The Survivor 41 finale is this week, and we’ve been wondering all season long how different it could be with all the changes we’ve seen this season. Jeff Probst spoke to Parade Magazine and let everyone in on some of those Survivor finale secrets.
As we saw at the end of last week’s episode, the game is far from over for the Final 5.
“The one big twist is that the final five will leave Tribal Council and head directly to a new beach where they will have to start over again with no shelter and only very meager supplies,” Probst told Parade. “It’s that final push to the end that forces the players to dig deep into their souls for the last three days. This was important in the game design because we really wanted the 26 days to be as difficult as 39 days of the old version of Survivor. After watching them deal with this season, I feel pretty good that we accomplished our goal!”
But what about the finale format? Probst explained that when they shot Survivor 41 back in April, there were still no audiences allowed for TV shows. So they took the opportunity to do something far more raw than we’ve ever seen, including revealing the final vote and winner at the final Tribal Council.
“For context, you have to remember that production for Survivor 41 started back in early April with a mandatory 14-day quarantine in Fiji, before we even began shooting,” Probst said. “At that time, no television shows had live audiences, and there was no way to predict where things would stand in December. Nobody loves a live finale more than me. The energy is fantastic, but it simply wasn’t an option. So we had to make the safest and most practical decision, which was to finish the show in the jungle and reveal the votes at the final tribal council. The really fun upside of this decision is it gave us a chance to do something we hadn’t done since season one – reveal the winner in the jungle in real time! It was electric, and it blew the player’s minds.”
And what about a reunion show?
“Then we realized it gave us the chance to do something we’ve never done before, a Survivor After Show!” Probst said. “So once we announced the winner, we brought in some pizza and champagne and just kept shooting! We had a really candid, raw, unfiltered conversation while the players and jury were still very much in game mode. I think Survivor fans will enjoy it.”
Probst promises even though things will look different, the energy is still there.
“The game is totally up for grabs,” Probst said. :It’s a very fun, dramatic finish followed by an entertaining Survivor After Show and your first look at the players of Survivor 42.”
Source: Parade Magazine
