Robert Voets/CBS via Getty ImagesJeff Probst is finally opening up about the casting process for Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.
For the landmark season, the show brought back 24 returning castaways, including three former winners, eleven players who’ve made it to the Final Tribal Council, and several fan-favorites who’ve never won.
In an interview with People published on Wednesday, Jan. 28, the longtime host and executive producer revealed casting started with a list of 200 past contestants before narrowing it down to just 24.
“We did it one player at a time,” Probst explained. “I was just looking through my season 50 notebook at the first stack of players, and it’s crazy how many people we started with — and we had a case for all of them.”
The team was then tasked with cutting the initial cast in half.
“And you just start putting people in the other pile going, ‘Oh my God, this is heartbreaking.’ Because I care,” he said.
Despite having to make difficult decisions, Probst says he feels “really good” about the final cast and its representation of the show’s 25 years on television.
Initially, the cast announcement was met with some disappointment when fans discovered that half of the players are from the “New Era” — or the nine most recent seasons of the series. However, Probst explained that young viewers “don’t know” the older players nearly as well as they do newer cast members.
“So that’s our job too, is to always big picture it,” he added. “I’m really happy with this group, but if there was anything I could change, it would be just softening the blow for the people who didn’t get on.”
In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter also published on Jan. 28, Probst revealed some of the iconic cast members who nearly got on the season.
“Somebody who got away who we really wanted was Amanda [Kimmel]. It was a scheduling thing. At first she was all in. Then when we told her the dates, she started not being as certain because she has a family now,” Probst said. “Then a few people who I won’t name said, ‘We don’t want to do it anymore.’ So, we feel good. The only part of it that was unsettling for me is that we couldn’t say yes to everybody we wanted to and to everybody who wanted to do it. We just couldn’t.”
He also shared that while the show initially considered casting Survivor legends like Boston Rob Mariano and Parvati Shallow, they ultimately decided against including any winners who competed on Winners at War.
“In terms of time being up, Rob [Mariano] and Parvati [Shallow] basically let us know, ‘We’re done. We played in Winners at War, we’ve had a great career,'” Probst said. “I talked to Rob and he was very cool in that he said, ‘If you need me, I will be there for whatever you need. If you don’t need me, I’d rather not.’ And I said, ‘We don’t need you. I really appreciate it.'”
“Rob has earned the right to say no. He’s bled for this show for a long time. We built this show on his back, and on Parvati’s back and [Tony Vlachos’] back and [Sandra Diaz-Twine’s] back,” he added. “So once we had that, we said, this makes it easy. No winners from Survivor 40, no players from 40. That got rid of 20 great players, but it opened the door for new players and that was one of the things Rob said. He goes, ‘Give somebody else a shot. I played a lot.'”
For the anniversary season, fans were able to vote on key elements of the game, including on whether there will be idols, whether fire making will remain, and whether the live finale and reunion show will return in Los Angeles. As always, the contestants will compete for a $1 million cash prize.
In a commercial break during the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 11, Probst revealed the first result of the fan vote, confirming the live reunion show will be making a comeback for the upcoming season and will film in Los Angeles in May.
Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans premieres Wednesday, Feb. 25 with a special three-hour episode at 8/7c on CBS.
This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 28, 2026.
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