'Survivor' Fans, Host Jeff Probst Dropped a Major Spoiler About Season 43 Challenges

Grab your buffs and make your alliances now. Survivor 43 is peeking over the horizon, bringing 18 fresh castaways to the shores of Fiji for a chance to win the title of Sole Survivor. With it, comes a new era of twists never before seen — after all, it's all about outwitting, outplaying and outlasting.

No stranger to the unpredictable, the over two decades-long competition series recently experimented with challenges and formats in seasons 41 and 42. These latest installments departed from traditional season themes, while the cast's journey shortened from 39 days to just 26 days on an island. The show also took advantage of its back-to-back filming schedule by continuing the new changes from Survivor 41 in Survivor 42, leaving the contestants completely clueless.

What's more, host Jeff Probst recently dropped a major spoiler about Survivor 43, which premieres September 21. "When we say this is a new era of the game, we mean it. We are establishing new markers," he told Entertainment Weekly. "So things like small tribes, earn the merge, no food, risk/reward dilemmas, Shot In The Dark, are here to stay. Other specific twists will come and go depending on the season."

Fans may remember these new challenges from recent seasons. Shot in the Dark allowed worried players a chance at protection from the vote, while Risk vs. Reward presented competitors with a dilemma to trust the other islanders. Earn the Merge forced the last 12 castaways to split into two teams and compete in a challenge to earn their spot on the merged tribe.

The Tribe has spoken — Inside Survivor confirmed that this time around, the series scrapped the controversial Hourglass and Do or Die twists. The first offered the potential to reverse the outcome of the challenge, while the latter worked as a random game of chance that could end a player’s game on the spot.

Jeff explained that it's an opportunity to bring the show back to the basics. "We changed the game because we wanted to give players a new series of problems to solve," he told EW. "The easiest way to frame it is to compare it to our very first season. Those players didn't know they would have a chance to play for a food reward, so when they got hungry, they ate rat.

He continued: "Then in season 2, we had a new group of players who knew there would be a food reward, so they didn't eat rat. They adapted to the game. That's what we're doing with this new era."

The only way contestants can plan ahead for future Survivor seasons? Expect the unexpected. Jeff admitted it still gives the next group of players a bit of insight and strategy. "We don't want everything to be a surprise," he added. "Instead, we're building a new foundation of game elements and leaving it to the players to figure out how best to play."

As Jeff would say, this challenge is on, and we can't wait to see how it unfolds.

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