Jeff Probst shares how the Survivor 50 experience starts with season 49

Survivor 49 is all set to premiere on September 24 on CBS. 18 contestants will try to “outwit, outplay, and outlast one another” while facing difficult challenges in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Host Jeff Probst is back to lead viewers through all the action.

In an unexpected turn of events, the show decided to replace two contestants with both alternates for the first time, so close to filming. 

While viewers are already curious about the upcoming season 50, in an exclusive interview with EW, the host explained how it is important to watch season 49 in order to understand what season 50 will be all about.

Jeff further said that viewers would watch the new season to know who impressed them and made a big enough mark that they had to make room for them, as he said. 

“Two players end up getting invited"

Survivor host Jeff Probst gives a hint about season 50

While it has been revealed that Survivor season 50 has already been cast and filmed, host and showrunner Jeff Probst has revealed that he is running into people all the time who keep saying that they cannot wait for 50.

The host came with an interesting response as he said, 

"You do realise 49 comes after 48. And this is before 50.” “50 is a big thing. It's a big moment. It's going to be a really fun season.”

Interestingly enough, Jeff Probst has revealed that viewers need to watch season 49 as the Survivor 50 viewing experience will actually begin with what is about to unfold on season 49. Proust explains, 

“One reason you need to watch 49,” he teases, “is that two players end up getting invited to participate in 50. And it will be a fun game to try to figure out: Who do you think impressed us and made a big enough mark that we made room for them?”  “All I know about 49 is it's a really fun season and the back half is bananas.”

Jeff Probst opened up about how sometimes there are some unprecedented situations during filming. In an interview with Parade, Probst says, 

"We always try to remind the audience that the game is also alive for us at all times. Every single day we’re shooting Survivor, the game is alive. You don’t know what’s going to happen. That same uncertainty extends to casting, and we’ve never had it tested in this way."

Jeff Probst gets candid about season 50 casting

The Survivor host and showrunner, Jeff Probst, admitted that casting 50 was really difficult, and they wanted to stay in their own state of flux.  The host further added that there was no guarantee that they were going to invite somebody from season 49, but the makers were certainly open to it, which, however, meant things had to shift in different ways with 50. 

“What it really meant is we just kept adding more players to our roster, which we were fine with.”

Watch all the new episodes of Survivor 49 on Sept. 24 exclusively on CBS. Stay tuned for more updates.