The hotly-anticipated premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” is just over a month away, but while we know plenty about the season’s record-breaking cast, the inclusion of celebrity guests like MrBeast and Zac Brown, and the return of dearly missed live finale, fans remain in the dark when it comes to how the milestone installment will be formatted.
With 24 returning players and just 26 days of gameplay, eliminations at Tribal Council will have to be more frequent than they’ve been in previous seasons, but as to whether means longtime host Jeff Probst will be snuffing multiple torches each episode remains a mystery.
While CBS has remained tight-lipped regarding Season 50’s twists and turns – including the official results of last year’s “In the Hands of the Fans” voting polls – one superfan is now speculating that the season could potentially see the return of “Survivor”s iconic Exile Island twist.
Superfan Predicts Return of Exile Island After Seeing Season 50 Set Photos
“Survivor” superfan RealitySea first published the theory in a January 19 TikTok video, speculating that TVInsider’s first-look photos of the official Season 50 Tribal Council set accidentally revealed a major spoiler pointing to the potential return of Exile Island.
TVInsider, as well as other media platforms like Parade and Entertainment Weekly, were invited to join the cast and crew of “Survivor 50” for the first three days of the upcoming season. For the duration of their visits, these outlets witnessed the players being split into their respective tribes, competing in their first Immunity Challenge and attending their first Tribal Council ceremony on the island.
According to RealitySea, however, there’s a glaring discrepancy in the new Tribal Council set photos.
“I noticed that there were only seven stools,” said the TikTok, noting that, for the first elimination ceremony, regardless of which tribe loses the Immunity challenge, there should be eight.
CBSWhile the superfan admitted that the change in the number of stools could point towards a potential medical evacuation in the early days of the game, her opinion shifted after seeing a shot of Season 50 castaway Q Burdette standing alone on a beach in a recently-released promo video.
RealitySea added that Reddit sleuths used Google Maps to locate the islands across from Q in the split-second shot, determining – based on “Survivor”s established filming locations – that there shouldn’t be a camp on the island where Burdette is standing, leading some fans to believe that the “Survivor 46” alum was sent to Exile Island before the season’s first Tribal Council ceremony, therefore explaining why there are only seven stools instead of eight.
Everything to Know About ‘Survivor’s Exile Island Twist
Exile Island is a recurring game mechanic that was first introduced in “Survivor: Palau,” and forces a singular player to leave their camp and fend for themselves on a separate, uninhabited island. Typically enforced by an opposing tribe, the banished player misses out on the ability to engage in game-changing conversations back at camp, but also frequently has the ability to find an Immunity Idol hidden somewhere on Exile.
More importantly, for RealitySea’s theory at least, the exiled player does not attend Tribal Council with the rest of their tribe.
“Survivor” has seen several iterations of Exile Island over the years, including seasons featuring returning Season 50 castaways like “Survivor: Palau” (Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick), “Survivor: Panama” (Cirie Fields), “Survivor: Cook Islands” (Ozzy Lusth), “Survivor: Micronesia” (Cirie & Ozzy), “Survivor: Tocantins” (Benjamin “Coach” Wade), “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” (Aubry Bracco), “Survivor: Game Changers” (Cirie, Ozzy & Aubry), “Survivor: David vs. Goliath” (Angelina Keeley, Christian Hubicki & Mike White), and, most recently, “Survivor 41” (Jonathan Young).
CBS/GettyThe return of Exile Island could provide an alternative twist to “Survivor”s last all-star season, “Winners at War,” which sent eliminated contestants to the “Edge of Extinction” – a deserted island where ousted players were sent to await an opportunity to re-enter the game by winning some sort of “duel” or challenge.
Exile Island will not afford eliminated players with the same ability, however, even if RealitySea’s theory proves true and the twist does make a comeback in Season 50.
For now, the milestone season’s twists and turns will remain a mystery, at least until the hotly-anticipated three-hour premiere episode hits CBS screens nationwide on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00pm ET.
