Survivor isn't planning on leaving the airwaves anytime soon, confirmed by the fact that the show is starting its casting process for seasons 41 and 42. As fans prepare for a pair of upcoming seasons featuring some of their favorite players, they can pass the time by sending in audition videos in hopes of living out their own Survivor dream.
Each year around this time, Survivor starts casting for its next two seasons, which film during late spring and summer. Though the show doesn't collect the ratings it once did, it still carries its time slot each season. Its support is buoyed heavily by many of the same hardcore loyalists who send in applications to get cast. Over time, former contestants and host/showrunner Jeff Probst have offered their advice of how to increase chances of advancing to the next round. With a fair share of contestants who are recruits, a rotation of partially or all-returnee seasons, and the thousands of applications that are sent in annually, the odds of making it on Survivor remain infinitesimal for the average viewer watching at home.
When Survivor casting producer Jodi Wincheski tweeted, "I’m not doing anything on #Survivor until we start Aug 5th," it was a coded clue that the process of producers poring over audition tapes would begin in earnest around that day. It was also further confirmation that Survivor, the reality television show that has birthed an excessive amount of reality offshoots, has developed a system that can withstand the test of time. Check out the tweet below:
While the theme of either season 41 or 42 won't be known until a later date, it can be fair to assume that either one or both of the seasons will consist of all new players. The show will be coming off three consecutive seasons that included returning players in some capacity, and it has stayed consistent in mixing iterations of all newbies with bringing back memorable contestants from seasons past. Both seasons will also likely be set in Fiji, a location Probst has said he has no intention of leaving to shoot somewhere else after show settled there for season 33.
Though it has evolved over the years to stay relevant and fresh, Survivor exists in a separate plane from many other reality shows on the air today. For most Survivor-adjacent competitions that involve some form of elimination, contestants often apply not because they love the gist of the show but because they want to develop a following on social media. It's not a malicious mindset, considering the times in which we currently live. But for Survivor, most of the contestants who are cast in the modern era are long-time fans of the show, truly there for the experience as much as the payout. Surely, Survivor won't be on the air forever, but as long as it is, it won't have any shortage of applications to sift through.
Survivor season 39 premieres on Wednesday, September 25 at 8pm on CBS.
Source: Jodi Wincheski