Jeff Probst on whether ‘Survivor’ seasons 47, 48 and 49 will feature returning players [Red Carpet Interview]

Last week, host/producer Jeff Probst broke the internet when he announced that Season 50 of “Survivor” would welcome back returning players. For clarity’s sake, the last time former castaways came back to the island was in Season 40 for “Winners at War,” so this news was a long time coming for fans. But with “Survivor 50” not expected to film until Spring 2025 (and air in early 2026), what does that mean for the upcoming 47th, 48th and 49th installments of CBS’s reality TV show? Will they feature all-new faces or returning contestants, or perhaps a mix of both?

“I would say, generally speaking, probably new players,” Probst told Gold Derby on the red carpet at the CBS New Fall Schedule Party at Paramount Studios on Thursday, May 2. “I mean, that’s the idea. Let’s make 50 that’s the first time that we bring people back so we can really lean into that and have fun with that.” Watch our exclusive red carpet interview above.

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Speaking of the long-awaited 50th cycle, Probst concedes, “Deciding who’s gonna be on ‘Survivor 50’ will probably be the biggest decision we’ve made in our history of returning player seasons, because we’ve had 700 people play, and we’ve had a couple of hundred of amazing people that you could instantly put on the show. Then you have another 200 that you think, maybe we didn’t see enough of them — maybe we should bring them back. So there’s a lot of potential people.”

As for the fact that many former castaways are campaigning on social media for their spots, Probst notes, “I love that players are campaigning for themselves. They don’t need to campaign with me. I mean, I had a [first-hand account]. I was watching. I saw everything. I know who still has game left in the tank and who wants another shot. The biggest decision will be, how do you break it down, how do you figure out how to do that?”

Probst wraps up our red carpet chat by declaring, “I want 50 to be a celebration. I want it to be fun. We’re really lucky to be on this long. And so, I don’t look at ‘Survivor 50’ as serious as much as I look at it as a little [singing] celebrate good times! You know, some of that!” Are YOU excited for the future of “Survivor”? Go ahead and sound off down in the comments section.

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