Survivor 50: Jeff Probst on casting Mike White for second season

Survivor 50
Photo: CBS

We know that the Survivor 50 cast was going to have a certain number of surprises … but Mike White? Did you see that coming?

Well, out of everyone who ended up being assembled for In the Hands of the Fans, we are perhaps most surprised that the creator of The White Lotus agreed to come back. With that being said, it does not actually appear like it was that hard of a sell … and it was actually White himself who repeatedly showed interest in coming back for another season.

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Speaking in a new interview with CBS Mornings about the new cast, Probst noted that White’s return really came about in the aftermath of his final-three performance on Survivor: David vs. Goliath:

Mike, after he finished playing, he said, ‘I want to play again,’ and that was before White Lotus … And then [after] White Lotus hit, and I thought, ‘Well, he’ll never play again.’ But he kept texting and saying, ‘Look, I’m serious. If you ever do anything where you have returning players, I want to play again.’ So, we’re happy to have Mike back.”

We do tend to think that there is a good chance that Mike ends up either going home early or making it far, largely due to his skill set. He proved in his first season that he was a brilliant social and strategic player, but he does have some limitations physically. He could be taken out because of his challenge prowess, or rather his success in the real world. He clearly does not need the money and sometimes, there are people on the show who will vote with that in mind. (Probst did jokingly say that Mike may be able to use White Lotus cameos as a way to ensure that he sticks around a while.)

Related – See some more discussion right now when it comes to the Survivor 50 cast

What do you think about Mike White being cast again for Survivor 50?

Do you think he has a chance of making it far again? Be sure to share right now in the comments! Once you do just that, remember to come back for some other updates.

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