The press members who interviewed the returning champs before the game share intel on what they learned.

Survivor type TV Show network CBS genre Reality Where to watch Close Streaming Options

Excitement for Survivor: Winners at War is off the charts. Not only is it the 40th season of the venerable reality franchise, but it features 20 returning champions doing battle for a record $2 million prize. Everyone has their thoughts on the cast and how each player will do in the game, but there is only one place where you can hear those thoughts from the people who actually interviewed the contestants before the game began, and — SPOILER ALERT! — that place is right here.

Back in May 2019 on the first day of filming for Winners at War (which will premiere Wednesday on CBS), EW hosted the third Survivor Press Roundtable out in Fiji featuring media members who spoke with the players just prior to filming. The first ever press roundtable was conducted back in Survivor’s 12th season (Survivor: Panama — Exile Island), when the members of the press that travelled to location sat down with host Jeff Probst to share our initial thoughts on the cast after interviewing them before the game began. (You can still watch this roundtable discussion as one of the bonus features on that season’s DVD release.) We then resurrected the Survivor Press Roundtable back in season 38 for the Edge of Extinction season, and it was such a success that we are ready to unveil the best one yet for season 40.

Prepare yourself for 50 seasons of on-location experience as Cynthia Wang of TV Week (7 seasons on location, going back to Survivor: All-Stars), Mara Reinstein of Us Weekly (16 seasons on location, going back to Survivor: Palau), Gordon Holmes of Xfinity (10 seasons on location, going back to Survivor: Gabon) and yours truly (17 seasons on location, going back to Survivor: All-Stars) sat down on Tokoriki Island to share our thoughts and impressions of the 20 returning champions after speaking at length with each of them.

We discuss who we were most excited to talk to, name our most surprising interviews, share who we think is going in way too overconfident, talk about whom we are rooting for, select a dark horse candidate to win, and reveal our official winner picks for the season. And if all of that is not enough, Mara once again provides her epic #ReinsteinHotTakes along the way, and I can guarantee you a few players are not going to be happy with what she has to say.

Whether you are looking for intel to help guide your Survivor draft pool or just want the inside scoop from the folks who were actually with the contestants before and during the start of the game, this is a must-listen for any Survivor fan, and you can enjoy by clicking on the video at the top of the post. (You can also hear all 20 of my individual Survivor: Winners at War cast interviews from Fiji on SiriusXM via the SiriusXM app.)

For more Survivor articles, follow Dalton on Twitter @DaltonRoss, and for exclusive season 40 photos, follow him on Instagram @thedaltonross.

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