Survivor 41: Probst Says Shorter Season Could Be Permanent

Survivor 41 is set to premiere on Sept. 22, and this season the 18, all-new contestants won’t be trying to survive 39 days on the island.

Due to a two-week Covid-19 quarantine for the Survivor 2021 cast and crew, the game will only be played for 26 days this season. And after a year-long production shutdown, that’s better than nothing.

“The decision to change the game to 26 days came from the fact that we couldn’t leave our bubble,” host Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly. “So if we wanted to shoot two seasons, we had to do it back to back. For us to shoot two seasons of 39 days, back to back, along with our 14-day quarantine, would have meant nearly 100 days, and that was simply too long.”

So how does the shorter season effect the game? The pace is much faster, but other than that, it’ll feel much the same, Probst explained.

“Once we landed at 26 days, the first thing we had to do was adjust the living conditions of the game so that 26 days would still feel like 39 days,” Probst said. “At first glance, you might think that’s impossible, but it’s not. The players definitely felt it, and you’ll see it in the show.

“The pace is absolutely relentless,” Probst went on. “Faster than any other season. There is no time to sit back and contemplate even for a moment. You have to be assessing and reassessing your options on an hourly basis because you have no idea what is coming next. The game design has never been so dangerous.”

Since they filmed Survivor 41 and 42 back-to-back, that guarantees two season at 26 days, but Probst told EW that they were so happy with how the show came out in just 26 days (not to mention how much cheaper it was to film), that it may never go back to 39 days.

“We haven’t decided if we will go back to 39 days,” Probst said. “I will say that I’m optimistic that fans will find this new 26-day game to be very entertaining and Survivor-worthy.”

What do you think about Survivor 41 being just 26 days? Would you rather it go back to 39 days if that ever becomes possible?

Have you met the Survivor 41 cast yet? Click here to see the 18 new castaways.