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Survivor is a reality-competition television franchise produced in many countries around the world.

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The show features a group of contestants deliberately marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow-contestants until only one remains to be awarded the grand prize and named the "Sole Survivor".

The British television producer Charlie Parsons developed the format for Survivor in 1992 for a United Kingdom television production company, Planet 24; the Swedish version, which debuted in 1997 as Expedition Robinson, became the first Survivor series actually broadcast on television. As of 2019, the flagship American version of Survivor has aired 39 seasons of the show, with the 40th season airing since February 2020.

Also in 2020, the ShaneEyoho Universe brand met up with Parsons to discuss a new series that would air in the UK to run alongside the current USA show, it is to presented, like the US version by Jeff Probst however (as is custom to the ShaneEyoho Universe) the trio of Joshua Beardmore, Kyle Macleod & Shane Wray also present segments of the show alongside Probst from Season 2 onwards due to them managing their own teams in Season 1.

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Format[edit | edit source]

Survivor, through its seasons and various international versions, has maintained the basic premise of the game despite several new rules and gameplay twists introduced in later seasons. In the game, the contestants, known as castaways, are split into tribes and assigned separate camps at the filming's location, typically a tropical setting. As a tribe, the castaways must survive the elements, construct shelter, build fire, look for water, and scrounge for food and other necessities for the entire length of the game, which is generally around 39 days for most versions including the American version. In the first half of the game, the tribes face off in challenges, some for rewards of food, shelter, or luxury items, while others are for immunity, preventing the winning tribe from having to go to the next Tribal Council. At Tribal Council, the tribes discuss the events of the last few days with the host asking questions, and then vote out one of their own players, eliminating them from the game.

In the second half of the game, the tribes are merged into a single tribe, and challenges are played at an individual level for individual rewards and immunity. At subsequent Tribal Councils, those eliminated start to form the jury, who sit in on all subsequent Tribal Councils but otherwise do not participate. When only two or three castaways remain, those castaways attend the Final Tribal Council, where the jury is given the opportunity to ask them questions. After this, the jury members then vote to decide which of the remaining castaways should be declared the Sole Survivor and be awarded the grand prize.

Episodes typically cover the events that occurred over two to three days since the start of the game or previous Tribal Council, including Challenges and events that occur at the tribes' camps. Each episode typically ends with the Tribal Council and subsequent elimination of the voted-out player. The following description of the show is based primarily on the U.S. version of Survivor, though the general format applies to all international versions, the new UK version follows the US format.

Castaways and tribes[edit | edit source]

Tribes must build themselves basic shelters from natural resources and through reward items earned during the competition.

Players for each season are selected through applicants and casting calls, down-selecting to between 16 and 20 players and additional alternates. U.S. version host Jeff Probst noted that while 16 castaways assists in splitting the tribes with respect to age and sex, they have used 18 or 20 to provide them "wiggle room" in case of player injury or if one should want to quit the game.

Tribes may be predetermined by production before filming starts. Other seasons have had the tribes separated by age or gender among other things. In other cases, the tribes may be created by the castaways through schoolyard picks. Most often, only two tribes are featured, but some seasons have begun with three or four tribes. Once assigned a tribe, each castaway is given a bandana in their tribe color to aid the viewers in identifying tribal allocation. Tribes are then subsequently given names, often inspired by the local region and culture, and directions to their camps.

At their camps, tribes are expected to build a shelter against the elements from the local trees and other resources. Tribes are typically given minimal resources, such as a machete, water canteens, cooking pots, and staples of rice and grains, though this will vary from season to season. Sometimes, tribes will be provided with a water well near the camp, but require the water to be boiled to make it potable, necessitating the need for the tribe to build a fire. The tribes are encouraged to forage off the land for food, including fruits, wild animals, and fish.

Tribe swaps[edit | edit source]

In some seasons, tribe swaps will occur where one or more players will shift from one tribe to another. These new tribal designations are often determined by random draw or schoolyard pick. When these occur, those players that shift tribes are given new buffs for their new tribe and return to that tribe's camp, with any personal possessions from their former camp moved with them. In seasons with more than two tribes, tribe swaps will often reduce the number of tribes to two.

Tribes that have lost too many members may be absorbed by the other remaining tribes, as seen with the Ulong tribe in the US seasons -Survivor: Palau and the Matsing tribe of Survivor: Philippines; in the former case, the lone remaining Ulong member joined the opposing Koror tribe and the tribes were treated as if they were merged, whereas in the later case the two remaining Matsing members were randomly assigned to the two remaining tribes. Alternatively, if there are three tribes in a season then the tribe that placed third in a designated challenge was disbanded, with the members reallocated to the other two tribes by schoolyard pick.

Tribal merge[edit | edit source]

At a point in or around the middle of the game, the remaining tribes are merged into one. All of the players then live in a single camp, and are given new buffs and instructed to select a new tribe name and paint a tribe flag. The merge is often signified with a feast. Though the merge often occurs when approximately 10 to 12 players remain, the tribes have been merged with as many as 13 players.

Challenges[edit | edit source]

Tribes compete frequently in both mental and physical challenges to win rewards or immunity.

During both pre- and post-merge parts of the game, the castaways compete in a series of challenges. Tribes are alerted to these upcoming challenges by a message, often in rhyme, delivered to camp by the production team at a basket or box on a nearby tree; this message has come to be called "treemail", playing off the word "e-mail". The message typically hints at what the challenge might be. The message may also provide props to demonstrate this, practice equipment for the players, or a sampling of the reward. Challenges can last from a few minutes to a couple of hours. The longest Survivor challenge was 11 hours and 55 minutes in the final immunity challenge in Survivor: Palau.

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Tribal challenges[edit | edit source]

Prior to the merge, tribes compete against each other in challenges. These most often are multi-segment obstacle courses that include both physical and mental elements with the tribe that finishes first declared the winner; commonly, these start with tribe members collecting puzzles pieces that are then used to solve a puzzle by other tribe members. Other challenges may be based on winning a number of rounds of head-to-head competitions. Challenges are normally held with equal numbers of all tribes participating and in some cases equal splits of gender. Tribes with more players will be asked to sit out as many players as needed to balance the numbers, with the stipulation that those players cannot sit out in back-to-back reward and immunity challenges. When one tribe has more than twice the other tribe members, then players in the larger tribe cannot participate in back-to-back challenges. Tribes are given time to strategically decide who should sit out and who will perform the various duties on a challenge.

Individual challenges[edit | edit source]

After the merge, challenges are generally performed on an individual basis. These include similar obstacle courses as for team challenges, but will often also include endurance challenges, having players maintain the balance under precarious situations for as long as possible, with the last player remaining winning the challenge. In some cases, during post-merge challenges, the individuals will be split into separate teams, with only the winning team eligible for reward or immunity.

Types of challenges[edit | edit source]

Challenges can be played for rewards, immunity, or both. Rewards include food, survival equipment like flint, tarps, or fishing gear, luxury items, and short getaways from camp. Before the merge, the entire winning tribe will enjoy these rewards. Post-merge, only one player may win the reward but will be given the opportunity to select one or more other players to bring along with them on it. Individual challenge rewards may also include an advantage that can be used at the subsequent immunity challenge, such as advancing directly into the final round of the challenge without having to participate in the first round.

Immunity challenges provide the winning tribe or team with immunity from Tribal Council. Immunity is usually represented in a form of an idol prior to the merge, and a necklace afterwards. Prior to the merge, tribes with immunity do not attend Tribal Council, allowing them to stay intact. In seasons featuring more than two tribes, immunity will be available for all but the last place finishers, forcing this one tribe to Tribal Council. With individual immunity, those castaways still attend Tribal Council with the rest of the merged tribe, but, unless they assign immunity to someone else, are ineligible to be voted for. Winning immunity is only good for one Tribal Council; at the next immunity challenge, the tribe or castaway will be asked to give up the idol or necklace, making immunity "up for grabs". There have been a few cases in which individual immunity challenges have taken place prior to the merge whereupon usually, one castaway in each tribe will be given immunity, after which both tribes will attend Tribal Council, one after the other. This is used to quickly dwindle the number of remaining castaways.

Though a wide variety of challenges have been used across the SurvivorTemplate:'s broadcast, several challenges are frequently reused:

  • A food eating challenge, involving food items that may be local delicacies but are considered gross or revolting by the castaways. These were more often seen in earlier seasons but in recent years have become much less frequent.
  • A trivia or "know your tribe" quiz, where castaways who provide correct answers are allowed to knock other castaways out of the challenge and prevent them from winning.
  • A "Survivor Auction", used in place of a reward challenge, in which the players are given a sum of money to use to bid on food items (both known and unknown at the time of bidding), other momentary luxuries like a bath, or advantages in the game, such as a clue to a hidden immunity idol or an advantage in the upcoming immunity challenge.
  • A "loved ones" challenge, where a spouse, parent, sibling, adult child or friend of each castaway has been flown out to the location to participate in the challenge with or for their castaway. The winner typically gets to spend more time with their loved one, either on a brief trip or back at camp.
  • A "second chance" challenge, where elements of previous challenges are reused in a single course.
  • The final immunity challenge is often a long-lasting endurance challenge, giving the remaining castaways time to make bargains and last-minute deals to get into the final Tribal Council.

Tribal Council[edit | edit source]

Tribal Council is a special production stage located near the tribe camps. Tribes sit across a fire pit from the host while the jury members, if present, sit off to the side. A small alcove adjoins the structure for the players to cast their votes in private. Tribal Council almost always serves as an episode's finale.

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The first time each player attends Tribal Council, he or she takes a torch and lights it from the fire pit while the host reminds them "fire represents life in this game". During the jury phase of the game, the host will call in the jury after the tribe is seated and remind jurors they are there to gather information but not speak or otherwise participate. The host will then proceed to ask the tribe questions about what has transpired since their last visit to Tribal Council (or the beginning of the game). The host asks these questions in hopes of bringing tribal dynamics to light, and players in precarious situations may reveal information or bargain with others to keep themselves in the game. Though the viewing audience typically sees only a few minutes of each Tribal Council, some have gone on for hours.

The host ends the formal discussion by declaring that it is time to vote. During the second half of the game, the host then gives the immunity challenge winner(s) the choice to keep their immunity necklace for themselves or give it to another player, then reminds players they cannot cast a vote for the player(s) who finally end up wearing the necklace(s). The host then directs the players to vote in the alcove one-by-one. After writing their vote, each player has the opportunity to address the camera before placing their vote in the ballot urn. Once all players have cast their votes, the host collects the urn, tallies the votes, and returns to the fire pit with the urn. Beginning from the US season Survivor: Fiji, the host then offers players the opportunity to play an immunity idol prior to announcing the votes. If a player produces an idol, he or she must declare which player the idol protects (typically a player can protect anyone, including themselves). The host then confirms if the idol is legitimate, and if it is, the host declares that any vote for the protected player will not count. The host then reminds the tribe that once the votes are read, the decision is final, and the eliminated player must leave the Tribal Council area immediately.

When enough votes have been read to eliminate one player, any additional votes remain unread and unknown to the players (in almost all cases, the leftover votes are also for the eliminated player). The host instructs the eliminated player to bring their torch, snuffs it out, and tells the player that "the tribe has spoken" (or in rare cases, a fitting variation thereof) and "it's time for you to go." As the eliminated player walks off, the host makes a final observation before telling the remainder of the tribe to "grab your torches and head back to camp" and wishes them a good night. Occasionally, tribes who have not made fire on their own or earned it in a challenge will have to douse their torches or leave the torches at Tribal Council.

The eliminated player has a final confessional to express their feelings about being eliminated before they are sequestered with other eliminated players until the end of filming. Later eliminated players join the jury who will decide the winner. Jurors are sequestered until the end of the Final Tribal Council. While sequestered, jurors cannot discuss their jury vote or experiences with other jurors to prevent any possible cooperation or collusion from subgroups within the jury. After casting their vote at Final Tribal Council, jurors also cannot discuss their vote with anyone lest they spoil the surprise reveal at the season finale.

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Final Tribal Council[edit | edit source]

When only two—or, in later seasons, three—players remain in the game, the finalists and jurors convene for Final Tribal Council. The change to three finalists presents more of a challenge to the castaway who wins the final immunity challenge: while that person has clinched their spot as a finalist, they cannot unilaterally decide which of the other remaining castaways they will compete against for jurors' votes.

At Final Tribal Council, each remaining castaway makes an opening statement to the jury. One-by-one, each jurors then addresses any or all of the finalists, asking a question or commenting on the finalists' behavior in the game. Jurors often ask questions hoping for answers that will help make their decision, while comments and speeches are generally an effort to sway other jurors. The finalists are usually free to respond to these questions and comments as they see fit, though jurors can expressly forbid them to respond. Beginning with Survivor: Game Changers in the U.S., the process shifted from each juror receiving the floor one-by-one toward a moderated discussion highlighting the show's three major tentpoles: "Outwit", "Outplay" and "Outlast". After the interrogation, finalists often have one last chance to make their case. The host then reminds the jurors that they are writing their choice to win (versus writing their choice to eliminate, as in all other votes) and, for the last time, declares that it is time to vote. One-by-one, jurors vote privately in the alcove. As with regular elimination votes, jurors can choose to address the camera to explain their vote. The host then collects the urn, and in most seasons, leaves the votes unread until a live finale months later, at the conclusion of the season's broadcast, where they read the votes publicly and crown the Sole Survivor.

Evacuation and quitting[edit | edit source]

Some players have been eliminated from the game by other means than being voted out. Castaways who suffer severe injuries or exhaustion are evaluated by the medical team which is always on call. The medical team may provide treatment and give the player the option to continue in the game, warning them of the health risks involved. However, if the medical doctor determines that the player is at risk of permanent injury or death and needs to be removed from the game for their own health, they will be removed and taken to a nearby hospital. In the US season of Survivor: Cambodia, the producers were notified that one of the remaining castaways' children had been hospitalized, and the castaway was pulled from the game to return home and be with their family. Survivor: Kaoh Rong has had the most evacuations to date, with three.

Occasionally, castaways who are not in need of medical treatment have decided to quit the game, without waiting to be voted out, due to physical or emotional exhaustion—either by making an announcement at a Tribal Council, in which case they are let out of the game without any vote, or by being recovered from camp after making their intentions clear to producers and being interviewed by the host. When a player leaves the game without being voted off, the other tribes are notified of the departed player's removal, and the next Tribal Council may be cancelled. After the players merge into one tribe, any who have been removed from the game by medical evacuation are still eligible to participate as jury members once the medical examiners deem them healthy enough to do so. Those that have quit the game voluntarily may also still be eligible for the jury and, if their reasons for leaving are considered sufficient, they may also still be allowed to make a farewell speech to the camera.

Redemption Island/Exile Island[edit | edit source]

Redemption Island is a twist used in Survivor: Redemption Island, Survivor: South Pacific and Survivor: Blood vs. Water, in which voted out contestants remain in the game, exiled from the other castaways, competing in challenges for a chance to return to the game. It was first used in several international editions, including the Swedish version, the Israeli version as "The Island of the Dead", Philippine version's second season as "Isla Purgatoryo" (Purgatory Island), the Serbian version's second season as "Ghost Island" and the Romanian version's first season as "Exile Island". In the ShaneEyoho Universe version (from Season 2 onwards should Redemption Island be in play.) Beardmore, Macleod & Wray (usually one of them.) would sometimes go to the island for a special Stranded on Redemption Island segment where they would interact with the castaways there.

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Exile Island is a remote location away from the tribal camps, where one or two castaways are sent to live in isolation from the rest of their tribe. Exile Island was first introduced in Survivor: Palau when a single contestant was made to stay alone on a beach for a day as a result of being the first to drop out of an Immunity Challenge. This twist was not used regularly until Survivor: Panama; it was also used in Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Gabon, Tocantins, and San Juan del Sur.

Immunity Idols[edit | edit source]

Hidden immunity idols are pocket-sized ornaments—typically necklaces—made to fit the theme of the season, that are hidden around the tribes' camps or other locations that the castaways have access to. When played at Tribal Council, the hidden immunity idol makes the castaway who plays it immune from elimination at that Tribal Council. Idols are typically usable until the Tribal Council with five players remaining, and do not need to be declared to other castaways when found. The idol, once found by a player, cannot be stolen from them, but other castaways can look through their possessions to see if they have it. Idols can, however, be transferred to other players at any point, or be played on another player at Tribal Council. Once an idol "leaves the game", either by being played or by the holder leaving the game with their idol, a replacement idol may be hidden.

Seasons Overview[edit | edit source]

The ShaneEyoho Universe version of Survivor is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted regularly by Jeff Probst and also features segments presented by Joshua Beardmore, Kyle Macleod & Shane Wray (from Season 2 onwards however if they got eliminated in Season 1 they would return to present.) Each competition is called a season, has a unique name, and lasts from 13 to 16 episodes.

# Season title Location Presenters Tribes Winner Runner-up/3rd Place Final vote
1 Survivor: New Beginnings Caramoan, Camarines Sur, Philippines Jeff Probst, TBA 3 tribes of 6 people with Beardmore, Macleod & Wray as Captains
2 Survivor: Vanuatu - Islands of Fire Efate, Shefa, Vanuatu Jeff Probst, TBA 2 tribes of 9 people