During the first episode of the latest On Fire with Jeff Probst Podcast, the Survivor host touches upon one of the show's pillars: its casting. Throughout its run, Survivor has notoriously cast people from all walks of life and has particularly emphasized having authentic superfans willing to demonstrate their zest for life and the game in the new era.
Probst recognizes that casting is the most critical decision production makes every season, as it takes thousands of hours, resources, and an extenuating process to decide who will be on the island. Since the New Era, Survivor's latest Emmy-nominated casting director, Jesse Tannenbaum, and his team have made conscious decisions to have more "diverse, interesting, compelling, fun, entertaining, and emotional" casts.
"I'm extremely proud of the people that we're finding to be on Survivor, and I think the proof of how good the Survivor casting is can be seen in how many other shows simply wait for us to do a new season and then, they ring up the most popular Survivor players and say, hey, we'll pay you some money if you come do our show. That's a great casting strategy," Probst says as he admits he would probably do the same thing if he were a casting producer on another show.
To settle the dust regarding rumors of how Probst feels when he sees Survivor players appear on other shows, Probst settles the matter by stating, "I like the fact that people want our players. I see that as a badge of honor."
To Probst's point, there is quite a vast list of former Survivor players who have gone on to several reality TV shows following their stint on Survivor, including:
- Big Brother - Cirie Fields
- The Amazing Race - Rob "Boston Rob" Mariano, Amber Mariano, Ethan Zohn, Jenna Morasca, Keith Tollefson, Whitney Duncan, Rupert and Laura Boneham, Corinne Kaplan, Eliza Orlins, Chris Hammons, and Bret LaBelle
- The Traitors - Cirie Fields, Boston Rob, Parvati Shallow, Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos, Jeremy Collins, Carolyn Wiger, Stephenie LaGrossa, and Erika Casupanan in The Traitors Canada
- Australian Survivor - Sandra Diaz-Twine, Parvati Shallow, Cirie Fields, Tony Vlachos, and Russell Hantz
- Deal or No Deal Island - Boston Rob and Parvati Shallow
- The Challenge/The Challenge USA/The Challenge: World Championship - Michele Fitzgerald, Jay Starrett, Natalie Anderson, Tyson Apostol, Chris Underwood, Desi Williams, Michaela Bradshaw, Tommy Sheehan, Tasha Fox, Ben Driebergen, Sarah Lacina, Shan Smith, Domenick Abbate, Danny McCray, Cassidy Clark, and Sebastian Noel
- House of Villains - Jon Dalton and Richard Hatch
- Snake in the Grass - Cirie Fields, Stephenie LaGrossa, Trish Hegarty, Malcolm Freberg, Yul Kwon, and Earl Cole
Other Survivor alumni who have gone on to other shows are Sifu Alsup, Wendell Holland, Jessica "Figgy" Figueroa, Missy Byrd, Libby Vincek, Stephanie Gonzalez, Cole Medders, and more. Regardless of anyone's personal opinions on Jeff Probst, it is safe to say he's right when he says Survivor players are highly sought after. Any fan out there has plenty of material to catch up on if they want to see their favorites competing all over the reality TV world.
While the game's prize might go as far these days, it goes without saying that appearing on Survivor definitely can lead to other opportunities within the world of television.