Survivor Casting 16 Year Olds

[survivorfan128]

Is Jeff Probst going to be watching Karma to find contestants?

You might have missed it during the rushed conclusion to last night’s exciting Winners At War finale, but Survivor is now welcoming applications from 16 and 17-year-olds.

The announcement came from Jeff Probst moments after he crowned New Jersey police officer Tony Vlachos the champion of champions. Speaking from his makeshift Tribal Council set-up in his home garage, the host encouraged teenagers to apply for future seasons.

“You should apply, especially if you’re young,” said Probst. “I’m talking teenagers… 16, 17, 18, 19. Do it! Cool parents and a cool school, who knows? It could happen.”

Survivor previously lowered its age limit from 21 to 18 back in 2008, though they had made an exception for 20-year-old Michael “Frosti” Zernow in Survivor: China before then. Spencer Duhm was the first 18-year-old to play Survivor in Tocantins, followed by Julia Sokolowski in Kaoh Rong, high-schooler Will Wahl in Millennials vs. Gen-X, and Michael Yerger in Ghost Island.

It’s unclear at this point whether the show is looking to build a theme around teenagers (students vs. teachers?) or if they simply want more younger people in the casting pool.

[Cruise meerkat Youssy]

There’s strict laws regarding filming minors because it’s considered work. They’re only allowed to film for a certain amount of time each day, like 7-8 hours I think, so I don’t think it would work for Survivor to have minors. My guess is that just because they’re ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS does not mean that they’re CASTING 16 and 17 year olds. They may be finding interesting ones then casting them once they hit 18

[runesandribbons]

Yeah, the way Jeff phrased it, it sounded like they were still taking applications for the seasons that would film this year (41 and 42), but if you go to their casting page, it states it's for seasons 43 and beyond, which means it wouldn't even be filmed until next year if seasons 41 and 42 are somehow still able to be filmed this year in time for Survivor's fall programming slot. So it's most likely they're wanting people who will be 18 by the time 43 and 44 rolls around for filming to apply.

Somewhat off-topic, but because of the pandemic, if Survivor is able to film sometime this year, Fiji may be off the table so people were talking about where they could possibly film in the US and Rob Cesternino, former contestant who runs a Survivor podcast, was suggesting Survivor do a Wild West theme, so some people suggested Tehachapi as a location lol, as well as Hawaii if they wanted to keep the island theme.

[cadennii]

Jeff is pushing for a millennials vs gen x but with teens vs adults, and he even said that about a month ago. I’m sure the legalities would be worked out if they mixed teenagers with adults on the tribe.