Survivor is an American reality television show, based on the Swedish program Expedition Robinson. Contestants are referred to as "castaways", and they compete against one another to become the "Sole Survivor" and win one million U. First airing in , there currently have been a total of 47 seasons aired; the program itself has been filmed on five continents.
Contestants usually apply to be on the show, but the series has been known to recruit contestants for various seasons. For Survivor: Fiji , the producers had hoped to have a more racially diverse cast, and hoped that a more diverse group would apply after the success of the racially segregated Survivor: Cook Islands.
When this did not happen, the producers turned to recruiting and in the end, only one contestant had actually submitted an application to be on the show. A total of participants castaways have competed so far as of Survivor Two contestants, Russell Hantz and Sandra Diaz-Twine, have competed on international editions of the series in both cases Australian Survivor.
Fourteen seasons have featured returning players: five with all-returnees Survivor: All-Stars in , Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains in , [ 2 ] Survivor: Cambodia in , Survivor: Game Changers in , and Survivor: Winners at War in , [ 3 ] six with one to four returning players on tribes with new players Survivor: Guatemala in , Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific in , [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Survivor: Philippines in , Survivor: Edge of Extinction in and Survivor 45 in , [ 6 ] two with a tribe of ten returning "Favorites" facing off against a tribe of ten "Fans" Survivor: Micronesia in and Survivor: Caramoan in , and one featuring a tribe of ten returning players playing against a tribe of their family members Survivor: Blood vs.
Water in On two occasions, contestants have been cast but ultimately withdrew before the game began without being replaced: a 20th contestant, model agency owner Mellisa McNulty, was originally cast in Survivor: Fiji , but dropped out and returned home the night before the show began because of panic attacks, [ 7 ] while in Survivor: San Juan del Sur , the 19th and 20th contestants, sisters So and Doo Kim, were removed just before filming due to a medical emergency.
