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Matt Van Wagenen wants the contestants to outwit, outplay, and outlast their opponents for as long as possible.
Ahead of the Feb. 25 premiere of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans, the show's executive producer discussed the future of the popular competition show.
"I'm hoping this show lasts long enough for my 8-year-old daughter to be on the Dream Team, which tests out all of the challenges. "You have to be 21," Matt told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Feb. 3, teasing, "Maybe for her, we will make an exception and go 20."
"I do not want it to end," he insisted. "I don't even discuss the end of Survivor. It's like, when will the NFL end? It's changed into something else."
"I know he loves it the way he talks about it," he told me. "We work closely, and I can see his enthusiasm and love for it. So I don't see it dying anytime soon. He is always able to discover something new and interesting, which inspires him."
Among the most interesting additions to season 50—which will star fan-favorite contestants spanning the show's entire history—are celebrity cameos from the likes of Billie Eilish, Jimmy Fallon, and MrBeast.
"We knew some of Survivor's biggest fans happen to be celebrities," Jeff told Variety last month, "so we thought sprinkling a few of them in with their own unique twists felt like a fun way to make the game even more unpredictable!"
He also addressed concerns about how the bold move would affect the series.
"I think it's a legitimate concern when you start adding layers like celebrities, that they can overshadow the game and take it off course," explained the coach. "Our job was to ensure that we stayed true to what we were doing on Survivor, which is to investigate this ongoing social experiment. "And now we are adding another layer.
