How Are Castaways Selected?

How They Pick the Castaways

Many individuals apply to be on the show, and ultimately, the casting producers will mix a group of Survivor enthusiasts with individuals, often models or actors, that they recruit. However, those recruited players must go through the complete casting process.

“Believe it or not, we receive numerous applications from the same individuals year after year,” stated former casting director Lynne Spillman, who was with the show from the beginning until 2018, in an interview with Reality Wanted.

Currently, host Jeff Probst is overseeing casting.

“Typically, it goes like this,” he explained to Entertainment Weekly. “We hop on Zoom, and they start to tell us about their lives. I often spend the first few minutes thinking the same thing… ‘How have they already accomplished so much at such a young age, and what was I doing when I was 24!??'”

There are several rounds following that, including a meeting with the show’s psychologists. “Our only intention is to understand who they truly are,” Probst clarified. “It’s one of the things I try to emphasize to those applying to be on Survivor. You don’t need to be anything other than who you are. It sounds so simple but it’s absolutely true. You do not need an emotional underdog story, you do not need to be the funniest person in the room, you don’t need a college degree, you don’t need to be anything other than yourself.”