Jeff Probst has teased Survivor's upcoming 49th season as "bonkers" and "unpredictable," especially in the second half.

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Jeff, the longtime host of Survivor, teased in multiple interviews that viewers are going to watch the Survivor 49 castaways struggle in "unrelenting heat" in Fiji for the first two weeks of the game.

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While trying to outwit, outplay and outlast under the hot sun, Jeff suggested the castaways were a little delirious and running on fumes in the beginning of the game.

"The front half of the game is pretty exhausting, and it's pretty rough for a few of the players. It's not an easy go. And then the merge hits and the weather starts to cool and the game goes bonkers," Jeff told TV Line.

"The players are now back and it's one of the most unpredictable back halves of a season that we've ever had."

Jeff added, "Suddenly, you get a little bit of energy and a little bit of a cloud cover, and all the big guns come out."

Jeff specified that Season 49 developed into "one of the most unpredictable seasons" ever "in terms of loyalty" during a separate interview with Parade.

"It's a fun season. It's not even a slow build, but a difficult start. When the weather finally turns and it's not blistering hot, all of a sudden, the players realize they're in a game in which anything is possible," Jeff said.

When the daily temperatures cooled down, Jeff insisted the Survivor game ignited.

"The back half of the season is fantastic because you can't predict who's going home," Jeff explained to the Men's Journal.

"There's no way, because you don't know, because the players didn't know -- they were changing their alliances so fast, and it wasn't just willy-nilly, it was all strategy based."

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Jeff said when the 26-day game -- instead of the old 39-day game format -- forced castaways to make decisions, a person's character was revealed pretty quickly.

"Time will tell if it was right or wrong, but you must make a decision," Jeff said, adding how the speed of the game also resulted in exhilarating Tribal Council sessions.
 
"Here's the truth of Tribal Council: I don't need to know much. I want to know who's going home and why. Things can change, idols get played, but that's my baseline. It's really just like a live game of improv," Jeff told MJ.

Survivor 49 premieres with a two-hour episode on Wednesday, September 24 at 8PM ET/PT.

The Survivor 49 cast, which was announced in late August, will be competing to win $1 million. They hail from all over the country and range in age from 25 through 52.

Following Survivor's premiere, the show will begin airing 90-minute weekly episodes on Wednesday, October 1 at 8PM.

Survivor and The Amazing Race will therefore air back-to-back on Wednesday nights, per usual, starting in October.

Two castaways from the new season will also return to play Season 50 when it airs in Spring 2026.

Jeff had announced the 24 "iconic" castaways who will be competing on Survivor 50 during the May 28 episode of CBS Mornings.

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The 24 veteran castaways are a representation of Survivor's long-standing history, as they've been plucked from Season 1 -- which premiered in May 2000 -- all the way through Season 49, which wrapped filming earlier this year.


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