Survivor season finale to be derailed by unprecedented interruption from Donald Trump's live speech

Survivor season 49’s highly anticipated finale is scheduled to air on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. 

However, fans patiently looking forward to finding out who will take home the title will have to wait a while longer to witness the crowning moment, as U.S. President Donald Trump is set to deliver a live speech during the show’s telecast slot. 

The finale of Survivor will begin at 8 p.m. ET on CBS as scheduled, but as soon as the President’s speech begins, CBS will put a hold on the three-hour finale to cover the address. 

Only after the President is completely done with his speech will CBS resume the Survivor telecast, starting with the exact moment where it left off. 

It is the first time in Survivor’s history that its finale episode will be put on pause for an unspecified period to cover the President’s live remarks.

More details on the interruption during the Survivor season 49 finale

The change in the television schedule happened after President Trump announced on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, that he would address the country from the Oval Office on Wednesday, December 17.

Unfortunately, the timing of his live speech coincided with the timing of Survivor, prompting CBS to make changes accordingly. 

President Trump on Tuesday took to Truth Social and wrote:

“My Fellow Americans: I will be giving an ADDRESS TO THE NATION tomorrow night, LIVE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, at 9 P.M. EST. I look forward to ‘seeing’ you then. It has been a great year for our Country and THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”

On December 16, PEOPLE confirmed the schedule change, prompted by the President’s plans, also sharing what CBS Entertainment had to say about the change in routine. 

“CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell will anchor and be joined by chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes, reporting from the White House,” CBS Entertainment said to PEOPLE. 

They further clarified that the three-hour finale will pick up “where it left off immediately after the president’s address.”

They also assured that for both time zones, the Eastern and Central time zones, the Survivor finale will air “in its entirety.”

PEOPLE then confirmed that the season finale of The Floor, scheduled to air at 8 p.m. ET on FOX, will also face a delay or similar interruption. 

However, the President’s speech’s impact on the other entertainment show timings remains unknown. 

The Survivor season 49 finalists include Kristina Mills, Rizo Velovic, Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Savannah Louie, and Sophi Balerdi – all of whom will go head-to-head to outlast each other and emerge victorious. 

In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, published on December 17, 2025, the finalists shared their thoughts on their journey, revealing who, among the jury members, was the “biggest threat” to win the game.

According to Kristina, it was Steven at first, who made it as far as the Top 6, but was eliminated after being blindsided by his allies. 

However, Kristina’s actual answer was MC, whom she thought had “one heck of a journey” on the show. 

For Rizo, the answer was Steven. He justified his stance by explaining:

“While he [Steven] did not have a ton of agency in the post-merge and lacked some strategic moves in his resume, Steven had the right narrative to win: Somebody continuously left out of the vote who had an underdog story and kept clawing his way through.”

Consequently, Rizo firmly believed Steven would have won Survivor had he had the chance. 

To Sage, the biggest threat was also Steven, whose game she said was “criminally under-edited.”

She pointed out that Steven capitalized on his “outsider” image and managed to avoid drama and risky discussions. 

Savannah echoed her co-finalists’ thoughts, naming both MC and Steven as potential threats to winning the show. 

Sophi felt the same, as she stated that nobody had the capacity to beat Steven at the Final Tribal Council. 

Stay tuned for more updates.