Survivor star Cirie Fields, who also won season one of The Traitors, exclusively told E! News how the 50th season of CBS’ reality competition series is different than any before it.
Cirie Fields knows her fifth time on Survivor felt different.
While the reality competition legend—who is often referred to as “the greatest player to never win” the long-running CBS series—has returned from filming the milestone 50th season in Fiji, she is keeping her lips sealed on any big moves she may have made. However, she did share what fans can expect from the upcoming game.
“I can tell you one thing about season 50, and I haven’t said this about any other season,” Cirie told E! News in an exclusive interview. “I’ve watched since Richard Hatch [won season one]. I’m a fan as well as a contestant.”
Given her unique qualifications, she declared of the 50th season, “Best season ever. Best. Not just because I was there. Best. Season. Ever.”
And though Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans allowed viewers to determine certain twists and turns of the game, Cirie—who went on to win season one of The Traitors and placed fifth in season 25 of Big Brother after first appearing on Survivor in 2006—explained that her mindset is “always the same.”
“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right?” she continued. “Social and strategic is what works for me. I’m just an easygoing person. I make friends very easily, and I’m authentic.”
She emphasized, “People can spot a fake, especially when all of your senses are heightened. So authenticity is what really works for me.”
And that honesty has helped her with her business ventures outside of TV, too. In fact, it made for a perfect partnership for Nutri-Grain’s “Not Sorry” campaign, which highlights the snack’s 10 grams of whole grains and 10 vitamins and minerals.
Robert Voets/CBS via Getty ImagesIn the campaign, she even references her daring reality TV moves, such as blindsiding Courtney Marit on Survivor and pressuring Arie Luyendyk to out himself as a Traitor.
“I’m so sorry for all the things I’ve said and did while surviving on reality TV for years. Secret alliances, blindsides, vote betrayals—I’ve done it all,” Cirie says in a campaign video. But because the Nutri-Grain bars don’t inspire guilt, she adds, “You know what? Maybe I’m not sorry at all. I didn’t feel bad about any of it. What am I apologizing for?”
Nutri-GrainAs the 55-year-old told E!, “It’s every man for himself on Survivor. No one’s sorry for blindsides. No one’s sorry for beating me in the fire challenge, so I’m not sorry for anything I had to do in my previous seasons.”
Ahead of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, read on to learn secrets you might not know about the show.
Robert Voets/CBS via Getty ImagesHow They Pick the Castaways
Tens of thousands of people apply to be on the show, and ultimately, the casting producers will mix a bunch of Survivor aficionados with people, who usually end up being models or actors, they recruit. Still, those recruited players must go through the full casting process.
“Believe it or not we receive many applications from the same people year after year,” former casting director Lynne Spillman, who had been with the show from the beginning until 2018, told Reality Wanted.
Now, host Jeff Probst is handling casting.
“Typically, it goes like this,” he outlined to Entertainment Weekly. “We hop on Zoom, and they start to tell us about their lives. I often spend the first few minutes thinking the same thing… ‘How have they already done so much at such a young age, and what was I doing when I was 24!??'”
There are several rounds after that, including a meeting with the show’s pyschologists. “Our only intention is to get to know who they really are,” explained Probst. “It’s one of the things I try to stress to people who are applying to be on Survivor. You don’t have to be anything other than who you are. It sounds so simple but it’s the absolute truth. You do not need an emotional underdog story, you do not need to be the funniest person in the room, you don’t need to have a college degree, you don’t need to be anything other than you.”
CBS via Getty ImagesEveryone Wins…Sort Of
Even if you get sent home first, you make money by going on Survivor (though your ego may be forever wounded).
Here’s a quick rundown of what competitors make:
For castaways who are voted out pre-jury, they basically get an all-expenses paid trip to Fiji as they are required to stay for the entirety of production to avoid spoilers. Plus, each contestant reportedly gets $10,000 for the live finale and reunion taping at the end of the season.
But in an interview with TMZ, Jonny Fairplay spilled the beans on how much castaways allegedly make: the first person eliminated can make $12,500, according to the infamous villain, who noted jury members get $40,000. “I’m not sure I was allowed to say that,” he noted after. “I might’ve broken an NDA.”
While the winner of Survivor gets $1 million, the runner-up pockets $100,000 and the third place finisher earns $85,000. Though they no longer do the fan-favorite award, the winner of that public vote would receive $100,000 or a car, if it was sponsored.
CBSTiming Is Everything
The only season of Survivor to run longer than 39 days? Season two (The Australian Outback), most likely because of the breakout success and monster ratings for the first season.
Aside from that, each episode is about three days of the competition, so editors have the fun task of trimming 300-500 hours of footage down to a tight 44-minute episode. (Contestants are filmed 24/7.)
As for the tribal councils, those can take anywhere from one to two hours to film, as Probst actually has each castaway answer the same question. As for how and where he tallies the votes, Probst consults with his fellow producers (who are watching the contestants cast their votes via a live-feed), and they decide in which order the host will read the votes.
