CBS has announced the premiere date for Season 40 of Survivor, the milestone season that will reportedly feature a cast of former Survivor winners returning to compete for a super-sized grand prize.
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Following its premiere, the Survivor season will air in the show's regular Wednesday 8-9PM ET/PT time period beginning February 19.
Season 40 was reportedly filmed in Fiji in May and June, shortly after the show's currently-airing Survivor: Island of the Idols season was also filmed in Fiji.
Earlier this year, Inside Survivor reported the 40th Survivor season will be the show's first all-winners edition and feature a cast of 20 former Survivor champions competing to win an unprecedented $2 million grand prize.
Every Survivor season since the inaugural Survivor: Borneo edition has previously featured a $1 million grand prize.
While many Survivor viewers have been clamoring for an all-winners edition for years, Survivor host and executive producer Jeff Probst had rejected the idea as recently as last year.
"We can't do all winners," Jeff told Us Weekly in 2018. "As a producer, I would never suggest it. I would say it's not a good idea."
"We have 10 great winners that you'd want to see play again," Jeff told Us. "We don't have 20. We don't have 18."
"Some of the greats are like, 'No, we're done,'" Jeff admitted.
However, according to Jeff, CBS executives had been in favor of the idea for some time.
"CBS wants to do it. They're pitching me all the time," Jeff told Us.
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"And I'm going, 'I'll sit down with you and show you the list!' We don't have it. And if I sat down and we wasted our time and I walked you through all our winners, you would say, 'Oh, you're right. You don't have a season.' We have a tribe of winners, that's it."
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According to Inside Survivor, the decision to increase the grand prize served as an incentive to convince some former Survivor winners to come back and play again.
Sandra Diaz-Twine is the only Survivor contestant to ever win $2 million from the show; however, she won the amount by winning two separate seasons of the game. Sandra first won Survivor: Pearl Islands in 2003 followed by Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains in 2010.
Sandra -- who also appeared on Survivor: Game Changers and is currently serving as an "Idol" on Survivor: Island of the Idols along with Rob Mariano -- will reportedly be one of the returning players for Survivor's 40th season.
She will reportedly be joined by nine other female Survivor winners and 10 returning male Survivor winners, one of whom will reportedly be Rob.
The other female Survivor winners who will reportedly be a part of the Survivor Season 40 cast are Survivor: All-Stars winner Amber Mariano, who also appeared on Survivor: The Australian Outback; Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatwright; Survivor: Philippines winner Denise Stapley; Survivor: One World winner Kim Spradlin; Survivor: Kaoh Rong winner Michele Fitzgerald; Survivor: San Juan del Sur winner Natalie Anderson; Survivor: Micronesia -- Fans vs. Favorites winner and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains runner-up Parvati Shallow, who also appeared on Survivor: Cook Islands; Survivor: Game Changers winner Sarah Lacina, who also previously appeared on Survivor: Cagayan; and Survivor: South Pacific winner Sophie Clarke.
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While Rob and Sandra are currently serving as mentors on Survivor: Island of the Idols, they are not actually playing the game and are ineligible to win the $1 million grand prize.
In addition, Inside Survivor reported the Edge of Extinction twist will return for Survivor's 40th season.
As shown in Survivor: Edge of Extinction earlier this year, castaways voted out of the game were given an option to head to Ponderosa and end their game for good or continue playing in a mysterious manner.
Players who opted to continue playing headed to the Edge of Extinction, which was supposed to be a remote, desolate island with limited supplies and food. Producers presented the conditions at the Edge as being much harsher than what the castaways had experienced back at camp.
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Castaways gathered and lived on the Edge of Extinction until they were given opportunities to win a spot back in the original game. While they were not technically competing to be the "Sole Survivor" while on the Edge, they were able to send advantages to players in the real game.
Survivor: Edge of Extinction allowed two players, Rick Devens and Chris Underwood, to re-enter the game after they won respective challenges, and Chris went on to win the $1 million. (Rick finished in fourth place).
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
