Survivor season 41, season 42 filming delayed due to coronavirus concerns

Amid concerns of COVID-19 and the spread of the novel coronavirus, production for Survivor’s next two seasons has been delayed until later this year.

Just recently, casting producers for Survivor season 41 and season 42 publicly noted that they had wrapped their duties, with a return to casting for the show later in August. While that seems to remain the case, the standard filming and production schedule for the show has invariably changed due to international concerns “surrounding the global spread of COVID-19.”

Dalton Ross of EW reports that Jeff Probst, Survivor executive producer and host, has sent a letter to the hundreds of crew members “from over 20 different countries,” informing them that production on season 41, originally due to begin filming on March 24, has been delayed. The new scheduled start date is projected to be “on or about May 19, 2020,” which would come six days after what is expected to be the finale airdate for Winners at War.

Though no cases of the novel coronavirus exist yet in Fiji, the fact that so many crew members from so many countries would be congregating in close quarters presented “a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan,” according to Probst’s letter to the crew.

Despite delaying filming to later this summer, Probst noted the show’s intention “is to still to shoot both seasons 41 and 42” later this year. Considering that the normal filming schedule while even-numbered seasons are airing on television, those scheduled to compete in the next two rounds of gameplay will be able to know who will become the Ultimate Sole Survivor.

Furthermore, because filming for season 41 wouldn’t have started until after the finale’s live reunion, we might not see a teaser for the future seasons this May. We still don’t know how the novel coronavirus will shake out months in advance, so we’ll have to wait for further notice from the network about when we can expect to see seasons 41 and 42 on television.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health for US citizens. Canadian citizens should visit the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website dedicated to the novel coronavirus and COVID-19.