During the first season of Survivor, everyone who appeared on the show was only there to have an adventure and possibly win a fortune. As early as the second season of the show, however, it began to seem like the show's players had studied the people who competed before them. More recently, it has felt like virtually every Survivor player has had an encyclopedic knowledge of Survivor's history. Not only that, Jeff Probst may be the biggest super fan involved in the show, which is why he seems to love doing things like naming the best players ever.
Now, Survivor 49's first episode made it seem like the season's players were playing into tropes from the past. For example, one player hiding their tribemates' shoes was a throwback to the antics of the show's legends, which has me excited about the season. However, it turns out that not every Survivor 49 player is a long-time super fan, and Jeff recently clarified that people don't have to know everything about the show to be cast.
Jeff Probst proclaimed Survivor players don't have to be super fans
Before Survivor 49 began airing, it was revealed that two people who'd originally been cast on the season were kicked out for breaking the show's rules. While that must have been devastating for the exiled rule-breakers, Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu was one of the two alternates who were lucky enough to be thrust into the game the night before the players began competing.
When Parade began publishing profiles of Survivor 49's players, their piece about Michele revealed a fascinating fact. the alternate player who got to compete in the game only became a fan of the reality show recently. While talking to Parade, Michele admitted that Survivor 47 is the first season she watched.
"So I have a secret. My secret is Season 47 was my first ever season of Survivor that I ever watched. So I had never watched Survivor, but I just love hanging out with my friends. I wanted an excuse to hang out with them, so I was like, 'Let’s do a watch party. Let’s watch something every week.' They were like, 'Oh,Survivor just came back on,' and I’m like, 'Oh, yeah, sure, okay.' And then I came in on Episode 3 of Season 47, and I became obsessed. I was like, 'How have I missed this my entire life? This has been going on for the last 25 years?' And so I watched all of 47, I binged half of the seasons, old era and new era. I applied, and now I’m here!"
Considering Michele had only watched half of seasons and she began enjoying the show when Survivor 47 was airing in 2024, she clearly can't be called a super fan. However, while talking to TV Insider about Michele in September 2025, Jeff Probst emphatically stated Survivor players don't have to be super fans.
"MC is a great reminder to future applicants: You don’t have to have been watching Survivor for 25 years [to be cast]. We don’t care. We only care that you understand the game."
Since so many modern Survivor players are super fans, Jeff's comments seem surprising. That said, requiring competitors to have encyclopedic knowledge of the game would be foolish for the show's casting team. After all, that would cut off the chance of casting many compelling people, and having less knowledgeable players in the game also adds some variety to the show.