Jeff Probst previews jury 'agendas' and 'unfinished business' in “Survivor 49” finale
- - Jeff Probst previews jury 'agendas' and 'unfinished business' in “Survivor 49” finale
Dalton RossDecember 15, 2025 at 6:00 AM
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Robert Voets/CBS
Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'
The 18 players that began Survivor 49 have now — through a combination of blindsides, bad tribe swap luck, and snake bites — been whittled down to a mere five. Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Sophi Balerdi, Savannah Louie, Kristina Mills, and The Man The Myth The Legend R-I-Z-G-O-D RizGod Baby are the last Survivors standing and will be battling it out for $1 million on Wednesday’s three-hour finale on CBS (8 p.m. ET/PT).
What awaits them? Who cares! The bigger question is… what awaits us? We snuck a few pre-finale questions over to host and showrunner Jeff Probst to get a morsel or two on what to expect on finale night.
Robert Voets/CBS
Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, give us a general idea of what we can expect in the finale.
JEFF PROBST: You can expect exactly what a Survivor finale should deliver: the culmination of everything these players have fought through for 26 days. The alliances, the fractures, the risks that paid off, the ones that didn’t — it all converges.
The beauty of a Survivor finale is that it doesn’t need me to oversell it. The game is fully in the players’ hands at this point, and whatever happens, happens because they made it happen. In other words, the story they’ve been writing all season finally reaches its last chapter… and we all get to discover the ending at the same time.
What can you say about this final five, either individually or collectively?
What I can say about this final five – individually and collectively – is that they’re the product of the game they played. Every move, every blindside, every moment of hesitation or courage… it all adds up to who’s still standing.
And that’s always the most interesting thing about the final stretch: the group remaining always reflects the season. All you have to do to understand them is just look at the path they took to get here. The story is already on the screen.
Rizo Velovic, Sage Ahrens-Nichols, Kristina Mills, Sophi Balerdi, and Savannah Louie on 'Survivor 49'
What kind of final Tribal questions can we expect from this jury?
You can expect the jury to ask the questions they feel they need answered. That’s always how it works. Every jury comes in with its own mix of emotions, agendas, unfinished business, and hopefully a genuine desire to crown a good winner for their season.
Some want clarity, some want accountability, some want to test how self-aware the finalists really are. A good jury will always steer the conversation toward whatever they believe will help them decide who deserves the title. And that’s exactly how it should be. The final three have to be ready for anything. It’s time to claim your prize.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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