An international showdown version of Survivor has been considered by the US show’s long-running producer, host and torch-snuffer, Jeff Probst. Absolutely no exaggeration here but if this comes to fruition I may just lose my mind like someone after a month of little sleep and a white rice-only diet.
Probst touched on the idea of a cross-nation competition in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly. The possibility of pooling together contestants from all the show’s various franchises was reignited by the launch of The Challenge — which pits stars from various reality shows against each other in a survival-style setting.
Apparently, Probst really liked the format and got to thinking about whether something similar could exist for the Survivor universe.
“We have definitely considered some kind of international Survivor showdown, but we’ve never figured out a way to do it that we thought would be fun for our audience and still loyal to the format,” he said.
Here’s an idea Jeff: pick a bunch of the all-time favourite players from a bunch of the franchises and dump them all on a beach in Fiji. Sorted.
May I also suggest golden god David Genat, long-game champion Kristie Bennett, camouflaged ratbag Luke Toki and agent of chaos George Mladenov as tributes from Australian Survivor to take on a potential international competition?
Probst told EW the large pool of franchises is more of a hurdle than a help when it comes to crafting a possible mega Survivor season.
“Survivor is so much about the nuance of relationships,” he said.
“And with the language barriers that come with an international format, we’re not yet convinced we know how to do it.”
David Genat told PEDESTRIAN.TV he is “100%” keen to compete in a cross-franchise season following his golden run on 2020’s All-Stars season.
“I don’t think it’s a case of will I, it’s a case of when I will show up,” he said.
“I just need some time to get myself right and I’m gonna go out there and smash those guys.”
We’ve already had a taste of contestants from another country’s franchise with queen Sandra Diaz-Twine and fedora owner Russell Hantz trying their hand at outwitting, outplaying and outlasting in the Australian game.
Considering that Survivor exchange has been pretty successful so far, I’m crossing my fingers and toes that the idea of a fully international beach battle doesn’t get entirely snuffed out.
