How Much Do ‘Survivor’ Players Get Paid?

CBS The cast of Survivor season 40, "Winners at War"

It might surprise you to learn that Survivor players aren’t just out there competing for the $1 million prize. They are compensated for their time away from home with a stipend. Here’s what you need to know about how much they make competing on a season of the show.

Survivor Players Are Paid on A Sliding Scale

Survivor has always had the policy of paying players on a sliding scale so that everybody earns something, according to a 2006 report by ABC News.

The report did not specify what each individual player takes home, but they did say that in season one, Sonja Christopher, who was the first person voted out, earned $2500; Jenna Lewis, who was the ninth person voted out, earned $27,500; Sue Hawk, who took fourth place, earned $70,000 third-place finisher Rudy Boesch earned $85,000; runner-up Kelly Wiglesworth earned $100,000; and of course, winner Richard Hatch took home the million dollars.

According to a 2018 article by Fortune, the pay has increased over time, though there is still not a lot of information available about the exact payouts for each slot. But Jon “Johnny Fairplay” Dalton told the outlet that the first person booted now earns $3500, the two runner-ups now earn $110,000, and if you make it to the jury, you’ll end up taking home around $40,000.

There is also apparently a standard $10,000 appearance paycheck for showing up for the live finale show where the winner is announced, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Returning Players Earn More

The sliding scale is fine for newbies, but Entertainment Weekly reported that returning players can command more money, which makes sense. In the first all-stars season back in 2004, Tina Wesson, who was voted out first, earned $25,000 just for playing (and also the 10K for the reunion show). They also did this for “Winners at War,” so every winner who played earned at least $25,000 and the $10,000 for the reunion for a total of $35,000.

To contrast all of this with fellow CBS reality show Big Brother, that show used to pay players a $750 stipend per week, so jury members who did not win any other cash prizes during the season would walk away with about $9000; the first couple of people evicted would earn between $1500 and $2500.

In recent years, the stipend has increased to $1000 per week, though for the first all-stars season back in 2006, the returning players earned $4000 per week, so the jury members who lasted all summer earned $40,000.

For all-stars season No. 2 that just finished airing, those contestants all got a flat fee of $40,000 just for going on the show, then started earning $2000 a week on top of that if they made it to the jury. But this year, there were a lot of other things to factor in due to COVID-19, which would explain a flat fee just for showing up.

On MTV’s The Challenge, newbies earn a $1000-per-week stipend as well, while veterans can command anywhere from $3000 to $5000 per week, which means the bigger names who last the entire game earn can earn $80,000 before you’re even talking about prize money.

Survivor hopes to film season 41 in the spring of 2021 for a fall 2021 premiere.

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