We are less than a month away from the premiere of Survivor 48. The season will kick off with a two-hour premiere on CBS Wednesday, February 26 at 8 p.m. EST. Much about the upcoming season is still under wraps but we do know a few details.
Here’s what you need to know.
Who is competing on Survivor 48?
The cast list for Survivor 48, released on January 29, revealed the 18 new castaways competing for the title of Sole Survivor and the coveted $1 million prize. The new group includes a PhD candidate, a P.E. coach, and a stunt performer.
The cast’s pre-interviews with Entertainment Weekly revealed that many of them are Survivor superfans, who have been watching the show since they were kids.
“I started watching Survivor during Cook Islands and saw Yul Kwon as an inspiration to apply. It has taken some time to be physically ready, but I believe now I have the strategic, social, and physical skills to do well on Survivor,” 34-year-old Kevin Leung told the outlet.
The “new era” of Survivor differs greatly from the early seasons because most contestants have been watching the show for years. They know the rulebook like the back of their hand and winning the game is about more than money. They want to make a mark on the show that raised them.
That is certainly the case with 31-year-old Kyle Fraser, who called Survivor the “best game on earth” in his pre-interview.
Where was Survivor 48 filmed?
Survivor 48 was filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji. The show used to change locations each season until host Jeff Probst fell in love with Fiji.
“I hope we stay here forever,” he told EW in 2017.
Filming for the upcoming season lasted 26 days. The show used to film for 39 days before the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced production to shorten the length of the season. After COVID restrictions were lifted, production chose to continue with 26-day seasons. The change caused controversy among longtime fans who felt the shorter season made the game too easy.
What twists will return for Survivor 48?
We don’t know much about what twists will return or be added to the game for Survivor 48, but we have our predictions.
The Shot in the Dark twist is likely to return. The twist, which was first introduced in Survivor 41, gives each player a 1/6 chance to save their game at Tribal Council and nullify the votes cast against them. We’ll also (hopefully) see the return of the Survivor Auction, which allows players to give money in exchange for food.
The controversial Hourglass Advantage is unlikely to return. The twist appeared in Seasons 41 and 42 but received backlash from viewers who felt the advantage gave one player way too much power. The twist disappeared after Season 42 and has not been introduced since.
We will likely see a new twist in the upcoming season but we haven’t heard word of what that could be…
How long will the Survivor 48 episodes be?
In 2023, CBS announced that Survivor episodes would be 90 minutes long to help fill the void in scripted programming during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Once the strikes ended, the network chose to continue with the longer episodes after seeing a positive response from fans.
Jeff spoke about how the extended episodes changed Survivor in a September 2023 interview with EW.
“I actually had been pitching CBS for probably five years, ‘Let us try 90 minutes!’ And they were always reluctant because that’s a long episode and you’re never sure when it’s too much,” he said. “Ninety minutes presented an interesting challenge for us because we still only had 26 days to shoot, but we have essentially 50 percent more show to produce.”
Jeff said that the extra time allowed production to bring back segments that got lost over the years such as the beloved Survivor auction.
All Survivor 48 episodes, excluding the finale, will be 90 minutes long. The May 21 finale will be three hours long.
Survivor can be streamed on Hulu, fuboTV, and Paramount Plus.
TELL US – WILL YOU TUNE IN TO THE SURVIVOR 48 PREMIERE? WHAT TWISTS DO YOU WANT TO SEE THIS SEASON?