Survivor 50 leak reveals number of tribes and tribe colors

Survivor 50 is fully underway as the cast and crew are currently preparing to shoot Survivor's next milestone. While the season won't hit our screens until at least the Spring of 2026, most likely in February, it doesn't mean that we won't know some of the surprises in store for us in the meantime.

For instance, since the Survivor 50 cast was officially released almost a week ago, fans wondered how the 24 players would be divided. While many fans were hoping the two tribes format would be back, as this was a staple of old-school Survivor, it seems Survivor 50 will stick with the new era three-tribe format instead.

Thanks to travel writer Zach Laks, the three tribes element has been confirmed. On his Instagram account, @zachlaks, Zach uploaded a photo to his "stories", where three distinct challenge structures can be seen in different colors. Zach wrote on the photo the following words: "Progress on the Survivor 50 challenge build."

Notice the highly distinct colours? Back when Survivor 48 was airing, fans were given the option to vote for different types of twists, designs, and turns about the upcoming Survivor 50 season. One of the polls asked people to choose from several different colour schemes to decide the tribe colors of the season. Based on the photo seen above, the Survivor fans' tribe has spoken and ultimately chose orange, pink, and blue.

A second sneak peek also came from Zach as he posted another challenge photo, this time of a dreaded balance beam one, and it's a safe bet to assume this challenge choice was intentional and specially intended for Survivor legend Cirie Fields. Back on Survivor: Game Changers, Cirie was met with this same challenge and struggled to keep her balance on the beam, costing her tribe the reward challenge.

However, Cirie wasn't deterred, and alongside the support of her fellow tribemates and castmates, she was able to conquer the beam and cross it, leading to an emotional moment of personal accomplishment. Now it seems Survivor 50 is looking to replicate the moment, or at least throw a curveball at Cirie, but seeing as Cirie is one of the most accomplished people on Reality TV, I don't doubt she will conquer that beam once again.

Thirdly, Zach also revealed an interesting behind-the-scenes fact, as he uploaded a photo indicating that Survivor and the film Cast Away have more than one thing in common. Starring Tom Hanks and released in 2000, Cast Away tells the story of Chuck Noland, who one day wakes up on a deserted island and must survive off the land after a plane crash. Sound familiar? Well, it turns out that Cast Away was filmed not too far from where the Survivor 50's Tribal Council area currently is, which basically means Cast Away is canon in the Survivor world.

As the players are getting ready to play the game once again, currently amid the Fijian islands, the Survivor press and media journalists are also awaiting the first interviews with the Survivor 50 cast, including Mike Bloom, Dalton Ross, and Sharon Tharp, who report to Parade, Entertainment Weekly, and US Weekly, respectively.

All three reporters uploaded several photos to their Instagram accounts, each with quirky captions, regarding the players' ongoing pre-game interviews. We'll also have to wait a while to listen and read them, but in the meantime, any crumbs are better than nothing.

Lastly, writer Martin Holmes, also known in the Survivor community as Redmond and the creator of the Inside Survivor website, revealed on his Twitter account, @RedmondSurvivor, that the Survivor 50 season is officially set to begin filming this Friday, June 5, Fiji time.

Stay tuned for more news about Survivor 50!