&34;This is the only returning player season where the players had real joy and gratitude for being invited back,&34; the host tells EW. Jeff Probst says season 50 is 'the most fun I've ever had on any season of Survivor' &34;This is the only returning player season where the players had real joy and gratitude for being invited back,&34; the host tells EW. By Dalton Ross :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/DaltonRossauthorphoto2e15b12006e2438a99fb06db6d682421.jpg) Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry.

"This is the only returning player season where the players had real joy and gratitude for being invited back," the host tells EW.

Jeff Probst says season 50 is 'the most fun I've ever had on any season of Survivor'

"This is the only returning player season where the players had real joy and gratitude for being invited back," the host tells EW.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

EW's editorial guidelines

February 20, 2026 11:15 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'. Credit:

Jeff Probst is all about the vibes, and he was vibing hard during filming on *Survivor 50*. How hard, exactly?

"Season 50 is the most fun I've ever had on a season of *Survivor*," the host and showrunner tells **.

Considering that is judging against 49 other installments, that is truly saying something. Especially when you remember how *little* fun Probst has said he had during the very *first* all-stars season (titled, coincidentally enough, *Survivor: All-Stars*).  So what gives? Why did this super-sized group of 24 returning players make the Hostmaster General so gosh darn happy?

"It's due to two things," Probst says. "The fact that the fans decided the type of gameplay, because that created uncertainty in a way that it didn't really matter what they decided. The point was they were the ones in charge of deciding. So the players had no idea what was coming."

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

***Want to be kept up with all things Survivor? Dig deep and sign up for 's free Survivor Weekly newsletter to have all the latest news, interviews, and commentary sent right to your inbox. ***

Probst was a fan of that uncertainty, and was an even bigger fan of how the contestants reacted to it. "The second reason it's the most fun I've ever had on any season of *Survivor* is because every single player fully embraced that uncertainty and played very hard. They left everything they had in them in the jungles of Fiji."

But guess what? It turns out Jeff Probst's pants are most certainly on fire because he was lying when he said there were two reasons he had so much fun on *Survivor 50.* It turns out there were… *three!* The other reason he was filled with joy is because the players were as well. I mentioned in our big *Survivor 50* cover story how the cast members seemed programmed before the game to talk about how much fun they wanted to have on season 50, and it seems that carried over into filming, leading to a bold proclamation from the host.

On the beach for 'Survivor 50': An exclusive, all-access first look at the biggest season ever

'Survivor 50' cast members vote snubbed players onto the island (exclusive)

"This is the only returning player season where the players had real joy and gratitude for being invited back," he says. "And that's not a slam on other seasons. We invite players back because we like what they bring to the game. And that doesn't mean that everybody behaves in the same way. We like the mixture. This just so happened to be this beautiful storm of opportunity and gratitude, and you felt it."

Jeff Probst and the cast of 'Survivor 50'.

How exactly did that storm come to pass? "I think the reason the players felt it is we all kind of sensed that *Survivor 50* could be something really special, starting with the number 50," says the host. "Then the intention we put into 50 as the producers and the expectation that the audience will have on 50 for entertainment gets put on the shoulders of the players, who now have to step into it."

Probst says the cast got to stepping. "I'm not just saying this: You will see from first out to whoever ends up winning that everybody came and gave what they had. And you're gonna see a really fun season of *Survivor*."

The host also says you will see that fun come into play in his interactions with the cast at challenges and Tribal Council. "I look at it as live improv, but with much different stakes and slightly different rules," Probst says. "And it's one of the reasons I'm still so in invigorated by *Survivor,* is that's pretty much me in the moment in my role as host saying, *Let's have some fun*, or *Let me push back,* or *Let me be your foil*, or *Let me be your ally or your straight person* — whatever it is, *Survivor*'s taking on this extra layer of you enter this world and you never really know what's gonna happen."

Viewers can reenter that world when *Survivor 50* premieres Feb. 25 on CBS.

- Survivor Fandom

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Survivor"

Read More

---

Source: Survivor

Published: February 21, 2026 at 02:00AM on Source: PRIME TIME

#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle