Jeff Probst Reveals Major Change Coming to Survivor 41 and Future Seasons

One of TV’s longest-running shows is finally returning after a year and a half away from the spotlight, as the 41st season of Survivor is set to premiere on CBS on September 22nd. Season 40, a season comprised of all previous winners from the first 20 years of the series, aired back in 2020 and brought an era of Survivor to a close. Following a Covid-related hiatus, Survivor is returning with some pretty significant changes to not only its format, but to the way the show is titled as well.

The new season will take place over the course of 26 days instead of 39. It will be a grittier, more dangerous game than we’ve seen in years. There also won’t be an interesting or thought-provoking theme hidden in the title. Instead of Survivor: Winners at War or Survivor: Ghost Island, the new season will simply be called Survivor 41. In fact, every season going forward will follow suit, dropping subtitles altogether. 

Jeff Probst, the longtime host and producer of Survivor, looks at the previous season as the end of an entire era for the beloved reality competition series. While speaking to EW ahead of the new season’s debut, Probst confirmed the official title change and explained why it’s significant.

“As you know from our talks during Winners at War, we always envisioned our 40th season as the end of an era of Survivor,” Probst said of the previous season. “From a game standpoint, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get away from seasons that were built around a casting theme or a major twist. That led to an easy decision to also do away with titles and just go with numbers for each season.”

“This doesn’t mean we won’t have big, fun new twists in the future, it just means we won’t define the entire season around it,” the host added. “Yes, moving forward seasons will be numbered.”

Survivor 41 should feel like a new game to longtime fans of the show, seeing as how many gimmicks and changes have been introduced over the years. There’s also the fact that it has been two years since we’ve seen new players in the game, with Season 40 being played with only returning winners.

Are you looking forward to the return of Survivor? What do you think about the upcoming changes? Let us know in the comments!