When “Survivor” aired its very first season in 2000, no one – not even longtime host and executive producer Jeff Probst – imagined that the reality competition series would still be going strong 25 years later. Despite the odds, what started as a high-stakes social experiment has since become a treasured American pastime. Now, just months after the Emmy-winning series celebrated its 25th anniversary, Season 49 of “Survivor” has officially launched at CBS.

In a candid interview with TVLine, Probst opened up about “Survivor”s longevity and staying power, telling the publication that no one involved with the show ever imagined that they’d be celebrating 25 years as one of the top reality programs in the world.

“You could never predict that,” said Probst. “So we just keep our heads down and try to do one season at a time.”

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Probst Reflects on 25 Years of ‘Survivor’ & Planning What Comes Next

With “Survivor 49” already underway, fans are already gearing up for the highly anticipated premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” next February. The milestone season, featuring the series’ largest-ever cast of returning castaways has already been filmed. Meanwhile, the extensive casting process for Seasons 51 and 52 is similarly underway, with the upcoming seasons scheduled to begin filming in spring/summer 2026.

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Unlike other reality competition series like “The Amazing Race,” “Big Brother” and “The Traitors,” “Survivor” films two seasons back-to-back on-location in Fiji. As the series shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, Probst addressed “Survivor”s longterm future.

“After ‘40,’ for me, it was ‘Let’s figure out how to restart this entire thing.’ And [executive producer] Matt Van Wagenen was the first one to say, ‘Let’s put ‘50’ as our next goal,’ and that felt like a big goal to me,” said Probst. “That’s 10 seasons of ‘Survivor,’ and we got there, so we’re kind of at that point again with thinking ahead.”

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Will ‘Survivor 50’ Bring an End to the ‘New Era’?

“Survivor” was indeed revamped after its 40th season invited 20 former series winners back to compete for a second “Sole Survivor” title. After the legendary season, the “new era” of “Survivor” kicked off. The “new era” has been defined by its shorter game (26 days compared to the previous 39-day game) and unpredictabilty, featured increased level of twists and advantages.

While Season 50 will maintain some of these “new era” features, it will similarly be influenced by the show’s longtime fans, who voted on game aspects like Hidden Immunity Idols, advantages and twists. Probst previously revealed that the results of the fan voting will likely shape “Survivor” for seasons to come, but when it comes to exactly how long the host thinks the series will stay on the air, he admitted, “I don’t know the answer.”

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Probst Thinks ‘Survivor’ Could Last Forever, With or Without Him

“I feel the format is perfect, and could, in theory, run forever with a big budget or with a small budget. You could do this game with big challenges. You could do it playing dominoes. The social dynamic is what the game is about, and all the other stuff makes it big and exciting and dramatic and cinematic. All of those things go into it,” Probst explained. “But really, when you get down to the core of ‘Survivor,’ it is a game of social politics. That always has been. How do you live with people and get rid of them, and then get them to give you money in the end? How do you do that? It’s like a magic trick.”

While Probst, now 63, thinks that “Survivor” could potentially be adapted to air forever, he similarly addressed his future with the series, telling TVLine, “I think my personal connection to the show is obvious. I live, breathe, eat, sleep and think about ‘Survivor’ all day.”

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That being said, Probst added, “I hope that if my time comes to an end and I’ve run out of ideas, that it’ll be obvious to me, so that I don’t get voted out of the game. But right now, I don’t feel that. I feel really energetic about our team and our ideas, and we’re already working on ‘51.’ We’re really excited about it.”

Despite being 49 seasons deep, “Survivor” remains a fan favorite series, not only recieving four Emmy nominations in 2025, but also emerging as the most-watched of any Emmy-nominated series this year.

“We give everything,” said Probst. “We do the best job we can. I’m not saying we get it right every time, but I can tell you, we give everything we have to the show. We want it to be great because we want the people who come out to play to actually get the adventure of their lifetime.”