He also explains why the season 49 winner has no choice but to come clean.

Survivor 50 host Jeff Probst weighs in on season 49 stars Savannah and Rizo going back-to-back

He also explains why the season 49 winner has no choice but to come clean.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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February 22, 2026 9:15 a.m. ET

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Rizo Velovic, Savannah Louie on 'Survivor 50'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS (2)

It all started with Rupert Boneham, the first player to compete on back-to-back *Survivor* seasons. But when Rupert showed up for his second stint on *Survivor: All-Stars*, his new tribe mates had seen at least part of his previous season (*Pearl Islands*), which had aired prior to filming, making them familiar with his game.

Same with Amanda Kimmel and James Clement when they went straight from *China* to *Micronesia* — players from their second go-round had seen at least some of their first outings.

Sometimes back-to-backers’ entire game was on display, like when Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard double dipped on *Palau* and *Guatemala*. In that case, the cast of *Guatemala* newbies had seen their entire first season and knew exactly who was standing dramatically in front of them on that Mayan temple.

Jeff Probst and the cast of 'Survivor 50'.

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In all those cases, the players appearing on consecutive seasons had at least a few months of recovery time between seasons. That all changed when Russell Hantz showed up for *Heroes vs. Villains* just two weeks after finishing up on *Samoa*. None of the season 20 cast mates had seen a single second of his game. All they were told was that he would be on the Villains tribe and they could make of that what they would.

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With the exception of the *Cambodia* season (which filmed as season 32 but aired out-of-order as 31), back-to-backers since have always come into the game as a total mystery with only a roughly two-week break in between. That list was comprised of Malcolm Freberg (*Philippines* to *Caramoan*) as well as Zeke Smith and Michaela Bradshaw (*Millennials vs. Gen X* to *Game Changers).* And now you can add two more names: *Survivor 49* winner Savannah Louie and fourth-place finisher Rizo Velovic.

Savannah Louie and Rizo Velovic from 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS (2)

Could host Jeff Probst notice the mental, emotional, and physical wear and tear on Savannah and Rizo when they showed up for *Survivor 50*?

“That's really interesting,” the host told ** in Fiji on day 3 of filming. “I never thought about it.”

So I guess that’s a… no?

“They had about 10 days back home, so they could eat and sleep and get reacquainted with their family before they left again,” Probst notes.

As this reporter can attest from being on the beach for the day 1 marooning, the energy level for all 24 returning players was sky high. “My hunch — and this is completely unfounded, it's just my hunch — is that the adrenaline of *Survivor 50* fueled everybody,” Probst says, “whether it had been 20 years since you played, or 20 days. And that's the same for our crew.”

Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

While contestants had to endure a long and grueling casting process, producers and the crew have been living and breathing the season even longer to pull off the anniversary installment, all the while juggling multiple seasons (48, 49, and 50) at the same time.

“Without any compare, *Survivor 50* is the hardest we've worked during prep, pre-production, and production, and we're just beginning post [on season 49],” says Probst. “But we put in every single thing. We had to make this the very best season we could, and we, too, left it on the field. I feel very good about the results.”

Speaking of results, a big question hovering before the game was whether Savannah should tell the others that she won $1 million on the show only two weeks ago. The season 49 champion told EW she would indeed tell the truth after hearing from a *Survivor 49* cast mate that word had leaked to some season 50 players about her finish.

Rizo Velovic, Savannah Louie, and Sophi Balerdi on 'Survivor 49'.

Probst felt Savannah had no choice but to come clean. “Somebody knows how she did, and that’s Rizo. So I think you have to tell people, because that's their first question. If you get caught in a lie that you won a season and you said you didn't, you're done.”

Plus, Savannah is not alone in another way. “She's not the only winner out there,” Probst points out, with Dee Valladares (season 45) and Kyle Fraser (season 48) also on the cast. “So she's got company, and that's one of those layers of returning player seasons that everybody comes in with a different knapsack of advantage and baggage that they have to get through. I mean, imagine what Savannah could say about Rizo!”

Sounds like the man, the myth, the legend may have to watch his back as well.

*Survivor 50* premieres Feb. 25 on CBS.

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Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Survivor”