When Jeff Probst started planning Survivor 50, he knew he had to do something big. As always, it started with the cast. From over 700 castaways who have competed over the past 25 years, find the most memorable and iconic castaway to return home. Probst then immediately began designing a seasonal theme.
As revealed in the season’s first trailer, “In the Hands of the Fans” will include a twist featuring Billie Eilish and Jimmy Fallon, as well as cameos from Jimmy “Mr. Beast” Donaldson and Zac Brown.
But don’t worry, “Survivor” supporters. Probst is not without plot.
“After promising to leave game design up to the fans, the next question was, ‘How far can we go with this idea?'” the host and showrunner told Variety. “We knew that some of Survivor’s biggest fans happen to be celebrities, so we felt that sprinkling some of them with their own unique twists was a fun way to make the game even more unpredictable. It definitely caught players off guard in some really exciting ways and added a new layer to this festive season.”
This is the biggest cast yet, and as always, the castaways will be the real stars of the season, even if there are big names involved and game-changing developments. Variety visited the Fiji set for two of the collaborations and confirmed that even with the A-list names attached, “Survivor” still feels like “Survivor.”
“I think it’s a legitimate concern that when you start adding layers like celebrity, they could overshadow the game and throw you off course. Our job was to make sure we stayed true to what we were doing on ‘Survivor,’ which explores this ongoing social experiment, and now we’re adding another layer,” Probst says. “And when you bring in celebrities like Zac Brown and Mr. Beast and Jimmy Fallon, now you add idolatry and you add a different perception and reputation. All of a sudden, people go a little bit off track or slant and want to have something to do with Jimmy Fallon. A lot of players said, ‘I’ve always dreamed of being in a Mr. Beast video.’ So Twist is designed to see if you can stay the course with the thought process you should or how it changes your thought process and how it affects you. ”
He also added that he did not go and meet any celebrities or ask who wanted to participate. Each collaboration was born through his own friendships and relationships. And it was a celebrity’s idea.
“With Jimmy Fallon, it was his show. Jimmy would always text me ideas for ‘Survivor,’ and we’d incorporate some of them into the show. And we’ve always talked about this idea,” Probst says. This idea will not be shared for now. But as exciting as it was, it was hinted at in the trailer, and it didn’t quite go the way Probst had in mind. “I think people who watch these developments realize that these are legitimate ‘Survivor’ fans who wanted to be part of the 50.”
However, the biggest collaboration of the season is probably with MrBeast. Probst will appear in Season 2 of “Beast Game,” and Donaldson will appear in Season 50 of “Survivor” for something. The cameos were filmed several days apart in Fiji in June.
The crossover conversation began when Lori DeLiColi, vice president of communications at CBS, showed her the Mr. Beast video while she was eating breakfast. One of his team members, Karl Jacobs, was wearing “Survivor” buff and talking about the show. She reported to the marketing team, who invited Jacobs and “Beast Game” co-creator Sean Kritzner to participate in an influencer experience filmed in advance of Season 49.
No one knew at the time that they were big fans of the series. Executive producer Matt Van Wagenen recalls that Kritzner applied for the role early in the season and was close to being cast. In 2020, Jacobs DMed Van Wagenen on Twitter (as it was then) and raved about the show. After Van Wagenen mailed Crew T-shirts and Jacobs posted them on social media, the producer started hearing from friends and family. He had no idea how big Jacobs’ following was. When they reunited in Fiji, “it felt like this conversation would never end,” Van Wagenen says.
During his time as an influencer, Kritzner approached Probst about some kind of collaboration, and “the friendship was immediate and my respect for them was immediate,” Probst says. “And Lori came up with it and said, ‘That felt like a synergy.’ We never said, ‘Let’s collaborate with another show.’ forever. We’re in our own little world, trying to get out of the way and put on our own show. ”
However, the main part of the crossover was logistics. The calendars for Season 50 of “Survivor” and Season 2 of “Beast Game” were already set. But Prime Video’s reality competition series was willing to bend that. They all wanted it to be successful.
“I said, ‘Jeff, if you really want to do this, I’m going to shoot it as fast as I can. I’ll work with your schedule no matter what,'” Kritzner says. “We had a kickoff meeting where they suggested what we should do for the show. They said, ‘We don’t want to go overboard.’ We said, “We want you to go above and beyond in every sense of the word.” They said they could shoot with the crew and build the challenge. They designed everything from soups to nuts. And then, of course, our team came in and put ‘Beast’ on it…There was never a moment where Jeff was like, ‘I don’t know if we can do this.’ ”
Jeff Probst talks about ‘Beast Game’ Season 2
“Beast Games” and “Survivor” are both reality competition shows, but they have little in common.
“Their approach is chaotic. There are cameras everywhere, they break the fourth wall all the time. Players talk whenever they want. It’s a completely different form of storytelling, and it works,” Probst says. And Donaldson is a completely different type of host than Probst. “He doesn’t focus on long-term stories. He seems to focus more on in-the-moment reactions, bouncing from one reaction to another to another. It’s similar to his online environment. Another moment, another moment. “On Survivor, we’re looking at a long-term game. We want to introduce you to someone and let you know who they are, where they’re from, what their weaknesses are.” And we add elements to the game to further increase that uncertainty and force adaptability. ”
And Donaldson’s style was “refreshing” to Probst, allowing him to observe different work. “Who knows how I’m going to be affected by it,” Probst said. “In a way, I would take what I had with Jimmy and think, ‘Maybe I could use some of those elements for Survivor.’
In a way, “it was like being in a video game and just trying to keep up,” Probst says of being part of the “Beast Game” episode. “He just goes where he wants to go. Like me, he’s the producer of his own show. He can decide whatever he wants to do, and he does. He doesn’t hesitate to say, ‘I think I could bribe you with money right now.'” It was very interesting to get into their world and observe them. ”
Of course, having Probst by his side was a huge learning experience for Donaldson, both as host and producer. After filming the first part of the collaboration, Donaldson said: “I’m a little more one-note. Jeff projects his voice and he’s particular about certain things. Like Island swag! Like him, I want to give my voice more presence.”
As a producer, Donaldson realized during his time in Fiji that “Beast Game” might be focusing too much on changing things. He’s been creating basically the same vibe for 25 years and it’s still cool. I usually try to mix things up because people like familiarity, and that makes it very difficult to produce,” Donaldson says. “That taught me that not everything has to be new, because sometimes fans just like what they like, and if they like it, they’ll do it again and again.”
But after figuring out how to incorporate “Survivor” into “Beast Games,” it was time for Probst to think about how to incorporate MrBeast into his own show.
“The key takeaway for me was that our show is not going to change. Jimmy is going to come in and bring to the show aspects of ‘The Beast Game’ that we want to explore,” Probst says. “If you look at the two shows, ‘Beast Game’ asks one question: What do people do for money? ‘Survivor’ asks a different question: Who are you when everything is stripped away?”
Donaldson’s role in “Survivor” has to be kept under wraps for now, other than 50 being shown in the trailer. He shows up with a briefcase. Let’s just say what’s inside has huge game-changing potential.
“When you take people who have been stripped of everything, and you bring in perhaps the most famous person in the world at an unpredictable moment, it takes the uncertainty to another level,” Probst says.
“Survivor” will premiere on February 25th at 8pm ET on CBS.
