Survivor host Jeff Probst says the CBS reality competition series’ approach to diversity, equity and inclusion hasn’t changed, even after Paramount rolled back its company-wide DEI initiatives. Probst made the comments in an interview with The New York Times.
CBS announced in November 2020 that at least 50% of contestants on its unscripted series, including Survivor, Big Brother and The Amazing Race, would be required to be BIPOC beginning with the 2021-22 season, per TV Line.
Probst told the Times that “nothing has changed” in how the series approaches diversity, and called it “one of the biggest positive changes ever” for the show, which launched in 2000, per Deadline.
“And if you watch our show, you know that we’re so diverse — and it’s not just skin color or ethnicity. It goes much deeper than that. It’s one of the biggest positive changes ever,” Probst said. “Our stories are so much more interesting now because we have people from completely different walks of life.”
He added that the show’s casting approach isn’t driven by outside pressure, telling the Times, “I feel no pressure. No one ever says, ‘Can you count the numbers again?’ But Jesse Tannenbaum, who runs our casting team, knows: There’s no stopping, not because we’re told to do it. This is what we need. We need diversity. It’s for narrative. All those differences matter in the story when you throw people together and force them to rely on each other while conspiring against each other. The more diverse, the more interesting.”
Probst said the show’s casting philosophy has shifted significantly since its early seasons. “In the early seasons, the approach to casting and storytelling was different from the kind of storytelling we’re doing now,” he said. “You would cast for type. And friction was part of where we were at — we wanted friction in our storytelling, arguments and finger-pointing.”
Probst became showrunner in 2010, with the goal of making the series more cinematic. “I always saw the game as a device,” he said. “So when I was given the reins, the three things I really wanted to do were make it more cinematic; I wanted it to dive deep into Joseph Campbell’s ‘Hero’s Journey’; and I wanted it to be a family show. I knew that would change who we put on the show and the types of stories that we told.”
Paramount implemented a DEI initiative in 2020 to make CBS and its other brands more inclusive, then rolled it back in 2025 amid the Trump administration’s attacks on such programs, according to Deadline. Months later, Skydance pledged there would be no DEI policies under the Ellison family’s leadership as it sought FCC approval of its merger with Paramount.
Survivor Season 51 airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and streams on Paramount+.
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