Blood, sweat, and tears are the norm for Survivor, and the same is undoubtedly true with the casting for Season 50 of Survivor, since it will bring back previous castaways. Host Jeff Probst kept people updated on the brutal process, and the cast was finally revealed in late May ahead of Season 49 premiering on the 2025 TV schedule. Some Big Brother legends were mad about the casting, and one OG legend went off about the franchise. There are a lot of surprising additions, including The White Lotus creator Mike White, who had a funny reason for coming back.
Before White created the Emmy-winning series, he competed on Season 37 of Survivor, dubbed Survivor: David vs. Goliath, and was even the runner-up in 2018. At the time, he had a variety of film and TV credits under his belt spanning across acting, directing, writing, and producing. He was also on two seasons of The Amazing Race by the time Survivor came around.
Now that he’s coming back for the milestone season, he’s looking forward to trying his hand at becoming the Sole Survivor this time. The season won't be airing until 2026, but there is much to look forward to. White sent in a video en route to a hotel before flying to Fiji for an Emmys FYC event for The White Lotus and explained why he’s not there (via THR):
I don’t know if you know this, but I’m going on Survivor. So by the time you see this, I will either be out of the game or I’ll be starving on an island somewhere — either way, I hope you send me good wishes.
Despite nearly taking it all almost eight years ago, White doesn’t seem as confident, but perhaps the adrenaline hadn’t quite set in yet. Fans are already arguing over who gets the boot first, and luckily, White is not in those conversations. But regardless of how far he makes it, he went on to talk about the funny reason why he decided to do Survivor again, and it’s seriously cracking me up:
And yeah, I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but this is what I have to do to get a vacation these days. Duty calls.
The White Lotus has probably taken up much of White’s time lately, along with a few other projects, so it’s pretty hilarious to hear him talking about wanting to go on vacation but not necessarily having the free time to do it other than resorting to doing Survivor, which is anything but luxurious. What makes it all the funnier is the fact that The White Lotus films on location at various Four Seasons Hotels around the world each season, most recently in Thailand. But that might just prove how busy he truly is when it comes to the series.
After coming back from Fiji, White – who also serves as writer, director, and executive producer on The White Lotus – will be pretty busy on the new season, as he's already dropping hints about Season 4. Maybe Survivor wasn’t such a bad idea, despite having to do challenges, trying not to get eliminated, and finding ways to brush his teeth and eat food. Anything for another vacation, even if it’s not relaxing.
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