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Survivor 50 has too many new era players

The anniversary season cast has been revealed and half of the players are from the new era.
ByJacqueline Thomas|
“Only One of Yous Can Win” – The $1 million dollars is closer than ever as the remaining castaways enter the final stretch of the game. A major come-from-behind win earns one person a trip to the sanctuary and a spot in the final four. Then, a tumultuous fire-making showdown determines the final three. One castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor and awarded the $1 million prize, on the season 48 finale, followed by the After Show, hosted by Jeff Probst, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, May 21 (8:00-11:00
“Only One of Yous Can Win” – The $1 million dollars is closer than ever as the remaining castaways enter the final stretch of the game. A major come-from-behind win earns one person a trip to the sanctuary and a spot in the final four. Then, a tumultuous fire-making showdown determines the final three. One castaway will be crowned Sole Survivor and awarded the $1 million prize, on the season 48 finale, followed by the After Show, hosted by Jeff Probst, on SURVIVOR, Wednesday, May 21 (8:00-11:00 | CBS

The Survivor 50 cast was revealed this morning and there are definitely more new era players than I was expecting. By a lot...

The official Survivor Instagram shared an image (below) featuring the 24 players who would return for the first fan favorite season of the new era, and surprisingly, half of them are from the new era. For a season meant to "honor 50 seasons" of Survivor—according to host and executive producer Jeff Probst—having that many people from only the last nine seasons doesn't feel like it's equally celebrating all of Survivor's history.

In fact, 11 players are from the last five seasons alone with two players from season 45 (Dee Valladares and Emily Flippen), three from season 46 (Q, Charlie Davis, and Tiffany Nicole Ervin), one from season 47 (Genevieve Mushaluk), three from season 48 (Kamille Karthigesu, Joe Hunter, and Kyle Fraser), and two will be from the forthcoming 49th season.

50% of new era players in a season meant to celebrate 25 years of Survivor doesn't feel justified

A reminder that Survivor 41 aired in the fall of 2021. That's only five years before Survivor 50 premieres. If we're truly celebrating the history of Survivor with this milestone season, the casting math just isn't mathing on this one, for me.

But honestly, maybe CBS knew this was the only way a new era player had a chance to win. If they'd truly divided the different eras up evenly based on how many seasons there have been (40% old school, 40% new school, 20% new era), they likely would have been used as votes to pit the old and new school against each other and then disposed of.

Also the fact that they brought back two winners and they're both from the new era—Dee Valladares (Survivor 45) and Kyle Fraser (Survivor 48)—feels off as well. Don't get me wrong, both are incredible players and definitely fan favorites of the new era (I was rooting for Kyle the whole time!), but to only have two returning winners for the anniversary season has me asking the question, "Why bring back any winners at all?"

But everyone is still very excited for the first returning player season of the new era, and it'll be interesting to see the alliances created from this group. Will it be old/new school vs. new era? Will former allies team up again or betray each other this time around?

We'll find out when Survivor 50 premieres in February 2026 on CBS!

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