Two players selected to compete in Survivor Season 49 were cut from the cast at the last minute due to rules violations, prompting them to be replaced by two alternates. While alternates making it onto the show isn’t unheard of on Survivor, Season 49 marked the first time they were needed just hours before gameplay began. Those two alternates were included in the Survivor 49 cast announcement on August 20.
Survivor always casts two alternate players who are brought out to Fiji before filming starts in case casting changes are needed. Survivor 48’s Shauhin Davari, for example, was an alternate for Survivor 46 and was in Fiji for a week before he learned that he wouldn’t be playing. He was then cast in Season 48. The other Season 46 alternate was Rachel LaMont, who went on to win Survivor 47. The two alternates-turned-cast members for Survivor 49 are Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu. (Meet Jason and MC and the other 16 players in the Survivor 49 cast gallery.)
Jeff Probst told Entertainment Weekly that Jason and MC were informed they would compete 12 hours before the marooning (the opening scene where players are dropped off on the beach for the first challenge). The two players who were eliminated early have not been revealed, but it was a man and a woman. It seems that they broke Survivor‘s very strict rules about not engaging with other players in Fiji before the game begins.
After arriving in Fiji, Survivor players are sequestered for a week before filming starts. They have no ties to the outside world during that time, and they are not allowed to talk to any other players and are monitored to prevent that from happening. Former contestants, such as Survivor 50 cast member Ozzy Lusth, have shared that just because they can’t talk to each other doesn’t mean that non-verbal communication doesn’t occur.
The early eliminations from Season 49 may have been because of attempts to “pre-game.”
“What I can say about the reason we made the move is this: Survivor has rules and standards, and if a player crosses that line, we act,” Probst told EW. “It’s one of the reasons we bring alternates, is to have our own insurance.”
Probst added that alternates are usually there “in case somebody gets sick or has a panic attack and can’t begin the game,” adding that “that’s very, very, very rare there.”
“But regardless why we brought them there initially,” he continued, “they are also there to serve as a reminder that we do put a lot of importance on the integrity of the game, and we won’t let anything or any person put that in jeopardy.”
“This season, something unexpected happened and we removed two players from the game and our two alternates — who thought they were there just as insurance knowing that most likely they would be invited back next year to play — were suddenly thrust into the game,” Probst added. “It was a shock, for sure.”
The host thinks this might give Jason and MC an edge in the game.
“For Jason and MC to be told 12 hours before the game starts, the big question is, will that be an advantage or a disadvantage?” Probst said. “I tend to think it’s an advantage because you’ve spent a week observing, but without the pressure of thinking you were going to have to play and put it into motion.”
See how Jason and MC fare when Survivor returns September 24.
Survivor, Season 49 Premiere, Wednesday, September 24, 8/7c, CBS
