What To Know
- Survivor Season 50 features a cast of 24 returning players.
- Jeff Probst revealed how much the players are getting paid to be on the new season.
- He explained why the contestants are not getting an exuberant appearance fee, unlike in past all-star seasons.
The conversation around Season 50 of Survivor has exploded online ever since the 24 returning players arrived in Fiji last spring, ready to outwit, outplay, and outlast one another. Every contestant has played Survivor before, and several of them have returned so many times that they’ve become some of the franchise’s most recognizable faces.
Of course, there is prize money waiting at the end of the game — but that is not what is driving these fierce competitors, and producers clearly wanted to keep it that way.
“With this season, there was not going to be any big appearance fees,” host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly. “The prize money is slightly higher than normal ($1,000,000), and that’s it. We were very clear when we called each player: ‘These are non-negotiable terms. You’re going to be here for 26 days and here’s the money. This isn’t a leverage situation. If the prize money is what you’re here for, then maybe 50 is not for you. We want people who want to be here to be a part of 50.’”
That marks a sharp contrast from the last all-returning-player season, Season 40, which featured a cast made entirely of former winners. According to EW, some of those players were “offered some premium guarantees” to come back.
For Season 50, Survivor is returning to the payment structure used during the very first All-Stars season in 2004: the first player voted out gets $25,000, plus a $10,000 reunion show fee. The longer players last on the island, the more they earn — though for these reality veterans, the payouts still probably won’t feel massive.
EW also confirmed that the $10,000 reunion fee has remained part of cast members’ compensation even during the “new era” of Survivor, despite the show no longer holding a live reunion. Instead, the finalists and jury meet with Probst immediately after the final tribal council to break down the season.
Season 50 carries an “In the Hands of the Fans” theme, giving viewers the chance to vote on whether the “new era” format should continue or if the live post-finale reunion show should make a comeback. The results won’t be revealed until the season airs, but either way, the contestants will still collect that $10,000 reunion fee.
Survivor, Season 50 Premiere, Wednesday, February 25, 8/7c, CBS
