Since its inception in 2000, “Survivor” has always offered a grand prize of $1 million to the singular player who’s able to outwit, outplay and outlast the competition and establish themselves as the rightful winner of any given season.
The only time the prize has been altered throughout the show’s 25-year history was for its 40th season – “Survivor: Winners at War” – in 2020, which invited back 20 former series champions to go head-to-head for the chance to walk away with not only a second “Sole Survivor” title, but also a $2 million check.
Now, as the Emmy-winning series prepares to launch “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans,” longtime host Jeff Probst has revealed that CBS will once again be upping the grand prize to commemorate the milestone season and its 24 returning players – the largest cast the show has ever seen.
Jeff Probst Reveals Bigger Prize for Season 50 – But There’s a Catch
In a Jan. 7 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Probst revealed that Season 50 will offer a “higher than normal” prize for its eventual winner, but added that producers intentionally asked players to return who weren’t in it for the money, but instead for their love of “Survivor.”
In the past, “Survivor” has offered certain returning players the promise of additional compensation for participating in landmark seasons, such as “Winners at War.”
CBSFor Season 50, however, the series returned to its payment model from 2004’s “Survivor: All-Stars,” which compensates players on a sliding scale, with the first eliminated contestant receiving $25,000, plus a $10,000 reunion show fee. From there, the payments go up by placement, meaning the longer a player stays in the game, the more money they walk away with.
“With this season, there was not going to be any big appearance fees,” Probst told EW. “The prize money is slightly higher than normal, and that’s it. We were very clear when we called each player: ‘These are non-negotiable terms. You’re going to be out here for 26 days and here’s the money. This isn’t a leverage situation. If the prize money is what you’re here for, then maybe 50 is not for you. We want people who want to be here to be part of 50.’”
‘Survivor’ Executive Producer Opens Up About Casting ‘50’
While Probst didn’t make any comment about how the season’s lack of appearance fees affected the casting process, “Survivor” executive producer Matt Van Wagenen did respond to fans’ reactions to the finalized 24-person cast.
“I know we took some flack on some of our choices,” Van Wagenen acknowledged. “We were never going to make all the fans happy.”
Indeed, fans and former players alike spent weeks after the casts’ official announcement in May 2025 lamenting and criticizing the fact that fan favorite players like Jerri Manthey, Rupert Boneham, Spencer Bledsoe, Abi Maria Gomes and Carolyn Wiger had been excluded from the lineup.
In the show’s defense, producers had to narrow down a list of more than 750 potential returnees to just 24 in the months leading up to the cast reveal – an impressive feat in and of itself.
“The group we put together for 50 will please some people and upset other people,” added Probst. “There’s no way to satisfy everyone. I do remind the fans: You do have to trust us a little bit that we know who wanted to play and who didn’t want to play. We know who wished they could play, but the scheduling didn’t work out. There were a lot of things going on behind the scenes.”
According to Van Wagenen, “There were people who I would love to have seen play who said no,” referring specifically to “Survivor: Caramoan” winner John Cochran.
“I probably asked [Cochran] to play about 15 times, and he turned me down every time,” Van Wagenen continued. “So we couldn’t get everyone we wanted, and we couldn’t fit in everyone who wanted to be in there. So that’s a tough position to be in.”
Van Wagenen Explains Why ‘50’ Has so Many ‘New Era’ Players
The executive producer similarly responded to criticisms claiming that the Season 50 cast featured too many recent players.
While the milestone season is meant to be a reflection of the show’s entire 25-year history, fans noted that 11 of the 24 contestants were pulled from the show’s five most recent installments. Van Wagenen, however, argued that this has been the case for the vast majority of “Survivor”s returning-player seasons, including the all-star casts for installments like “Heroes vs. Villains,” “Cambodia – Second Chance” and “Game Changers.”
Van Wagenen added another explanation for Season 50’s recency bias, telling EW, “I think part of it is there’s an age thing. It’s got to be the oldest cast we’ve ever had. So we wanted some young players as well.”
Indeed, 10 of this season’s players are over the age of 40, with five of those being over 50. Castaways Chrissy Hofbeck, Cirie Fields and Mike White are tied as the season’s oldest players, all coming into the competition at 54 years old.
Meanwhile, only three players on the cast are under 30: Dee Valladares (28), Charlie Davis (27) and Rizo Velovic (25). Notably, all three of them are “new era” players who appeared on “Survivor” for the first time in the last three years.
