On Survivor, players simply can’t outwit, outplay and outlast the rules of the game.
Just 12 hours before the CBS reality competition’s upcoming 49th season began filming, the cast’s alternates Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu were added to the cast as replacements for two existing castaways were pulled from the game at the last-minute.
“We always try to remind the audience that the game is also alive for us at all times,” host Jeff Probst told Parade of the unprecedented situation in an interview published Aug. 21. “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, who also serves as an executive producer for Survivor, told the outlet that the incident involving two unnamed members of the cast occurred during the pre-production period when contestants coexist before the game begins—but are forbidden from talking to one another.
And, as he explained, the show’s decision to replace two contestants with both alternates for the first time ever so close to filming starting should send a strong message.
