‘Survivor' Will Let Fans Guide Gameplay for Landmark 50th Season
The 50th edition of Survivor is enlisting the help of a new tribe — the show's viewers — to help determine how the game plays out.
Host and executive producer Jeff Probst announced Saturday that the CBS competition's 50th season, slated to air in February 2026, will be guided partly by votes from viewers. The show is calling the theme 'In the Hands of the Fans.'
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'From the very first season, Survivor has been evolving. Now, for our 50th season, it's time for the next evolution,' Probst said in a statement. 'Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans is unlike anything we've done before. For the first time ever, our loyal fans will take control — deciding key elements of the game, from twists to idols to advantages. I can't wait to see what the fans choose for our returning players.'
Viewers will be able to vote on certain elements of the season, including whether idols will be part of the game, if the final four's traditional fire-making challenge stays or goes and whether to have live finale and reunion show in Los Angeles or on location in Fiji. Voting will open when season 48 of Survivor premieres Feb. 26 on CBS.
All voting will be completed before season 50 begins filming, as Survivor stages its competition months before the show hits the air.
In addition to fan voting, CBS and Fiji Airways are sponsoring a sweepstakes in which five groups of fans will be flown to Fiji during filming of the 50th season.
'Honoring the fans with the power to shape the 50th season of Survivor is a game changer for the fans and the show,' said Mike Benson, president and chief marketing officer at CBS. 'In that spirit, CBS is launching its first-ever full year of celebrations for fans — and future fans — leading up to Survivor 50, commencing with dream Survivor-focused Fiji trips for five groups of fans thanks to our partnership with Fiji Airways, which will also debut a Survivor 50-branded Fiji Airways jet.'
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So the white-collar side of the ad, I just thought, I'm going to make these girls strong and cool and smart. So, they are kind of badasses! They're on a $15 million yacht and then they jump into a million dollar Dodge, a classic car. Then they show up [at PBR] and they're in their own space in VIP. They are full of energy and life. The women we cast were perfect for it. The ad debuted during the recent PBR finals. That's a big audience, but you're also on a show that has the biggest audience on TV. Does the fandom differ when people approach you? Not much! It's the same world. When I walk through the stadium versus the airport, it feels exactly the same (laughs). It's amazing how much people have fallen in love with not only the show but the character, and the amount of love I've gotten over the last seven years is just mind-blowing. I got into acting to affect people. So the idea that I've done that in a big way and that I can see personally is always something that is going to make an artist like myself feel good. Rip is a major sex symbol. Rip and Beth (Kelly Reilly) are an iconic TV couple. How wild are your fan encounters? I was at South Point, which is a notorious cowboy hotel in Las Vegas. A woman came up to me and she had a tattoo of my character and I thought it was fake. She said, 'No, it's real. I just got it done.' That's crazy. (Laughs) That's a crazy moment that someone would take the character and put it on her body, or that people would name their children after Rip. It's just another acknowledgement of what Taylor started and our collaboration together, and the work that I've done with Kevin Costner and Kelly and Luke [Grimes], Wes [Bentley, the Yellowstone main cast]. It's been a tremendous ride, and I look forward to hopefully more years with Kelly, seeing what we can create for the audience that is hopefully as good or better. 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