Jeff Probst: Survivor may never go back to 39-day seasons

Entertainment Weekly

"We haven't decided if we will go back to 39 days," Probst tells EW. "I will say that I'm optimistic that fans will find this new 26-day game to be very entertaining and Survivor-worthy." Probst says the decisions to go to 26 days was because filming two seasons back to back with quarantine would've been "too long" at nearly 100 days. "Once we landed at 26 days, the first thing we had to do was adjust the living conditions of the game so that 26 days would still feel like 39 days," says Probst. "At first glance, you might think that's impossible, but it's not. The players definitely felt it, and you'll see it in the show." Probst says the contestants will suffer more with the abbreviated season. "The conditions were very tough because they started with no food, very limited camp supplies, and very few rewards," says Probst. "So their cognitive abilities are diminished much faster than in the past. After only a handful of days with no food, they started to struggle to form clear thoughts. You'll see it. They struggle in all areas of the game. Nobody was complaining that 26 days was not enough!" He adds: "The pace is absolutely relentless. Faster than any other season. There is no time to sit back and contemplate even for a moment. You have to be assessing and reassessing your options on an hourly basis because you have no idea what is coming next. The game design has never been so dangerous."