When does season 50 of Survivor start? Premiere, road to 50 schedule
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- 14 minutes read
Updated Feb. 18, 2026, 7:50 p.m. CT
The wait to Survivor 50 is almost over.
The season premiere of the milestone 50th season is now just one week away.
CBS has been hyping Survivor 50, which is featuring a record 24 returning players, for well over a year.
There was first the fan voting last year and most recently the Survivor 50 Challenge in every state has allowed fans to further get involved by finding an idol and meet some of the game’s favorites from the franchise.
And leading up to the premiere, the Road to 50 episodes have given fans an opportunity to reminisce about the show and recall the upcoming players who will star on season 50.
Now, one week before the season 50 premiere, the Road to 50 marathon is in the home stretch with the first of three New Era episodes over the next three days.
Here’s what to know about Survivor 50, the Road to 50 episodes and the Survivor 50 Challenge.
When does season 50 of Survivor start? Survivor season 50 premiere date
Survivor 50 premieres on Wednesday, Feb. 25. The filming of the milestone season took place last summer in Fiji.
The season premiere starts with a three-hour episode, beginning at 7 p.m. Central.
What time does Survivor come on? Is Survivor on tonight?
While Survivor 50 is seven days away, the Road to 50 episodes that CBS has been airing since last week continues with the first New Era episode in the marathon.
The episodes on Feb. 18-20 start at 7 p.m. and are all 90 minutes.
First up on Feb. 18 is the penultimate episode from season 45, which features winner Dee Valladares, who returns for season 50.
Who won season 45 of Survivor?
Valladares, 26, won Survivor 45 with a 5-3 vote over her close ally Austin Li and Jake O’Kane. She won her third immunity challenge in the season finale to punch her ticket to the final tribal council where the jury awarded her the title of Sole Survivor.
Valladares was among the dominant Reba Four alliance for much of the game and her strategic prowess led to her victory.
Bruce Perreault, who was medically evacuated on the first day of the previous season, was one of the returning contestants on season 45.
Where does Survivor air? Where to watch Survivor
You can watch tonight’s episode and all Road to 50 episodes in the marathon on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Survivor 50 will air on CBS like always.
Stream Survivor on Paramount+ 
Survivor 50 idol challenge
Survivor has been generating excitement for the 50th season by hosting a nationwide idol hunt called the Survivor 50 Challenge. An idol has been hidden in every state. Fans must solve a clue to determine the location of the idol. Everyone who finds the idol can enter a drawing for the grand prize of attending the season 50 live reunion in Los Angeles in May.
The idol hunt began in late January and concludes this week.
Wisconsin’s clue dropped on Feb. 18. The clue is: “Where three glass giants touch the sky, and gardens bloom while snow drifts by, in a northern city bold and wide, the world awaits just tucked inside.”
People in Wisconsin can go to the location between 4 and 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, to take a photo with the idol and register for the drawing.
Many former Survivor players have been at the location of the idols in their hometown states to greet fans. Random Lake native Andrea Boehlke, who appeared on “Survivor” three times, will be at Wisconsin’s site.
For more information, see the Survivor 50 Challenge website.
Survivor 50 logo
The Survivor 50 logo features the theme of the season: “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” with a large 50 across the middle.
Fans had the opportunity to vote on components of the game. Voting took place last spring during the airing of season 48 before season 50 cast was announced.
Survivor 50 cast photos
Survivor 50 is the first season since the Winners at War season to have returning contestants. That season, the 40th in the franchise, featured 20 former winners.
The 24 castaways on season 50 will be split up into three tribes. Each tribe will include one former winner (Valladares, Kyle Fraser and Savannah Louie).
Scroll through this gallery to see the full cast on season 50:
Best Survivor seasons
With the 50th season of Survivor approaching many “best of” lists have come out, ranking the top seasons.
As someone who has seen all of them from the summer of 2000, here are my top 15:
- Survivor season 20, Heroes vs. Villains
- Survivor season 1, Borneo
- Survivor season 2, Australian Outback
- Survivor season 28, Cagayan
- Survivor season 31, Cambodia – Second Chance
- Survivor season 16, Micronesia (Fans vs. Favorites)
- Survivor season 33, Millennials vs. Gen X
- Survivor season 13, China
- Survivor season 37, David vs. Goliath
- Survivor season 40, Winners at War
- Survivor season 27, Blood vs. Water
- Survivor season 18, Tocantins
- Survivor season 7, Pearl Islands
- Survivor season 47
- Survivor season 6, Amazon
Other favorites: Survivor 44, Survivor season 10 – Palau, Survivor season 26 Caramoan — Fans vs. Favorites, Survivor 45, Survivor season 13 – Panama, Survivor 46
Road to 50 Survivor episodes
There are three more Road to 50 episodes on CBS before next week’s season 50 premiere. The marathon has now entered the New Era, which are the seasons in the 40s. Episodes from seasons 45, 46 and 48 are up next. Each of the episodes are 90 minutes.
Wednesday, Feb. 18 (7-8:30 p.m.)
- Survivor 45: “The Ex-Girlfriend at The Wedding”: Dee Valladares (season 50 contestant).
Thursday, Feb. 19 (7-8:30 p.m.)
- Survivor 46: “Hide ’N Seek”: Q Burdette, Tiffany Ervin and Charlie Davis (season 50 contestants).
Friday, Feb. 20 (7-8:30 p.m.)
- Survivor 48: “Icarus Time”: Kyle Fraser, Kamilla Karthigesu and Joseph “Joe” Hunter (season 50 contestants)
