Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans is the 50th season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on February 25, 2026, on CBS in the United States, and it is the eighteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Commemorating the show's twenty-fifth anniversary, and celebrating the show's fans, this season features game mechanics and production designs chosen by an online public vote which occurred during Survivor 48.

The cast was officially revealed on May 28, 2025, one week after Survivor 48's finale. During the cast reveal, 22 out of the 24 players were announced, with two other players, both from the preceding Survivor 49, remaining a mystery until December 17, 2025, following the Survivor 49 finale. With 24 contestants, this is also the largest cast the show has had to date. In addition, Zac Brown made an appearance on the island as part of a tribal reward, while fellow musician Billie Eilish had her name attached to a special immunity idol used this season. Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and social media personality MrBeast are also expected to be name-dropped and/or make appearances during the season, as celebrity fans who will impact the game.

It is the fifteenth season to feature returning players, and the sixth to feature a cast consisting entirely of returning players, following Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Cambodia - Second Chances, Survivor: Game Changers, and Survivor: Winners at War.

Production

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

On December 15, 2023, Manoa Kamikamica, the Fijian Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, announced that the Fijian Parliament had renewed its contract with Survivor for an additional two years. On April 27, 2024, Jeff Probst announced that the 50th season would feature returning players. Filming began on June 6, 2025. The premiere episode ran for three hours.

Before the filming of the series, the Survivor production team hosted a series of challenges for season 2 of the Amazon Prime Video reality series Beast Games, with Jeff Probst appearing as a co-host as part of the crossover. The series also featured a number of former Survivor contestants. As part of the crossover Beast Games presenter Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson is set to appear in an episode of Survivor 50 as a celebrity fan, introducing a twist.

Public vote

On February 22, 2025, Probst announced the season as Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. For the first time ever, viewers were given the opportunity to vote on game mechanics and production choices that would appear on the season. Voting began on February 26, 2025, during the premiere of Survivor 48. Unlike the voting for Survivor: Cambodia, in which viewers could cast up to 20 votes per day for up to 15 days to determine the cast of that season, fans were only able to cast one vote per ballot question, and all the questions were spread out over four non-consecutive weeks during the airing of Survivor 48.

The following questions were put to a vote by Survivor producers:

<table><thead><tr><th>Date</th><th>Subject matter</th><th>Options</th><th>References</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>February 26, 2025</td><td>Tribe colors</td><td>Blue, orange, and green</td><td>Orange, teal, and magenta</td><td>Green, red, and yellow</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rice</td><td>Give them rice! (40%)</td><td>Make players earn it! (60%)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Final four fire-making</td><td>Keep it</td><td>Lose it</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Vote reveal & reunion</td><td>Do it live in Los Angeles!</td><td>Keep it in Fiji!</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>March 19, 2025</td><td>Final four challenge</td><td>Pinball Wizard</td><td>The Obstacle Course</td><td>Simmotion</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Advantages</td><td>Minimal power</td><td>Strategic power</td><td>Dynamic power</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tribe switch</td><td>Yes</td><td>No</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>April 16, 2025</td><td>Immunity necklace</td><td>Design A (a medallion)</td><td>Design B (a decorative bird)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Tribe supplies</td><td>Give them their camp supplies! (47%)</td><td>Make them earn their camp supplies! (53%)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Twists</td><td>I don't like twists - keep them rare!</td><td>I love twists - bring them on!</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>May 14, 2025</td><td>Idols</td><td>No (20%)</td><td>Yes (80%)</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Celebrity fans' twists

In addition to the public vote from viewers, the season also featured a number of game twists introduced by celebrity fans.

Episode Introduced	Twist	Conceived by	Effect
1	Boomerang Idol	Billie Eilish	This immunity idol found in the pre-merge had to be gifted to a player on another tribe. When gifted, the Idol could be used and held only by the player to whom it was gifted. If the player is voted out with the Idol, it returns to the castaway who originally found it.
4	Celebrity Reward	Zac Brown	The tribe who finished first in the Day 9 reward/immunity challenge won a trip to the Survivor Sanctuary to have an outing with Zac Brown, who provided a meal that he caught while spearfishing. Brown also performed a private concert for the winning tribe.

Casting

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

In casting this season, Probst stated, "We want a cast that represents all types of players, spanning all the eras. An array of people who have slept bled this ever-changing game design for the last 25 years. Because, really, Survivor 50 is a representation of everyone who has ever played and the fans who've been with us for the entire time." In August 2024, Probst stated that the casting team started with a list of 200 previous players and had narrowed it down to 100 by that point in time. When asked by Dalton Ross in October 2024 about players potentially in the casting pool taking offers for shows on other networks including Australian Survivor and The Traitors, Probst said "We've had many players call us and say, 'I only want to do Survivor again.' That also makes an impression on us. We take note of that loyalty, and we appreciate it. But we definitely don't demand it." By February 2025, the list was whittled down to 50. Following the cast reveal on May 28, 2025, Probst said "Casting Survivor 50 was kind of like casting the ultimate all-time movie. And you think about all the actors who are alive today that you could put in that movie, but there is only so many roles, and we wanted Fifty to be a little taste of everything. 'Cause...we've done Heroes vs. Villains, and Game Changers, and Fans vs. Favorites, and winners. We wanted to taste every flavor, every type personality, all the eras."

The first 22 (out of 24) players in the cast were officially revealed by Probst on the May 28, 2025, edition of CBS Mornings. The final two cast members, both from Survivor 49 which had yet to air, would not be revealed until after that season's finale on December 17. Five-time Survivor player "Boston Rob" Mariano was one of the castaways contacted for this season, but he declined, saying that he was taking a hiatus from competitive reality shows. Amanda Kimmel from Survivor: China, Survivor: Micronesia and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains was similarly contacted to be on the season but declined due to scheduling issues.

Contestants that were reportedly in consideration but cut include: Spencer Bledsoe from Survivor: Cagayan and Survivor: Cambodia, Rob Cesternino from Survivor: The Amazon and Survivor: All-Stars, Rome Cooney from Survivor 47, Tevin Davis from Survivor 46, Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa from Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, Abi-Maria Gomes from Survivor: Philippines and Survivor: Cambodia, Jesse Lopez from Survivor 43, Jerri Manthey from Survivor: The Australian Outback, Survivor: All-Stars, and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Jonathan Penner from Survivor: Cook Islands, Survivor: Micronesia, and Survivor: Philippines, Sean Rector from Survivor: Marquesas, Davie Rickenbacker from Survivor: David vs. Goliath, Natalie Tenerelli from Survivor: Redemption Island, and Carolyn Wiger from Survivor 44.

DQ-FAM, the Fiji Airways airplane used to market Survivor 50 (seen in 2024)

In the Hands of the Fans is the first season to not follow the CBS diversity initiative, since its introduction in Survivor 41, which required at least half the cast to be Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), with only between 10-11 out of the 24 players being of a BIPOC background. This aligns with the decision by CBS to nebulously discontinue the casting diversity initiative, amid broader discussions to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in April 2025. Despite the hypothetical change in policy, Jesse Tannenbaum (casting director for all of CBS's reality shows) stated, "Well, from my perspective, nothing's changed. I've always, in the back of my mind, felt we needed more diversity on these shows...I'm still shooting for having a really diverse cast because I think everybody needs to be represented."

Marketing

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

In the lead up to the season, Fiji Airways announced that it would create an Airbus A350 Survivor 50-branded plane with its registration DQ-FAM, in conjunction with a sweepstakes that awarded fans with a trip to Fiji during this season's filming.

On January 30, 2026, the series launched a national scavenger hunt with 50 immunity idols hidden in each of the 50 U.S. states with each person who finds an idol entered into a grand prize sweepstakes to attend the live finale in Los Angeles.

Beginning on February 9, 2026, CBS began airing 10 reruns of classic Survivor episodes programmed as "The Road to 50." These episodes were key points in the Survivor 50 cast's journey to the season. Episodes included are from Survivor: Micronesia, Survivor: Tocantins, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: South Pacific, Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers, Survivor: David vs. Goliath, Survivor: Edge of Extinction, Survivor 45, Survivor 46 and Survivor 48.

Contestants

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

22 of the 24 castaways competing on Survivor 50 were officially announced on CBS Mornings on May 28, 2025. Two remaining contestants from Survivor 49 were left unannounced and were later announced on the conclusion of the latter's finale, which was on December 17, 2025.

In addition to the various past appearances of the contestants on Survivor and other reality shows, the series notably reunites Cirie Fields & Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, who competed against each other on Snake in the Grass and The Traitors, which aired in mid 2022 and early 2023, respectively. Fields also competed internationally on Australian Survivor: Australia V The World.

<table><thead><tr><th>Contestant</th><th>Age</th><th>From</th><th>Tribe</th><th>Finish</th><th>Shot in the Dark Status</th><th>Advantage(s) / Disadvantage(s) on hand</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Original</td><td>Switched</td><td>Merged</td><td>Placement</td><td>Day</td></tr><tr><td>Jenna Lewis-Dougherty Borneo & All-Stars</td><td>47</td><td>Woodland, California</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>1st voted out</td><td>Day 3</td><td>Unused</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Kyle Fraser Survivor 48</td><td>31</td><td>Brooklyn, New York</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td></td><td>Medically evacuated</td><td>Day 4</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Savannah Louie Survivor 49</td><td>31</td><td>Atlanta, Georgia</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>2nd voted out</td><td>Day 6</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Quintavius "Q" Burdette Survivor 46</td><td>31</td><td>Germantown, Tennessee</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td>3rd voted out</td><td>Day 8</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Mike White David vs. Goliath</td><td>54</td><td>Hanalei, Hawaii</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td>4th voted out</td><td>Day 9</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Angelina Keeley David vs. Goliath</td><td>35</td><td>San Diego, California</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td>5th voted out</td><td>Day 11</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Charlie Davis Survivor 46</td><td>27</td><td>Boston, Massachusetts</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td>6th voted out</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Aubry Bracco Kaôh Rōng, Game Changers & Edge of Extinction</td><td>39</td><td>Hampton Falls, New Hampshire</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Merged Tribe</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td>Boomerang Idol</td></tr><tr><td>Rick Devens Edge of Extinction</td><td>41</td><td>Macon, Georgia</td><td>Cila</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Colby Donaldson The Australian Outback, All-Stars & Heroes vs. Villains</td><td>51</td><td>Austin, Texas</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td>Lost Vote</td></tr><tr><td>Tiffany Ervin Survivor 46</td><td>34</td><td>Los Angeles, California</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cirie Fields Panama, Micronesia, Heroes vs. Villains & Game Changers</td><td>54</td><td>Jersey City, New Jersey</td><td>Cila</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td>Extra Vote</td></tr><tr><td>Emily Flippen Survivor 45</td><td>30</td><td>Laurel, Maryland</td><td>Cila</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Chrissy Hofbeck Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers</td><td>54</td><td>The Villages, Florida</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Christian Hubicki David vs. Goliath</td><td>39</td><td>Tallahassee, Florida</td><td>Cila</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td></td><td>None</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Joe Hunter Survivor 48</td><td>45</td><td>West Sacramento, California</td><td>Cila</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Kamilla Karthigesu Survivor 48</td><td>31</td><td>Foster City, California</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick Palau, Guatemala & Heroes vs. Villains</td><td>45</td><td>Dunedin, Florida</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Oscar "Ozzy" Lusth Cook Islands, Micronesia, South Pacific & Game Changers</td><td>43</td><td>Guanajuato, Mexico</td><td>Cila</td><td>Vatu</td><td></td><td></td><td>2× Active</td><td>Boomerang Idol</td></tr><tr><td>Genevieve Mushaluk Survivor 47</td><td>34</td><td>Winnipeg, Manitoba</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Dee Valladares Survivor 45</td><td>28</td><td>Miami, Florida</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Rizo Velovic Survivor 49</td><td>25</td><td>Yonkers, New York</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td>Boomerang Idol</td></tr><tr><td>Benjamin "Coach" Wade Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains & South Pacific</td><td>53</td><td>Susanville, California</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Kalo</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Jonathan Young Survivor 42</td><td>32</td><td>Gulf Shores, Alabama</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Cila</td><td></td><td></td><td>Active</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Season summary

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

The season filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.

<table><thead><tr><th>Episode</th><th>Challenge winner(s)</th><th>Eliminated</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>No.</td><td>Title</td><td>Air date</td><td>Reward</td><td>Immunity</td><td>Tribe</td><td>Player</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>"Epic Party"</td><td>February 25, 2026</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Cila</td><td>Jenna</td></tr><tr><td>Vatu</td></tr><tr><td>None</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Kyle</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>"Therapy Carousel"</td><td>March 4, 2026</td><td>Cila</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Cila</td><td>Savannah</td></tr><tr><td>Kalo</td><td>Kalo</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>"Did You Vote For a Swap?"</td><td>March 11, 2026</td><td>Cila</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Q</td></tr><tr><td>Kalo</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>"Knife to the Heart"</td><td>March 18, 2026</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Mike</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Cila</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>"Open Wounds"</td><td>March 25, 2026</td><td>None</td><td>Kalo</td><td>Vatu</td><td>Angelina</td></tr><tr><td>Cila</td><td>Charlie</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>"The Blood Moon"</td><td>April 1, 2026</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>"That's Not How I Play Survivor"</td><td>April 8, 2026</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

Episodes

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

<table><thead><tr><th>No. overall</th><th>No. in season</th><th>Title</th><th>Day(s)</th><th>Rating/share (18–49)</th><th>Original release date</th><th>U.S. viewers (millions)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>715</td><td>1</td><td>"Epic Party"</td><td>Days 1–4</td><td>0.95/13</td><td>February 25, 2026 (2026-02-25)</td><td>5.06</td></tr><tr><td>The 24 returning castaways began their adventure. After Jeff welcomed the returning Survivors and discussed what it meant to return, the players selected small packages with their names on them, each containing a tribe buff, and the three tribes were revealed. Vatu won the challenge. Each tribe had to choose a member of their tribe to go on a journey to get their tribe supply. Ozzy, Coach, and Q were selected to go. Ozzy knocked the key off the post first, but Coach grabbed it and won the challenge. Following the challenge, Ozzy and Q read what they believed was a reward clue, only to discover they were being sent to Exile Island for losing. The next morning, they were told they had to agree that one of them would give up their vote to receive supplies, while the other would gain an extra vote. Ozzy convinced Q to give up his vote, allowing Q to receive his tribes supplies while Ozzy gained an extra vote. The challenge was paused when Kyle injured himself and was unable to put weight on his foot, but he continued in the challenge. Kalo and Vatu won the challenge. At Cila, Jenna threw out Cirie's name out for the first vote. Ozzy alerted Cirie, and at Tribal Council the tribe unanimously voted out Jenna for playing too aggressively early in the game. On Day 4, Genevieve and Stephenie found the Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol, a special immunity idol that had to be given to someone on another tribe. The recipient could not use the idol on anyone else, and if voted out while in possession of it, the idol would "boomerang" back to its finder (in this case, Genevieve, who decided to gift the idol to Ozzy). Although Kyle was feeling better on Day 4, Jeff and the medical team evaluated him at camp and diagnosed a likely ruptured Achilles tendon. He was medically evacuated from the game.</td></tr><tr><td>716</td><td>2</td><td>"Therapy Carousel"</td><td>Days 4–6</td><td>0.94/12</td><td>March 4, 2026 (2026-03-04)</td><td>4.95</td></tr><tr><td>Kalo and Cila won reward. Christian finds a second Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol and gifts it to Aubry. Vatu and Kalo won Immunity. Before Tribal Council Ozzy gives his extra vote to Cirie. At Tribal Council, Savannah was unanimously voted out with a Block-a-Vote in her pocket. As the Survivors were leaving, Christian distracts the tribe by falling to the ground allowing Rick to plant a fake immunity idol in the seating area.</td></tr><tr><td>717</td><td>3</td><td>"Did You Vote For a Swap?"</td><td>Days 6–8</td><td>0.87/11</td><td>March 11, 2026 (2026-03-11)</td><td>4.88</td></tr><tr><td>On Day 7, the tribes were reshuffled. Charlie, Kamilla, Dee, Rizo and Jonathan went to Cila with Rick and Cirie. Aubry, Colby, Joe and Genevieve went to Kalo with Tiffany, Chrissy and Coach. Emily, Christian, Ozzy and Mike went to Vatu with Q, Angelina and Stephenie. Cila and Kalo won. At Tribal Council, Q did not have a vote, Stephenie voted for Angelina, the remaining members voted out Q.</td></tr><tr><td>718</td><td>4</td><td>"Knife to the Heart"</td><td>Days 8–9</td><td>0.96/12</td><td>March 18, 2026 (2026-03-18)</td><td>5.22</td></tr><tr><td>Genevieve finds the third Billie Eilish Boomerang Idol, her second overall, and gifts it to Rizo. Kalo and Cila won Immunity. Kalo won the reward, a trip to the Survivor Sanctuary with a feast and music by Zac Brown. At Tribal Council, Ozzy voted for Angelina, Mike and Angelina voted for Emily, and the remaining three members voted out Mike.</td></tr><tr><td>719</td><td>5</td><td>"Open Wounds"</td><td>Days 9–11</td><td>0.93/12</td><td>March 25, 2026 (2026-03-25)</td><td>5.10</td></tr><tr><td>Before the Immunity Challenge, Jeff reveals that only one tribe will win immunity and two tribes will go to tribal. Kalo won Immunity sending both Vatu and Cila to Tribal Council. At the Tribal Councils, Vatu attended first with Angelina being unanimously voted out. At Cila's Tribal Council, the vote was split 4–3: Charlie, Jonathan and Rick voted for Rizo while the majority of Cirie, Dee, Kamila and Rizo voted to eliminate Charlie.</td></tr><tr><td>720</td><td>6</td><td>"The Blood Moon"</td><td>TBA</td><td>TBA</td><td>April 1, 2026 (2026-04-01)</td><td>TBD</td></tr><tr><td>721</td><td>7</td><td>"That's Not How I Play Survivor"</td><td>TBA</td><td>TBA</td><td>April 8, 2026 (2026-04-08)</td><td>TBD</td></tr></tbody></table>

Voting history

Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans

	Original tribes	Switched tribes	Merged tribe
Episode	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13
Day	3	4	6	8	9	11
Tribe	Cila	Vatu	Cila	Vatu	Vatu	Vatu	Cila
Eliminated	Jenna	Kyle	Savannah	Q	Mike	Angelina	Charlie
Votes	7–1	Evacuated	6–1	5–1	3–2–1	4–1	4–3
Voter	Vote
Aubry
Chrissy
Christian	Jenna		Savannah	Q	Mike	Angelina
Cirie	Jenna		Savannah				Charlie
Coach
Colby
Dee							Charlie
Emily	Jenna		Savannah	Q	Mike	Angelina
Genevieve
Joe	Jenna		Savannah
Jonathan							Rizo
Kamilla							Charlie
Ozzy	Jenna		Savannah	Q	Angelina	Angelina
Rick	Jenna		Savannah				Rizo
Rizo							Charlie
Stephenie				Angelina	Mike	Angelina
Tiffany
Charlie							Rizo
Angelina				Q	Emily	Stephenie
Mike				Q	Emily
Q				None
Savannah	Jenna		Ozzy
Kyle		Evacuated
Jenna	Cirie