For a number of years, every season of Survivor ended with a live reunion that took place months after the episodes were filmed. Most of the time, that live show brought the reading of the final votes and revealed the winner with a whole crowd in attendance. Ever since the start of the pandemic, the finales for Survivor have gone a little differently. The “new era” of the game has consisted of an ending in the jungles of Fiji, with the votes being read right there on the spot, followed by some immediate reactions from the players while they’re still in the mindset of the game.
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While these new finales have been enjoyable, many fans have wondered if the live reunions will ever make a comeback. EW recently posed this question to Survivor host and producer Jeff Probst, who clearly prefers the current finale method.
“We feel really good about the excitement and energy that comes with doing the vote reveal in the jungle, immediately followed by an After Show when the players are still in game mode,” Probst said. “It’s so vastly different from the live reunion show because it’s happening in real time. The players have not had six months to watch the episodes and be influenced by the criticism or praise they have received on social media. This is pure.”
EW‘s Dalton Ross posed the possibility of Survivor implementing both finales in the future, perhaps following the current finale episode with a live finale where the contestants return and rehash what happened over the course of the season.ย
“I love this idea because I know how much the players would love to get together for a reunion,” Probst explained. “And I know how much fun it is for the fans to see the players after they have returned home and had a chance to watch their season. So who knows, maybe that is something we will do down the road.”
By implementing a live reunion after the finale, Survivor would have an additional episode at the end of every season.
What do you think of Survivor’s current finale format? Let us know in the comments!
