When the cast for Season 49 of “Survivor” was first announced in August 2025, the long-running reality competition series had no choice but to address the biggest pre-season “cheating” scandal in its 25-year history after it was revealed that two previously-casted players had to be replaced just 12 hours before filming began.
According to longtime “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, the last-minute switch, which resulted in alternate castaways Jason Treul and MC Chukwujekwu joining the Season 49 cast, came after several others violated the show’s strict pre-filming rules.
“I cannot think of a time we have ever pulled somebody for violating our pre-game rule policy of not talking to other players,” Probst told TV Insider after the cast announcement. “I’m sure over the years we’ve had people push the envelope a bit, and then our casting team will step in and say, ‘Hey, we know it’s difficult, but just remember you can’t talk until the game starts. And that’s when you’re in front of Jeff.’ This was very different. This was blatant disrespect for the casting team.”
CBSNow, following the season’s December 17 finale, finalist Sage Ahrens-Nichols is opening up about how the “blatant disrespect” extended far beyond just the two unnamed players who were removed from the cast before filming.
In fact, Sage isn’t just spilling behind-the-scenes secrets, she’s even calling on her Season 49 co-stars to come forward about their off-limits pre-gaming behavior, telling them to “take accountability.”
Sage Ahrens-Nichols Accuses Co-Stars of ‘Pre-Gaming’ Season 49
The third place finisher dredged up the pre-season scandal in a December 29 Instagram post – two posts, actually, amounting to a total of 34 pages worth of her personal reflections on her overall “Survivor” experience.
While Sage addressed a number of topics in the pages, including her thoughts on her fellow castaways that didn’t make it into the show, she focused heavily on her co-stars’ pre-season behavior.
“For our season specifically, the game began during pre-game,” she revealed, adding that, “In addition to the two people removed from the game, there were at least four others who ultimately played who should have been removed during pre-game. Three of these individuals have been confirmed to have met up at night to talk in secret.”
Sage Denies Rumors That Sophie Segreti was Involved in Pre-Gaming Scandal
Ahrens-Nichols explained that she was motivated to call out her competitors’ pre-season shenanigans after fans accused castaway Sophie Segretti of being involved.
Fans had previously speculated that Segreti’s so-called “purpled” edit was an intentional move by “Survivor” producers, a way to punish her for engaging in pre-gaming without actually removing her from the cast.
According to Sage, however, those claims are entirely unfounded.
“I saw the theory about [Segreti] being ‘bad’ during pre-game in terms of talking,” said Ahrens-Nichols. “As some people know, I was the alternate for season 47. So I got the unique experience of being able to compare pre-game for 47 and for 49.”
She went on to describe Season 47’s pre-game chatter as a “2/10” compared to Season 49, which she claimed was “9.9999/10.”
“It was insane and caused our game to actually start during pre-game (and absolutely influenced dynamics within our game),” she continued, noting that there were “tiers” to the “talking offenders.”
As far as Segreti’s involvement, Sage confirmed that she was “hands down the best behaved person in our cast. She wouldn’t even look at anybody during pre-game. I actually thought she was the alternate for our season since she wouldn’t engage with anyone.”
Sage Calls on Co-Stars to ‘Take Accountability’ for Alleged ‘Cheating’
While Sage refused to out which Season 49 castaways were involved in the pre-gaming scandal, she added later in the post, “The people involved know who they are, and while they will likely deny it, that is not surprising based on how they moved post-game. Production did try to intervene, but they had no idea the extent of what was happening.”
Ahrens-Nichols went on to ask her co-stars to “reach out in a respectful way” and “take accountability.”
While she declined to “name names” at present, she did end her message with a warning that if the guilty players refuse to come forward on their own, she will eventually out them on her own.
“This is an opportunity to be part of that process,” she concluded.
At present, no Season 49 contestants have responded to Sage’s call to action.
It would be quite simple. The powers to be just need to do a simple 10 questions on a polograph right before the game begins like just before boarding the boat to begin taping the show. You ask the right questions. You either get on the cast or not.
A polygraph is far from definitive.