Why Two Contestants Were Kicked Off Survivor 49 Before Filming

Survivor 49 has just kicked off, offering fans a brand-new group of contestants to follow each week. Those who have been following the reality show for years will know that its producers and host Jeff Probst run a tight ship, and that there are specific rules the cast members must follow.

It would seem that, just ahead of filming’s commencement this season, two would-be contestants broke those rules. What did they do that caused them to be kicked out just 12 hours before filming?

Two Cast Members Were Cut For Communicating With Each Other

This past week, Jeff Probst explained that he was alerted two cast members were found speaking with one another even though doing so ahead of filming is strictly forbidden. He noted that this is why the show employs so many handlers—contestants are allowed to look at one another and make notes about their impressions, but conversation is not allowed.

This is why he was so surprised to learn that two players had been consistently reaching out to each other. In a candid moment on his podcast, Jeff described how he discussed the matter with his team:

I went and met with our executive team and said, ‘Look, we might have a situation. Before we could even finish our discussion, I got a second phone call saying that the level of disrespect had reached an even more blatant level.’ That was all it took. Candidly, the decision was made in that moment to immediately remove those two players from the game.

New Alternates Will Be Stepping Up

Thankfully, the show has been running long enough that production accounts for these kinds of shakeups. They chose to immediately dismiss the two cast members who had been talking to one another, and the season’s two alternates were brought in for filming instead. Those competing in their stead are Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu.

Jeff also reported that the remaining cast members supported this decision, as they felt like the two ousted cast members would’ve had an unfair advantage otherwise:

Once [the players] were able to talk, they thanked our producers, because they said, ‘We were all aware that this was happening. And it felt like cheating. Like there was an advantage being had.’

New Survivor episodes air every Wednesday at 8pm ET.