The hotly-anticipated premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” is still a few weeks away from making its unprecedented three-hour debut on CBS, but that hasn’t stopped longtime viewers of the hit reality competition series from placing their bets on which of the season’s 24 returning castaways will ultimately walk away with the $1 million grand prize and the title of “Sole Survivor” in their grasp.
As the record-breaking cast – composed of players spanning the entirety of “Survivor”s 26-year and 49-season run on CBS – prepare to light their torches yet again on the golden anniversary season, fans across the country have taken to Kalshi, a web-based prediction market platform, to place their prediction as to which castaway is most likely to outwit, outplay and outlast all the others.
Aubry Bracco Leads Season 50 Cast as Overwhelming Favorite to Win
CBSKalshi’s most recent reporting on the odds of “Survivor 50” place strategic mastermind Aubry Bracco as the favorite to claim the coveted “Sole Survivor” title after the “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” runner-up surged to the top of the leaderboard with a commanding 69 percent chance of winning the forthcoming season.
Bracco, who later celebrated runs on “Survivor: Game Changers,” where she finished in fifth place, and “Survivor: Edge of Extinction,” where she finished in 16th place, will return to Season 50 as a firmly established threat and fourth-time castaway.
Despite placing lower and lower with each consecutive season, fans have predicted that Aubry will win the upcoming season by a long-shot, followed by “Survivor 42” challenge beast Jonathan Young, who currently stands a 12 percent chance of winning according to Kalshi.
Meanwhile, “Survivor 48” finalist Joe Hunter currently stands in third position with a projected seven percent chance of winning the million dollar prize during his second series appearance.
Joining the trio, each with a currently projected three percent chance of victory, are “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” fan favorite Christian Hubicki, strategic mastermind and five-time player Cirie Fields, recent “Survivor 49” finalist Rizo “Rizgod” Velovic, and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, who will return to the milestone season after unsuccessful attempt to claim the “Sole Survivor” title on three previous seasons.
Aubry Opens Up About Returning to ‘Survivor’ After ‘Edge of Extinction’
While “Survivor” is, at its heart, a game founded in its unpredictability, Aubry Bracco opened up about how her Season 50 run feels like a fresh start following the so-called “reality TV whiplash” she experienced after competing in three seasons in the span of four years.
“I was on ‘Survivor’ autopilot,” Bracco told Entertainment Weekly in a January 30 interview, explaining that, after coming so close to clinching victory on both “Kaoh Rong” and “Game Changers,” she was mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted by the time she wrapped up a mediocre 16th place finish on “Edge of Extinction.”
“That experience really sucked,” she admitted, but added that, “there’s some freedom when you sort of fall from grace. There’s nothing America loves more than an underdog, and the only thing that America loves more than an underdog is tearing someone down when they’re at the top.”
Bracco Wants to Make Her 2-Year-Old Son Proud with Season 50 Run
This time around, however, Aubry has more to play for than just herself.
Since the last time she competed, Bracco has found love, in both her partner, whom she met during the COVID-19 pandemic, and her two-year-old son Odin. This season, she hopes that their support will help her pull through the low moments that have gotten the best of her on past appearances.
“After ‘Edge of Extinction,’ it can’t get worse,” she said. “But I want to prove to my son it can be hard and you can go back and do things you love […] and kick ass at it.”
She admitted that she’ll probably be shedding plenty of tears in Season 50, with the qualifier that “all the tears make you stronger.”
“This time I keep saying I feel the closest to myself since the first time I played,” she continued. “I’ve had time to take the lessons that I gained playing ‘Survivor’ three times in four calendar years, which is a lot, 111 days. And I have life more in perspective. This is a game. I’m going to cry in this game. It’s going to be hard in this game. I’m going to feel it, but I think I’m able to step back and be true to who I am without letting all the side noise get in the way.”
Fans can catch Aubry Bracco – alongside the rest of the record-breaking “Survivor 50” cast – when CBS airs the season’s historic three-hour premiere on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00pm ET.
