Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans is the 50th season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on February 25, 2026, on CBS in the United States, and it is the eighteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. Commemorating the show's twenty-fifth anniversary, this season features game mechanics and production designs chosen by an online public vote which occurred during Survivor 48.
The season ended on May 20, 2026, when Aubry Bracco was voted the Sole Survivor, defeating Jonathan Young and Joe Hunter in an 8–3–0 vote to win the largest grand prize awarded on Survivor – consisting of a $2 million cash prize and a Toyota Land Cruiser. Occurring a decade after her Final Tribal Council defeat to Michele Fitzgerald in Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, Aubry's victory made her the second Survivor player to win their first Sole Survivor title on their fourth season or later, following "Boston Rob" Mariano in Survivor: Redemption Island. Cirie Fields was awarded $100,000 as the winner of the "Sia Fan Favorite Prize."
Format
Survivor is a reality television show based on the Swedish show Expedition Robinson, created by Mark Burnett and Charlie Parsons. The series follows a number of participants isolated in a remote location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter. One by one, a participant is removed from the series by majority vote, with challenges held to give a reward (ranging from living- and food-related prizes to a car) and immunity from being voted out of the series. The last remaining player receives a prize of $1,000,000, later $2,000,000.
Contestants
22 of the 24 castaways competing on Survivor 50 were officially announced on CBS Mornings on May 28, 2025. Two remaining contestants from Survivor 49 were left unannounced and were later announced on the conclusion of the latter's finale, which was on December 17, 2025. Similar to Russell Hantz during Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Malcolm Freberg during Survivor: Caramoan, and Zeke Smith and Michaela Bradshaw during Survivor: Game Changers, the other cast members did not have an opportunity to see Rizo and Savannah's game-play in Survivor 49, due to 49 and this season being filmed back to back.
+List of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans contestants Contestant Age From Tribe Finish Original Switched Merged Placement Day Borneo & All-Stars 47 Woodland,California 1st voted out Survivor 48 31 Brooklyn,New York Medically evacuated Survivor 49 31 Atlanta,Georgia 2nd voted out Survivor 46 31 Germantown,Tennessee rowspan="3" 3rd voted out David vs. Goliath 54 Hanalei,Hawaii 4th voted out David vs. Goliath 35 San Diego,California 5th voted out Survivor 46 27 Boston,Massachusetts rowspan="2" rowspan="2" 6th voted out Survivor 48 31 Foster City,California rowspan="17" 7th voted out Survivor 47 34 Winnipeg,Manitoba rowspan="2" rowspan="2" 8th voted out The Australian Outback, All-Stars &Heroes vs. Villains 51 Austin,Texas Survivor 45 28 Miami,Florida rowspan="3" 10th voted out1st jury member Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers 54 The Villages,Florida rowspan="2" Tocantins, Heroes vs. Villains & South Pacific 53 Susanville,California David vs. Goliath 39 Tallahassee,Florida rowspan="4" 13th voted out4th jury member Palau, Guatemala & Heroes vs. Villains 45 Dunedin,Florida 14th voted out5th jury member Survivor 45 30 Laurel,Maryland rowspan="4" 15th voted out6th jury member , South Pacific& Game Changers 43Guanajuato,Mexico 16th voted out7th jury member Edge of Extinction 41 Macon,Georgia rowspan="2" 17th voted out8th jury member Game Changers & AU: Australia vs. The World 54 Jersey City,New Jersey 18th voted out9th jury member Survivor 46 34 Los Angeles,California 19th voted out10th jury member Survivor 49 25 Yonkers,New York Eliminated11th jury member Survivor 48 45 West Sacramento,California 2nd runner-up Survivor 42 32 Gulf Shores,Alabama Runner-up Kaôh Rōng, Game Changers & Edge of Extinction 39 Hampton Falls,New Hampshire Sole Survivor
Future appearances Outside of Survivor, Rick Devens and Dee Valladares competed on season 28 of Big Brother. Q Burdette competed on the sixth season of The Traitors.
Season summary
The 24 returning players were initially divided into three tribes: Cila, Kalo, and Vatu. Cila struggled in the first two immunity challenges, losing Jenna and Savannah early. Vatu lost Kyle by a medical evacuation. In challenges, Kalo and Vatu remained dominant. Aubry and Genevieve immediately began an unspoken rivalry. Following a tribe swap, the new Vatu tribe lost the next three immunity challenges, with Q, Mike, and Angelina being voted out back-to-back. At Cila, Charlie and Rizo were at odds. The new Kalo tribe remained strong and did not lose a challenge throughout the swap. Throughout the pre-merge, tight bonds formed between Cirie, Ozzy, and Rizo, as well as Christian, Emily, and Rick. Another alliance formed between the honor-and-integrity players: Chrissy, Coach, Colby, Genevieve, Joe, Jonathan, and Stephenie.
At the tribes merge and the "Blood Moon," two main factions emerged: an alliance led by the honor players and several smaller alliances made up of the middle players. Dee and Kamilla were immediate targets from the honor players. Aubry became a major target due to both her immunity idol and reputation as a smart player, while Christian, Emily, and Rick continued to play flashy and bold games. Cirie and her alliance with Ozzy and Rizo continued to work together until Rizo ultimately turned against them, knowing he had little chance of winning otherwise. Tiffany gained momentum towards the end of the game winning multiple immunity necklaces but was taken out at the final vote.
At the Final Tribal Council, Joe was criticized by the jury, with some players feeling they had to babysit him throughout the game. Aubry was praised for playing a perfect middle game and reaching the Final Three despite becoming a major target at the merge. Jonathan was commended for his challenge dominance and "old school" style of gameplay. Ultimately, the jury awarded Aubry the title of Sole Survivor in an 8–3–0 vote over Jonathan and Joe.
+Survivor 50 season summary Episode Challenge winner(s) / Journey Eliminated No. Title Air date Reward Immunity Tribe Player(s)1 "Epic Party" February 25, 2026 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Jenna rowspan="3" colspan="2" rowspan="3" Kyle 2 "Therapy Carousel" March 4, 2026 rowspan="8" rowspan="2" Savannah 3 "Did You Vote For a Swap?" March 11, 2026 colspan="2" rowspan="2" Q colspan="2" 4"Knife to the Heart" March 18, 2026 colspan="2" rowspan="2" Mike 5 "Open Wounds" March 25, 2026 rowspan="2" rowspan="2" Angelina Charlie6"The Blood Moon"April 1, 2026StephenieKamilla, Tiffany] Stephenie Ozzy[Rizo] rowspan="13" Kamilla Christian Genevieve Dee Colby 7 "That's Not How I Play Survivor" April 8, 2026 Christian, Dee,Emily, Joe, Ozzy,Rick, Stephenie Ozzy Stephenie Dee 8 "Double The Fun, Double The Demise" April 15, 2026 [Cirie] Cirie Chrissy & Coach 9 "I Deserve All of This" April 22, 2026 Joe, Jonathan,Ozzy, Tiffany Joe Christian Christian 10 "A Side Dish of Chaos" April 29, 2026 Tiffany[Rick] rowspan="7" Stephenie11 "Everyone Will Be Shooketh!" May 6, 2026Jonathan Emily Ozzy12 "Inconceivable" May 13, 2026 Joe[Cirie, Rizo] Joe Rick rowspan="3" Tiffany Cirie13 "Reverse the Curse" May 20, 2026 Jonathan Tiffany Aubry[Joe] Rizo
Episodes
Voting history +Survivor 50 voting historyOriginal tribesSwitched tribesMerged tribe Episode1 2 3 456 7 8 910111213 Day 3 4 6 8 9 11 13 15 16181921 22 23 24 25 Tribe colspan="2" colspan="4" Eliminated Jenna Kyle Savannah Q Mike Angelina Charlie Kamilla Genevieve Colby Dee ChristianStephenie colspan="2" Emily Ozzy Rick Cirie Tiffany Rizo Votes 7–1 Evacuated 6–1 5–1 3–2–1 4–1 4–3 3–2 4–0 4–0 8–4–1 10–1–1 6–3–28–24–2 4–1 6–0 4–2 4–1 VoterVote Challenge Aubry Genevieve Dee Chrissy & Coach ChristianStephenie Ozzy Rick Cirie Tiffany Jonathan Rizo Kamilla Dee Aubry & Rick RickStephenieRickEmily Ozzy Rick Cirie Tiffany Joe Jenna Savannah Genevieve Tiffany Chrissy & Coach ChristianStephenie Ozzy Rick Cirie Tiffany Rizo Charlie colspan="3" Dee Chrissy & Coach ChristianStephenie Ozzy Rick Cirie Tiffany Tiffany Chrissy Coach Chrissy & Coach ChristianStephenieRickEmily Rick Aubry Aubry Cirie Jenna Savannah Charlie Colby Dee Chrissy & Coach ChristianStephenie Emily Emily Emily Emily Rick Aubry Rick Jenna Savannah Rizo Genevieve Dee Chrissy & Coach Ozzy colspan="2" CirieCirie Ozzy Jenna Savannah Q Angelina Angelina colspan="3" Tiffany Chrissy & Coach RickStephenie Aubry Emily Jenna Savannah Q Mike Angelina Colby Dee Chrissy & Coach OzzyStephenieCirieCirie Stephenie Angelina Mike Angelina Kamilla Tiffany Chrissy & Coach Rick Aubry Aubry Christian Jenna Savannah Q Mike Angelina Genevieve Dee Chrissy & Coach Christian Coach Colby Tiffany Chrissy Kamilla Dee Emily & Rizo Dee Charlie Colby Colby Genevieve Kamilla Charlie Chrissy Charlie Rizo Angelina Q Emily Stephenie Mike Q Emily Q Savannah Jenna Ozzy KyleEvacuated Jenna Cirie
Jury vote Episode 13 Day 26 Finalist Aubry Jonathan Joe Votes 8–3–0 Juror VoteRizo Tiffany Cirie Rick Ozzy Emily Stephenie Christian Coach Chrissy Dee Notes
Production On December 15, 2023, Manoa Kamikamica, the Fijian Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, announced that the Fijian Parliament had renewed its contract with Survivor for an additional two years. On April 27, 2024, Jeff Probst announced that the 50th season would feature returning players. Filming began on June 6, 2025. The premiere episode ran for three hours. It is the fifteenth season to feature returning players, and the sixth to feature a cast consisting entirely of returning players, following All-Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, Cambodia, Game Changers, and Winners at War.
With 24 contestants, this is also the largest cast the show has had to date. In addition, several celebrity fans got involved with the game this season. Country music singer Zac Brown and YouTube personality MrBeast made appearances on the island as part of tribal rewards and advantages; musician Billie Eilish and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon had their names attached to special advantages used this season; and pop singer Sia inspired the Fan Favorite prize awarded following the season finale.
Before the filming of the season, the Survivor production team hosted a series of challenges for season 2 of the Amazon Prime Video reality series Beast Games, with Jeff Probst appearing as a co-host as part of the crossover. The series also featured a number of former Survivor contestants. Also as part of the crossover, Beast Games presenter Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson appeared on the tenth episode of Survivor 50 as a celebrity fan, introducing a twist that would lead to the US$1 million prize pot being increased to $2 million.
Public vote On February 22, 2025, Probst announced the season as Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans. For the first time ever, viewers were given the opportunity to vote on game mechanics and production choices that would appear on the season. Voting began on February 26, 2025, during the premiere of Survivor 48. Unlike the voting for Survivor: Cambodia, in which viewers could cast up to 20 votes per day for up to 15 days to determine the cast of that season, fans were only able to cast one vote per ballot question, and all the questions were spread out over four non-consecutive weeks during the airing of Survivor 48.
The following questions were put to a vote by Survivor producers: