Survivor is back!
The tribe has spoken! It’s been 17 years since TV’s ultimate reality competition first premiered, and 34 seasons later Survivor is still going strong. The latest iteration of the hard-core competition, Survivor: Game Changers, premieres March 8 on CBS and features the return of some of the show’s all-time, all-star fan-favorite players. Exercise your wits with some Survivor trivia by Parade’s own Survivor expert, Josh Wigler. Visit Parade.com/gamechangers for Wigler’s preseason interviews with each castaway.
1. Before Survivor, host Jeff Probst was best known as the frontman of TV’s Rock & Roll Jeopardy.
2. Since its debut in 2000, Survivor has filmed in 18 different locations around the world, including Africa, Brazil, Samoa and the Philippines.
3. Game Changers is the fourth season to consist entirely of returning
players, including Sandra Diaz-Twine, the only player who has ever won Survivor twice.
4. The show is so physically demanding that 15 players have been evacuated due to medical issues, including returning contestant Caleb Reynolds.
5. Will there ever be an all-winners season? Probst says yes, but tells Parade it won’t happen soon: “We will when we have 20 great winners. We don’t yet have 20 great winners who want to play.”
6. Two seasons of Survivor have been shot back-to-back in the same location every year since season 19 to maintain the show’s affordability.
7. The show has divided players in numerous ways: age, gender and even ethnicity during its controversial 13th season, filmed in the Cook Islands.
8. Survivor boasts a loyal online fan community, with many fans tuning in to podcasts, including Survivor Know-It-Alls, hosted by former contestants Rob Cesternino and Stephen Fishbach.
9. Celebrity Survivor fans include Jimmy Fallon, Neil Patrick Harris and Adam Scott, who can be seen in the audience during season 22’s live reunion show.
10. Writer/director/actor Tyler Perry was the idea man behind one of the key twists in the show’s 28th season: an immunity idol with the power to be played after elimination votes are cast.
Visit Parade.com/survivor for 15 more facts about the show.