Survivor is delaying production for season 41 by two months amid coronavirus concerns as host Jeff Probst says they need a ‘safety plan’
- Survivor season 41 will see their production start date moved by two months
- The reality TV competition show will likely start shooting on May 19 in Fiji
- There have been growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic
- So far 4,280 people have died from the virus globally with most cases in China
- ‘Pending worldwide events, the plan is to return to production on May 19th,’ said a CBS spokesperson
- ‘The health and safety of the castaways and production members is our top priority’
- ‘Though Fiji has no reported cases and is beautifully remote, our crew numbers over 400 and are flying in from over 20 different countries, creating a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan,’ said Jeff
Survivor season 41 will see their production start date moved by two months. Instead of starting the shoot for the reality TV competition show later this month, it will be pushed until May 19.
There have been growing concerns over the coronavirus as on Wednesday the World Health Organization confirmed it is now a pandemic.
So far 4,280 people have died from the virus globally with the most cases in China and Italy.
Never happened before: Survivor season 41 will see their production start date moved by two months. Instead of starting the shoot for the reality TV competition show later this month, it will be pushed until May 19; here is the cast of season 39
‘Due to concerns and uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19 globally, CBS and the producers of Survivor have taken the precautionary measure to delay production on the 41st season, which was set to begin filming later this month in Fiji,’ said a CBS spokesperson.
‘Pending worldwide events, the plan is to return to production on May 19th.
‘The health and safety of the castaways and production members is our top priority.’
Hard times: So far 4,280 people have died from the virus globally with the most cases in China and Italy. Shooting will take place in Fiji. Michele Fitzgerald on the third episode of Survivors: Winners At War
Entertainment Weekly was first to break the news,
Jeff Probst, who is the host of Survivor and is also an executive producer, sent the Survivor crew a letter on Wednesday:
‘Hey Survivor crew, Due to the growing short-term uncertainty surrounding the global spread of COVID-19 and the corresponding desire for the continued well-being of our amazing crew, we have decided to push back our start date for Survivor season 41.
Caring for the crew: Jeff Probst, who is the host of Survivor and is also an executive producer, sent the Survivor crew a letter on Wednesday: ‘Hey Survivor crew, Due to the growing short-term uncertainty surrounding the global spread of COVID-19 and the corresponding desire for the continued well-being of our amazing crew, we have decided to push back our start date for Survivor season 41’
‘Though Fiji has no reported cases and is beautifully remote, our crew numbers over 400 and are flying in from over 20 different countries, creating a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan.
‘This situation is unprecedented and we are learning more information every day.
‘It is out of concern for the well-being of all of you that we have taken this step.
‘Our intention is to begin production after the S40 live show. Therefore, subject to new information, our new planned start date for production would be on or about May 19th, 2020. Our intention is to still to shoot both seasons 41 and 42.’
The man behind the show: Mark Burnett is a producer on Survivor; seen with wife Roma Downey in Atlanta in October
He added, ‘We know many of you will have questions and we will start a communication chain to keep everybody up to date.
‘We are the most experienced international television team in the world and for 20 years we have calmly and successfully managed a variety of production issues. We will navigate this one the same way.’
He finished with: ‘Thank you for understanding our need for this extra time to create our plan.’