Survivor's Season 35 Theme Revealed

Heroes, healers, and hustlers will be competing on Survivor's 35th season. Host Jeff Probst made the theme reveal during the finale of Survivor: Game Changers on Wednesday night, also introducing six of the season's contestants. 

Probst said that the tribes will be divided based on "the most positive traits often associated with them," leading to the heroes vs. healers vs. hustlers distinction. Heroes are known for their courage, their achievements, and their ideals, like Ben the marine, who sees protecting the country as his job, and Ashley the lifeguard, who spends her days saving lives but says that, out here, it's either "sink, swim or get out of the ocean." 

Healers, meanwhile, help people work through both emotional and physical pain. This tribe includes Mike, a surgeon who believes that his experience dealing with stressful situations on a daily basis will give him a leg up in the game, and Desi, a physical therapist who says that, even though her job is to help others, it's now time for her to be selfish. 

The last tribe, the hustlers, are respected for their work ethic and their ability to get things done, no matter what. This tribe includes Ali, a personal assistant who knows how to do "anything and everything," and Ryan, the "125 pounds soaking wet" bellhop, who eats, breathes, and sleeps Survivor (and turtle necks).

As always, Probst notes that those tribes will be pitted against each other in "the greatest social experiment on television." "Survivor is a game about social politics, so we continue to look for new ways to divide people based on human behavior," Probst elaborated when talking about the theme with Entertainment Weekly. "The question this season is, how do these imposed labels impact how they see themselves and how will they play Survivor?"

Season 35 will once again take place in Fiji, which Probst calls "the most beautiful place we've ever seen." The season is due out this fall; while we wait, see the big Survivor secret Probst spilled on the Game Changers finale and read up on the untold truth of the show.