‘Survivor’: 1 Element of the CBS Show Is Staged

The “reality” portion of reality television has been debated over the years. Some shows are painstakingly obviously fake, while others feel like they are as objective as any Hollywood production can be. And Survivor is a show that leans more toward the latter. Most elements of the CBS reality competition series feel real (even though some fans argue otherwise), but there is one rehearsed aspect of Survivor.

‘Survivor’ has been one of CBS’s top-performing shows for 23 years

Survivor premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS, and the show was an immediate hit. Viewers everywhere were engrossed with this first group of castaways who — Gasp! — would eat a rat on national television. But the strategic gameplay, contestants like Kelly Wigglesworth, Rudy Boesch, Sue Hawk, and Richard Hatch, and the series’ concept had everyone talking.

The first episode was watched by more than 15 million people, which grew to 50 million by the finale. And even though viewers have dwindled over the 23 years Survivor has been on TV, the show is still one of CBS’s top-rated series.

Most agree that Survivor was a game-changer in the world of reality television. It laid the groundwork for future competition shows and is the blueprint. But how much of Survivor is real? Do producers stage any parts of the competition?

One former ‘Survivor’ contestant spills behind-the-scenes secrets from the show

During an interview with Insider, Survivor: Island of the Idols castaway Karishma Patel revealed that producers stage one aspect of the show. However, this element doesn’t affect gameplay or the series’ outcome.

Patel shared that the camera crew sometimes makes the contestants do multiple takes of a scene to get the perfect shot. Specifically, producers require the players to walk to Tribal Council several times.

“They do that shot about three times,” Patel explained. “We have to rewind and do it again from different angles.”

Thankfully, the journey to Tribal Council often doesn’t require players to walk the whole way. Patel added that producers would use a boat to get them to their final destination.

“Many tribals, we had to jump off of the boat, like a quarter-mile back, and just trudge through the water through coral, falling,” she said. “And then you sit in the muddy tent for hours waiting in silence with the bugs everywhere in the ground.” So, still not pleasant.

Survivor producers forbid the castaways from speaking to one another while traveling to and from Tribal Council in the show. They have this rule because they don’t want the cameras to miss important gameplay talk. So, Survivor stages the journey to Tribal Council, but that’s just to make the final episodes look pretty. The “fake” part of the competition doesn’t influence the outcome.

Is anything else staged in ‘Survivor’?

We’re sure that other parts of Survivor are fake (like the immunity idols in the show’s 44th season). But we doubt that producers have a say in who goes home or who is the Sole Survivor. If that were the case, do you think Mike Gabler would have won Survivor 43?

Over the years, former castaways, like Karishma Patel, have disclosed behind-the-scenes secrets from the show. For example, Kelley Wentworth answers many fan questions on her TikTok. She discusses topics such as wardrobe, periods, contact lenses, and more. And these contestants (even after their NDAs expire) always deny accusations that producers stage Survivor.

So, yes, players do actually sleep on bamboo, don’t take showers, poop in the ocean, and do every other disturbing thing one must do when living on an abandoned beach.

Survivor is available to stream on Paramount+. And new episodes of Survivor 44 air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.