Survivor 49’s Jason Treul Shares His "Unique Perspective" as Alternate

During the season premiere, Jason acknowledged his alternate status while formally meeting his fellow castaways, a moment he expected to be cut from the episode.

“That was my biggest point of anxiety before the premiere,” he revealed. “Not anything that happens on the island, but just like—am I allowed to talk about this really important experience that I had?”

“It was crazy that it happened. It was crazy that they even showed it,” he went on. “I was fully prepared to be like, ‘OK, this is something I can just kind of keep close to my chest and tell my friends.’ But no, I was so happy to see that that was told to everyone.”

Jason and MC’s last-minute entry into the game followed the removal of two other players during the show’s sequester period, during which the cast is kept separated in preparation for the season.

“The rules are you cannot talk to each other, for obvious reasons,” Jeff said on his On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast in September. “And in this season, season 49, we had two players who were disrespecting that rule. They just kept talking.”

After being warned about their conduct by producers, the original players were ultimately removed for reaching a “level of disrespect” worthy of disqualification.

“Candidly, the decision was made in that moment to immediately remove those two players from the game and replace them with our alternates,” Jeff shared, adding, “We value the integrity of the game more than anything.”

For more on the cast of Survivor season 49, keep reading.