Though the new era has featured mainly returning challenges, there have been hundreds of unique challenges introduced on Survivor over the last 50 seasons. And while I personally love watching the challenges play out, there are a few that even I have to close my eyes during because they are just so obscene.
“Combat” challenges—where players have to physically attack each other—have basically been banned in the new era and only appeared occasionally throughout seasons 31-39 after a brutal and emotional display of loved one vs. loved one in Survivor: San Juan del Sur. So when Jeff Probst tells players they have to "dig deep" during challenges, it doesn't end as violently as it used to.
But the challenges that fall into that category aren’t even the craziest we’ve seen. And while it was hard to narrow down, we’ve gathered up our top five most “they have to do what?!” challenges in Survivor history.
Spit It Out
Survivor: Nicaragua; Survivor: Redemption Island
While the two times it was featured varied slightly, both required three tribes members to be strapped to a large wheel that the other players would spin, dunking the wheel players under water briefly in order to get a mouthful that they could spit into a tube. Once the tube was full, a ball would be released signaling the second part of the challenge—either breaking tiles or solving a slide puzzle/maze depending on the season.
Butch Cassidy
Survivor: The Australian Outback; Survivor: One World
While the challenge was adapted for One World, the version introduced in season 2 was a true integration of the show and the environment. Players had to jump off a 35 foot cliff and swim to a crate. Once all tribe members arrived at the crate, they could unclip it and then swim down the river through the rapids to arrive back at the beach and carry their crate to a platform. Probably one of the most risky challenges in Survivor history.
Kicking and Screaming
Survivor: Cook Islands; Survivor: Gabon; Survivor: Cagayan
This challenge sounds like exactly what it is… tribes would appoint players to cling to a wooden pole while opposing tribe players (of the same gender) had to pull them off the pole and drag them across the challenge field to a mat. While there were a lot more physical challenges in the earlier days of Survivor, this one still feels like the most brutal.
Piranha Feast
Survivor: The Amazon; Survivor: Fiji; Survivor: South Pacific
This is one of those challenges that has absolutely no chance of ever happening again in a post-COVID world… With their hands tied behind their backs, players had to rip pieces of meat off of a spit roast with their mouths and then spit them out into a basket. The heaviest basket at the end of a timed period wins. First, the idea of gnawing at the same piece of meat as your tribe mates is gross. And second, it’s even worse when these people are already starving and having to put food in their mouth only to spit it out.
Cat and Mouse
Survivor: Micronesia
Only appearing on one season—due to an obscene amount of injuries—this challenge was basically an aggressive game of timed capture the flag. Two players from each tribe would compete in one round, harnessed to their tribe mate. The “hunters” goal was to grab a flag off of the “prey” (whose goal was to outlast the hunters chase). It all took place in a maze and with some “hunters” fighting more aggressively than the tribe mate they were tied to, a lot of dragging occurred.
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