Jeff Probst reveals how Survivor 50 will be different than Winners at War

Survivor 50 is the biggest season in the history of the hit reality TV series. Slowly but surely, new details about Survivor 50 are coming to light.

In a recent interview with Variety, Jeff Probst, the executive producer and host of all 46 seasons of Survivor so far, shared some crucial information about how Survivor 50 will differ from Survivor season 40, also known as Winners at War.

"We just did a big season with 40. Winners at War was a battle. And we had a very clear theme: We’re going to give you every weapon we have and you all battle it out. Somebody’s going to end up bloody but victorious."

I loved Winners at War, but it was definitely a change of pace compared to some of the other seasons. It was emotional in different ways watching the greatest players of Survivor return and fight it out until a winner was crowned.

Tony Vlachos won Winners at War using the classic combination of outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting the other winners.

Winners at War aired in early 2020 as the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, they didn't even get to hold a proper reunion for the biggest season of the show because of the pandemic.

Hopefully, Survivor 50 will avoid all that when it airs in 2026.

Survivor 50 will be a more "fun' season than Winners at War

So, why and how will Survivor 50 be different? Probst shared some updates on that!

"So ‘Survivor’ 50 is not going to be that. Fifty’s gotta be a celebration. Let’s do a great season of ‘Survivor’ but put an emphasis on the word ‘fun.’ So, I’ve been going through these notes going, ‘That could be interesting,’ or — more often — ‘What were you thinking when you wrote that down because that makes no sense at all?’” "

For me, Survivor is the most fun when the gameplay is the best, so I do think something like Winners at War would work for Survivor 50. I mean, these players, some of the best we've ever seen, are not going to be out there to mess around. They wouldn't leave their families for a month and change to just have "fun." They'll be playing to win, but Probst and the producers know that.

It's going to be very interesting to see what Probst means by fun. For me, it would be great to bring back as many players as possible, not to play the game, but to be a part of the season. Maybe they'll bring back a former player who won a challenge to give tips to a player who will be competing in that upcoming challenge. Maybe, they can find a way to pay homage to some of the classic twists and themes of the game throughout the previous 49 seasons. Maybe, they'll strip it all down back to the original rules and have an old-school season? We'll just have to wait and see.

For me, the most fun thing they can do is to bring back bits and pieces of each season that worked the best and leave the rest behind. I also think they'll have to find a way to introduce new twists, more frequent tribe swaps, or something to keep these players on their toes.

We've heard accusations in the past of players forming alliances before the game begins. There are a lot of people who played Survivor, but this is a relatively small world. The players know each other and have even played with each other multiple times. To keep things fresh, I wonder if we need Survivor 50 to be as bold as anything they've done on Survivor. Not in an intensely physical way, like withholding food, or emotional way, like making loved ones compete against each other, but the ground should always be shifting. Watching the former players adapt will be what makes this season so fun.

Probst also shared that they are down to 100 former players in the running to be selected for Survivor 50.

We'll share more news about Survivor 50 soon, but first, we have the Survivor 47 premiere on Sept. 18!