Survivor 49 is officially here! The season premiere, "Act One of a Horror Film," premieres on Sept. 24, only on CBS and Paramount+.
About a month ago, CBS revealed the new Survivor 49 cast and shared video intros for each of the 18 players. Since then, we've learned even more about these players. Jeff Probst can't stop talking about one of the players. It's going to be a really fun group of players.
Heading into the season premiere, I shared a list of the players to watch in the season premiere. I've done these for the last few seasons, and I just want to help fans get familiar with these players before they hit the beach in Fiji.
Let's get the list started with the man, the myth, the legend, Rizgod.
Rizo Velovic
Rizo Velovic, also known as the Rizgod, is the most captivating player of Survivor 49, and it's been that way since we learned about him in the first trailer for Survivor 49 that was released during the Survivor 48 finale. Rizo is one of the most charismatic Survivor players we've seen in a long time, and that's obvious from the first second of his intro video.
The 25-year-old tech salesman from Yonkers, New York, is also the player Jeff Probt is obsessed with in the Survivor 49 cast. Jeff's done a bunch of interviews about the season, and the player he continues to bring up is Rizo. Again, it's easy to see why. Rizo has a great story, and he's a Survivor superfan.
He's going to start Survivor 49 on the Uli tribe, which appears to have a lot of interesting personalities. Jeff opened up about three of the players on that tribe, including Rizo, Savannah Louie, who I'll share more about shortly, and Nate Moore, a Marvel producer.
Jake Latimer
Jake Latimer is one of the two Canadians on the Survivor 49 cast, along with Jeremiah Ing. Jake is one of the most fascinating players on Survivor 49 for a few seasons. First, he's the most physically imposing player on this season. It doesn't look like there's anyone even close to his size and strength on this season. That could be a huge asset as for the Hina tribe to start the game, and it could be very helpful to Jake if he's able to make the merge. We've seen several players in recent seasons roll off several immunity challenge wins in a row to stay in the game longer than they probably should have.
Jake also has a lot to play for back home. He missed the birth of his child to play Survivor 49, which he revealed in his intro video. And, the reason for that is pretty special, too. Jake's dad, who has been a Survivor fan since the first season, is losing his eyesight due to a condition. His father's eyesight will likely be gone by the end of the year, so this is Jake's last chance to play Survivor while his father will get the chance to see it.
Jake told the rest of the players about why he's played in the season premiere, as revealed by one of the first clips of the season.
Savannah Louie
Savannah Louie is one of the Survivor 49 players who has been on our radar for a long time based on some rumors. I'm not going to into more detail, but she seems like one of the players to watch in the season premiere, especially after Jeff's latest comments.
In the TV Line interview, Jeff revealed Savannah is one of the most confident and smart players of the season. He said she is "very confident — lots of Rs in the spelling of ‘very’ — with her ability to read people."
As a former journalist, Savannah likely has a knack for knowing when people aren't being 100% truthful. That skill, if she really has it, is probably the single-most important skill one could have in Survivor. Heading into the season, Savannah reminds me a lot of Rachel LaMont. There were several times in Survivor 47 when Rachel's intuition led her to knowing a big move was coming and modifying her game to make sure she was safe. It happened over and over again during that season. Perhaps, that's what Savannah will bring to the table, too.
Kristina Mills
Kristina Mills is another player who is really interesting to me based on the player videos. She's a mom of two young kids, who she left to come play this season. She explained how she was going through a rough time in her life a few years ago, and she found a lot of hope through Survivor and knew she needed to apply. Now, she's on the show a few years later! How cool!
Kristina also reveals that she's a liberal living in the most conservative state in America, and she finds a way to work with people with very different beliefs and values.
"If you didn't know, Oklahoma is the only state where every single county is red, and I am a Black liberal," Kristina says in her video. "I can deal with literally any type of person."
That's such an interesting perspective, and it hints at the game Kristina is going to play, which is a very social game. We've seen a lot of players win Survivor lately with a great social strategy. Kristina starts the game on the Hina tribe.
Matt Williams
I'm obviously not judging by his appearance, but Matt has one of the most unique looks of the Survivor 49 cast. On a season that has some big pirate themes, Matt definitely looks the part.
Matt is the oldest player on this season at 52 years old, but he doesn't feel like the oldest, you know? As he points out in his pregame interview, he's been hauling luggage around the airport and on and off planes for a decade. He's strong, physically fit, and he's ready to dominate parts of this game.
It's going to be really interesting to see if he's able to fit in with his tribemates on the Hina tribe who are who are notably younger than him. If he can, and if he can prove himself in challenges, Matt has a chance to go far in this game.
Those are the players to watch in the Survivor 49 premiere! Watch the full, two-hour episode on Wednesday, Sept. 24!