'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Survivor is back on CBS with a new season. After kickstarting the trend of adventure reality shows since it premiered in 2000, the show has aired 42 seasons to date.
Season 43 of the show arrived on CBS on September 21, 2022, at 8 pm ET, with a new roster of participants who have reached the tropical lands of Fiji. They must survive 26 days in a remote location, surviving off the bounties of nature.
Let us explore some lesser-known facts about the show that took America by storm and has maintained the status of being one of the most famous reality TV shows.
Payouts, Keepsakes, Dream Team, and more - 5 facts about Survivor you may not know
1) Anyone who participates gets paid
While adventure gameshows like Survivor attract many participants, the juicy prize money plays a significant role in creating this buzz. CBS offers a big fat $1 million to the winner of each season, and it went up to a whopping $2 million for Survivor: Winners at War. While the winners get a huge payout, what about the rest of the participants, you say?
According to EW, CBS pays all participants on Survivor based on the duration they have been on the show. The first to get eliminated receives $2500, while the one ranking third gets $85,000, and the runner-up gets a generous $100,000. Also, previously eliminated participants appearing on the final reunion receive an additional $10,000.
2) Players are allowed to bring in personal necessities
The basic premise of Survivor is that participants must live in a remote tropical location with negligible supplies while also providing food, shelter, and fire for themselves. While surviving on your own is customary, producers are aware of a host of dangers the participants may face. In this regard, the participants are provided with some basic amenities.
They are provided with first aid medical supplies, sunscreen, and bug spray, a basic necessity in a tropical climate. Having the bare minimum protection goes a long way. Participants are also allowed to keep a list of personal items such as tampons and contacts in an off-camera box in the woods.
3) The Dream Team
Survivor involves the participants belonging to one of the two tribes at the beginning and then pitting them against each other in competitive tasks to avoid elimination. These tasks may prove too much if not supervised or vetted correctly. For this reason, the production crew from CBS includes a group of people called the Dream Team.
In a behind-the-scenes video from the crew, host Jeff Probst explained that they were in charge of the safety and viability of the tasks that the challengers were given. They are generally a group of 16-20 members in their early twenties who are hired every season and personally try out every challenge.
4) Players can take home the Hidden Immunity Idol
The show's format pits participants in competitive challenges and eliminates them based on votes by the Tribal Council. To add a twist to the format, producers introduced the concept of the Hidden Immunity Idol. This would essentially be able to overturn a decision if played correctly but is only valid under specific situations.
Hence, there have been scenarios where the idol had not been played, despite being with a participant. In these situations, the owner gets to keep the idol and take it home as memorabilia.
A former participant, Andrea Boehlke, said that after being voted off without getting to use her immunity idol, she was allowed to take it back home with her. While producers did ask for it five years later to reuse it on the show, they returned it afterward.
5) Camera crew interactions with the participants
As per the show's theme, the producers do not encourage the participants to interact with the production crew. While it is evident that the participants are accompanied by a camera crew most of the time, interactions between the camera crew and players are also restricted.
However, with the ever-present camera crew, radio silence is, of course, impossible. Also, a host of scenes are reenacted by the participants so that the cameras can get a good shot. In an interview with Insider, Karishma Patel, a former player, explained how they had to reenact their walk to the tribal council multiple times so that the cameras got multiple angles.
Survivor may not be as much of a reality show as the producers may portray it. However, these aspects of the show are understandable and necessary for maintaining and executing a made-for-TV adventure show.
Survivor started airing its forty-third season on CBS at 8 pm ET on September 21, 2022, with new episodes airing every Wednesday.
