When The Traitors returns next year, fans will see a trio of Survivor alums in the Season 4 cast, which is no surprise given how vital the CBS survival series has been to Alan Cumming’s game of murrrrder. While fans are likely stoked about seeing Rob Cesternino, Natalie Anderson and Yam Yam Arocho, I’m not sure the same can be said for Survivor host Jeff Probst, who admitted to being “a little territorial” with his cast members.
Survivor — which has already filmed its 50th season, despite Season 48 just ending its run on the 2025 TV schedule in May — has been THE name in reality competition shows since 2000, and its brilliant casting is undoubtedly one of the reasons. That’s exactly why Jeff Probst gets a little bitter when he sees his players on other series, as he explained:
We find an incredible human, and they’re on an incredible season of Survivor, and the next thing you know, these other shows are going, ‘Hey, why don’t you come do our show?’ and I’m like, yeah, of course you would. That’s a great casting philosophy, just wait for us. So I do get a little territorial, I’m not gonna lie.
I definitely see his point. Survivor finds these amazing people like Boston Rob and Cirie Fields, who become famous on the CBS show (available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription), only to have other series like Big Brother, The Traitors and The Amazing Race swoop in to capitalize on their already-developed reality TV personalities.
It’s not just that Jeff Probst is bitter about Survivor’s talent being poached and wants to be “in charge of anybody’s destiny,” but the host made a point about how it affects Survivor, saying:
If you looked at it from our point of view, we might have a returning player season in store, and we’re like, ‘Oh now you’re gonna go do this show and that show, and it’s not quite as special now to see you.’ But I really am trying to change that, because I realize the people are compelling. No wonder everyone wants them. I mean, they’re really entertaining, cool people. … Obviously it’s not my place to say, ‘Please don’t go do anything else.’
There’s definitely an argument to be made that, for example, seeing Parvati Shallow on The Traitors or Deal or No Deal Island would make it less special if she were invited back for a future season of Survivor.
However, what Jeff Probst doesn’t seem to be accounting for is how many people didn’t watch Survivor before they watched The Traitors but who will now either watch future seasons or even seek out past seasons because they liked the players so much on other shows. It can be a mutually beneficial situation, and apparently it’s something Jeff Probst is working on.
Keep an eye out for the Survivor Season 49 premiere date this fall on CBS, while The Traitors Season 4 will return to Peacock in 2026.