‘Survivor’ Host Jeff Probst Reveals How Season 41 ‘Forever Changed’ the Game
Forty-three seasons into Survivor, the game is bound to have numerous changes. The show has adapted over the years, and some changes have been more successful than others. But through it all, the one constant has been Survivor host Jeff Probst.
CBS enacted a 50 percent diversity initiative in 2020
One significant change that directly affected Survivor was when CBS announced in 2020 that they established a new rule that states the casts of their reality shows had to include at least 50 percent Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).
Fans first saw this change in Big Brother 23 in the summer of 2021, which resulted in the first Black winner in the show’s 23 seasons. The following season in 2022 was also historic because Taylor Hale became the first Black woman winner of a regular season of Big Brother. And the initiative was also noticeably effective in Survivor.
Survivor Season 41 was the first time the rule was enacted in the show. Erika Casupanan was crowned the winner in the finale, making her the first Filipino to win. And Maryanne Oketch was the Sole Survivor in Survivor Season 42, making her the second Black woman to win the game since Vecepia Towery in Survivor Season 4.
‘Survivor’ host Jeff Probst reflects on the change
During an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2022, Jeff Probst discussed the dynamic casts of the past two seasons of Survivor.
“It all circles back to when George Cheeks [President and CEO of CBS Entertainment] laid out the new CBS diversity casting mandate,” the host explained. “Having the power and the courage to make that happen forever changed Survivor.”
Probst then went on to talk about the Survivor Season 43 cast. He said, “The Survivor 43 players come from so many different types of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures, and that leads to really unique stories. I love this group of players. This entire season was so unpredictable. Some days I was laughing, other days I was moved, and some days I was just completely perplexed by what was going on!”
Fans will have to wait and see which one of the Survivor Season 43 castaways takes home the title of Sole Survivor.
Jeff Probst discusses the shortened ‘Survivor’ seasons
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic also caused the Survivor producers to modify the game, including its length. Historically, the castaways play the game over a span of 39 days. But thanks to COVID-19, producers had to shorten it to 26 days. And that won’t be changing anytime soon.
“The 26-day season is here to stay,” Survivor host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly. “This is our new game, and we are very excited about the future.”
He added, “From a big-picture point of view, this new era is here to stay. Twenty-six days, no food, meager supplies, penalties for losing, risky advantages, fast pace, small tribes. We like this version, and we think it has legs, so we’re going to work within that format and see where it goes.”
Survivor Season 43 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
