The Survivor 50 cast is jam-packed with legends, stars, and all-around good Survivor players willing to lay it all on the line to win the biggest season in the show's history.
Some of those players, as Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly, were must-haves for Survivor 50's casting team, including Ozzy Lusth and Jenna Lewis-Dougherty. In the interview, Probst opened up about one surprising new era player who earned a spot in the season, and that player was Survivor 46's Q Burdette.
There are 24 players competing on Survivor 50. Q joins 11 other new era players competing on the new season, along with 12 players from the other eras.
Q Burdette earned a spot in Survivor 50, according to Probst
In the interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jeff revealed that he picked Q for Survivor 50 after a promotional event where Q impressed.
"We did a big event in New York City, and Q was there with his new baby. And his smile was so big and there was so much joy. And I was looking at him thinking: You should be on 50. He was in our consideration, but it was early, and it was something about what he radiated was just positivity and fun.”
It's so interesting that Jeff chose to share this information, especially considering just how much debate there has been about the season. Having 12 new era players, and three from Survivor 46, which was Q's season, is a choice, of course.
Survivor 46 was one of the best seasons of the new era in terms of drama. You had so many players leave with idols in their pockets, Q included, but there were some awesome characters among that cast. Watching them interact made for such an interesting season.
Overall, I like Q's addition to the cast because, at the end of the day, this is a TV show. We want the audience to be entertained, and if there's one player of the new era that will just do the wildest thing possible at any random moment, it's Q.
I can totally get on board with Jeff's line of thinking. You're taking all these legends, bringing them together with hungry newer players, and then you throw Q in the mix as a huge challenge threat and absolute wild card? You can't lose from a production perspective.
Here's what Jeff also said about Q's casting:
"Maybe he'll be chaotic this season, maybe not. We don't have any expectations. But Q really represents something that I think is important, which is there's no one way to play this game or one type of player to be.”
Does Q have a chance to win Survivor 50? Sure, just like the other 23 players. But, I wouldn't bet on Q to play a safe enough game to get to the end. The first time he played, Q needed to feel like he was in charge of something, or so it seemed, and if he tries to pull that with the level of players returning for Survivor 50, he might be the first player voted out.
Overall, Q would not have been on my list of new era players I wanted to see win Survivor 50, but there's no debate that he's going to be an entertaining addition to this cast. He's an incredible narrator, and I can't wait to see what material he's been cooking up since the last time we saw him.
Watch Survivor 50 starting on Wednesday, Feb. 25, on CBS and Paramount+!