seeing black people or taking chances away from them, it’s the matter of taking someone else’s chances away that already had it. And it should be 50% diverse based on the people that apply. If 300 ppl apply and only 20 of them are BIPOC then those 20 no matter qualifications have to be automatically accepted. And in a game where there is only 40 spots that makes it unfair. As well as I would like to see an actual list of applicants because what is the actual percentage that even signs up? I like diversity but I also like fairness. I dont harbor hate for any reasons, but it’s sad to see racist practices no matter what you are.
Poor excuse. Survivor casts are never made up 100% of applicants, for years casting has recruited several contestants each season who never applied. How many bland white bartender types has Survivor recruited over the years? And you’re mad because they might now consider recruiting from a more diverse range of people?
Elizabeth!!!
What you say is just funny to me.
If that’s the logic, since a lot of middle-aged white men apply, should we reduce the number of female cast members?
Was it fair that white people easily formed a league with the same race? Aren’t Asian and African-Americans always similar in appearance?
Asian, you think black people are stupid? Let’s stop watching white-centric media.
Racial quotas are reverse discrimination, What happened to being color blind? The best contestants shouldn’t be selected based on what color their skin is, qualifications should be just that, are they qualified, will the add value to what the viewers will watch?
50% of the qualified applicants will be cut just because there not the right color!
Being “color blind” is basically ignoring someone’s story; you’re saying you don’t see that person’s experience. And you need to be able to see that experience so that you can try and understand it. It’s about representation and seeing people on TV that look like you, that you can relate to, that can inspire you. White contestants have made up the majority of Survivor casts for years. It’s time to share some new stories and experiences. Like, it’s insane that it took until last year for the first Indian-American contestant.
And people might say, “well, maybe other races don’t apply enough,” well, Survivor casting have recruited a bunch of boring white bartender types who never applied over the years, so why can’t they go out and recruit a more diverse line-up.
Survivor is a TV show, not a job. So this talk of “having the qualifications” is nonsense. Cast a diverse mix of people and experiences and backgrounds for the best possible show.
Knowing or ignoring someone’s story, of any ethnicity has nothing to do with putting them on the show. Color blindness is useless here. It’s how the diverse group will interact and work together. This will be a fail because you qualified to work with the group of people not I’m BIPOC so I automatically get to be here. The casts have always been about outlast outwit outplay not color based grouping.
No one automatically gets to be there. Everyone still has to go through the full casting process and approval by producers/CBS.
Are you kidding me? I highly doubt people that are recruited “go through the full casting process”! Heck, you already said previously they don’t but now you’re changing your story. How does that make sense?
People who are recruited still then have to record a video, interview with casting, do psych tests, do medical, attend finals in LA, meet with producers and execs. It’s just that they didn’t originally apply.
Given the isolation of Survivor already, it shouldn’t be too hard to isolate the entire cast and crew for the duration of filming. Bring in all the supplies needed for the duration, quarantine everyone for 2 weeks prior, and do the season.
You see more white people on all of the shows ( big brother, amazing race, love island, ect) and less blacks,Mexicans or Asians. This change will be nice for once.
Let’s not forget the way the diversity has been set up for years is actually accurate to what it should be! There are more white people than black people and by giving them both 50/50 representation actually is giving black people more of a chance than the white person! Again I’m not racist and I don’t care who makes it in the show honestly but I’m just saying that this is how it actually would work
It sounds like you care. Survivor is an TV entertainment show, it shouldn’t have to reflect the make-up of the real world. Survivor casts have been majority white for years; it’s not the end of the world that they’re now committed to having a more diverse line-up.
“by giving them both 50/50 representation actually is giving black people more of a chance than the white person!” That is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever heard.
Also, it’s not just white/black. This initiative is aimed at bringing in various backgrounds and people of color. For example, it took until 2019 for the first Indian-American to be cast on the show.
And don’t give me no excuse of “well, not enough POC apply” because for years Survivor casting has recruited boring white bartender types who never applied.
Having the show move to Dominican Republic or other Caribbean location, even if only temporarily, would maybe be the sole good thing that ever came from Covid. Fiji is beautiful, but the same old beaches and locations have become overfamiliar and boring. The fact that it also generates all these artificial themes that can get pretty ridiculous sometimes, only strengthens the argument for a change of location which once used to be the highlight of each season and the extra player in the background that could become as significant for the season as the human characters. The production can return to Fiji eventually (preferably to a different part of it like AUS Survivor), but for know it would be best and due to Covid maybe even more practical and cheap to put the shoots there on hold.
I completely agree with that. I have never been a fan of staying at n Fiji. I miss the days when the locations are/were the theme. Staying in Fiji, as you said (although I’m changing the wording), they have to rely on stupid “gimmicks” for the theme….but to me, if they do a tribe division vs. tribe division theme the theme is completely thrown out the window they they have a tribe swap & mix them up (which has happened on the 1st or 2nd episodes before). What is the point of that nonsense?
Next thing you know the rules will change so people of color can’t be first voted out. Or maybe idols that are only for people of color….
The racail mix should closely match the percentage of the mix of applicants, not some forced arbitrary number. Why 50%, how about 75, 80, or 90%?
Why must it match the percentage of applicants? Survivor casting has recruited non-applicants for its casts for years. So let’s not act like every cast is made up of applicants.
Why would they (need to) recruit people when they (already) have so many people applying? They are only screwing the ACTUAL applicants! But I suppose you justify that….
It’s just something they’ve always done, right back from Season 2 onwards. If I had to guess, it’s most likely because many of the people that apply are young white male superfans, and a full cast of the same archetype would be boring to watch. And so they recruit to get a wider mix of personality types.
Although, I will say, in recent years they have stopped recruiting as much as they used to. These days the casts are majority applicants with a few recruits.
Hum, do you realize you contradicted yourself in the same post?
We have remote areas in the US. Why don’t they ever film here? I’ve been a fan from the start but am getting tired of island life all the time!
The sheer amount of ignorance in this comment section is overwhelmingly concerning. White people are genuinely angry that Survivor is giving POC representation. This is disgusting! Every single argument against the diversity initiative is rooted in prejudice and racism, whether you think of it that way or not. And it seems that most people are not educated enough to understand that racism towards white people does NOT exist. Get off your shiny hill of privilege and try living in the shoes of a BIPOC for a day.
Yes, racism against white ppl does not exist in the USA. However, it does exist in other nations like China. That’s fine, I won’t go there. Whatever the case I’m very happy about the new diversity initiative! I do think it’s a little bit of a PR thing, they could’ve done it without announcing it, but I understand why they did! Hopefully this will lead to some of my favorite players like Sean Rector and Kenny returning to the show! I also hope they leave Fiji forever but that’s probably wishful thinking…
I think you are totally off the mark. I don’t think it’s racism at all. I think there haven’t been many BIPOC & more whites because of the percentage of those that have been applying. Now, with them putting this new policy in place they are going to be screwing the actual applicants & have to recruit the people they need to follow policy! How is that fair to the people that actually take the time to apply?
The biggest percentage of people that apply for Survivor are young white males. More men apply than women. So are you saying the majority of the cast should be young white men because they apply more?
Define “young white males”. Because I am 43 (not exactly “young”, thank you) but when I started applying (for season 2 in 2000) I was 23 (much younger than I am now). So where do I fit in to your database?
18-30.
Maybe somewhere other than a tropical island. It’s been done before
Wait, I’m confused. So 41/42 are still casting even though they finalized the cast months ago? If people had to back out due to scheduling concerns I could understand, but a lot is happening all at once.
Exactly! They are recasting 41/42 to screw that already finalized cast & making it 50%.
I’d like to know what the demographic percentage/ breakdown of the show’s viewers is: whites and BIPOC. Anyone know? … the producers will eventually know if this is a good idea once they see their ratings. I’m guessing that there is a much higher percentage of whites watching the show than BIPOC.
After filming 2-3 seasons in the Dominican Republic, they will have to think about going to the island of Tahaa in French Polynesia, an incredible place. The French version Koh Lanta has completed its shooting on Thursday successfully without any case of Covid with a very strict protocol, the production was housed on a boat so as not to be in too close contact The production and Jeff Probst would love the breathtaking little Tahaa motus , the kindness and generosity of the Tahitians. Several foreign versions have also expressed their wish to shoot in Polynesia. they had filmed in the Marquesas Islands in 2001, but there the landscapes of Tahaa are totally different.
I like this idea. Good call.
Any updates on survivor 43 ?