Survivor 48

Survivor 48
Season 48
Presented by	Jeff Probst
No. of days	26
No. of castaways	18
Winner	Kyle Fraser
Runner-up	Eva Erickson
Location	Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
No. of episodes	13
Release
Original network	CBS
Original release	February 26 (2025-02-26) – May 21, 2025 (2025-05-21)
Additional information
Filming dates	June 27 (2024-06-27) – July 22, 2024 (2024-07-22)
Season chronology

Survivor 48 is the forty-eighth season of the American competitive reality television series Survivor. It premiered on February 26, 2025, on CBS in the United States, and is the sixteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. It ended on May 21, 2025, when Kyle Fraser was voted the Sole Survivor, defeating Eva Erickson and Joe Hunter in a 5–2–1 vote.

Production

On December 15, 2023, Manoa Kamikamica, the Fijian Minister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, announced that the Fijian Parliament had renewed its contract with Survivor for an additional two years. A preview for the season was released on December 18, 2024, right after the finale of Survivor 47 aired. Survivor 48 and The Amazing Race 37 retain the 90-minute runtime; the premiere episode of Survivor 48 ran for two hours.

Contestants

The 18 castaways competing on Survivor 48 were officially announced on January 29, 2025, with the eighteen castaways were divided into three tribes: Civa, Lagi, and Vula. Notable castaways include frequent Today Show contributor Dr. Cedrek McFadden. The cast also includes Eva Erickson, the first autistic person to compete in the history of the show.

List of Survivor 48 contestants

Contestant	Age	From	Tribe				Finish
			Original	Switched	None	Merged	Placement	Day
Stephanie Berger	38	Brooklyn, New York	Vula				1st voted out	Day 3
Kevin Leung	34	Livermore, California					2nd voted out	Day 5
Justin Pioppi	29	Winthrop, Massachusetts					3rd voted out	Day 7
Thomas Krottinger	34	Los Angeles, California	Lagi	Vula			4th voted out	Day 9
Bianca Roses	33	Arlington, Virginia		Civa			5th voted out	Day 11
Charity Nelms	34	St. Petersburg, Florida	Civa	Lagi	None		6th voted out	Day 13
Saiounia "Sai" Hughley	30	Simi Valley, California	Vula	Civa		Niu Nai	7th voted out	Day 14
Cedrek McFadden	46	Greenville, South Carolina					8th voted out 1st jury member
Chrissy Sarnowsky	55	Chicago, Illinois	Civa				9th voted out 2nd jury member	Day 15
David Kinne	39	Buena Park, California		Lagi			10th voted out 3rd jury member	Day 17
Star Toomey	28	Augusta, Georgia	Lagi				11th voted out 4th jury member	Day 19
Mary Zheng	31	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Vula				12th voted out 5th jury member	Day 21
Shauhin Davari	38	Costa Mesa, California	Lagi	Vula			13th voted out 6th jury member	Day 23
Mitch Guerra	34	Waco, Texas	Civa	Civa			14th voted out 7th jury member	Day 24
Kamilla Karthigesu	30	Foster City, California		Vula			Eliminated 8th jury member	Day 25
Joe Hunter	45	West Sacramento, California	Lagi				2nd runner-up	Day 26
Eva Erickson	24	Providence, Rhode Island		Lagi			Runner-up
Kyle Fraser	30	Brooklyn, New York	Civa	Vula			Sole Survivor

Future appearances

Kyle Fraser, Joe Hunter, and Kamilla Karthigesu are set to return to compete on Survivor 50.

Season summary

The season filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji.

Eighteen new players were divided into three tribes of six: Lagi, Civa, and Vula. Vula lost the first three immunity challenges and went through interpersonal conflicts. Duos formed on Lagi (Joe and Eva) and Civa (Kyle and Kamilla), though both tribes avoided Tribal Council. Following a tribe swap, Kyle and Kamilla kept their alliance hidden and, despite being outnumbered at first, took control of the tribe after Kyle successfully played a Hidden Immunity Idol. After an emotional immunity challenge, old adversaries Eva and Star set their differences aside, and Star gave her the Hidden Immunity Idol after Eva helped decipher the clues.

Following the merge, the strong players (David, Eva, Joe, Kyle, and Shauhin) formed an alliance based on strength and loyalty, but the other four betrayed David. Kyle spent the post-merge navigating between his majority alliance and secret alliance with Kamilla. Despite being on the bottom throughout the merge, Kamilla repeatedly survived due to bigger threats emerging and Kamilla having Kyle in her corner. At the final six, Kyle moved against Joe and Eva, as he worked with Kamilla to manipulate the two to take out their ally Shauhin.

At the final 4, Kyle won the final immunity challenge and chose to pit Kamilla against Eva in the fire challenge, as he felt he had a higher chance of winning with Kamilla not in the final three; Eva defeated Kamilla in the challenge. At the Final Tribal Council, Eva and Joe refused to campaign against each other and differentiate their games, while Kyle pointed out the relationships he formed and how he orchestrated Shauhin's blindside. Ultimately, Kyle was awarded the win over Eva and Joe in a 5-2-1 vote, respectively, due to his strong social and strategic games.

Survivor 48 season summary

Episode			Challenge winner(s)		Eliminated
No.	Title	Air date	Reward	Immunity	Tribe	Player
1	"The Get to Know You Game"	February 26, 2025	Lagi	Lagi	Vula	Stephanie
				Civa
2	"Humble Traits"	March 5, 2025	Civa		Vula	Kevin
			Lagi
3	"Committing to the Bit"	March 12, 2025	Lagi		Vula	Justin
			Civa
4	"The House Party’s Over"	March 19, 2025	Lagi		Vula	Thomas
			Civa
5	"Master Class in Deception"	March 26, 2025	Lagi	Vula	Civa	Bianca
			Vula	Lagi
6	"Doing the Damn Thing"	April 2, 2025	Chrissy, David, Kamilla, Kyle, Mary, Star [Saiounia]	Kyle	None	Charity
7	"Survivor Smack Talk"	April 9, 2025	David [Cedrek, Kamilla, Kyle, Mary, Shauhin]	Joe	Niu Nai	Sai
				David		Cedrek
8	"A Rift Between All of Us"	April 16, 2025	David, Eva, Joe, Mary	Eva		Chrissy
9	"Welcome to the Party"	April 23, 2025	Joe [Eva, Mitch, Shauhin]	Joe		David
10	"My Enemies Are Plottin'"	April 30, 2025	Kyle [Eva, Kamilla, Shauhin]	Joe		Star
11	"Coconut Etiquette"	May 7, 2025	Kamilla [Eva, Mitch]	Kamilla		Mary
12	"Icarus Time"	May 14, 2025	Shauhin [Joe, Kyle]	Joe		Shauhin
13	"Only One of Yous Can Win"	May 21, 2025	Kamilla [Eva]	Kamilla		Mitch
			None	Kyle [Joe]		Kamilla

Episodes

See also: Lists of Survivor (American TV series) episodes

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Rating/share (18–49)	Original release date	U.S. viewers (millions)
689	1	"The Get to Know You Game"	0.7/9	February 26, 2025 (2025-02-26)	4.27
The 18 new castaways began their adventure. Marooning Challenge: Each tribe formed 3 pairs. Each pair sprinted down the beach and crawled through a mud pit under a heavy cargo net, then ran to retrieve a heavy chest to carry back to their mat before the next pair went. After retrieving all three chests, three tribe members climbed a steep slide to the top of a platform. Using a pole, they knocked off a key ring used to open the chest. They retrieved sandbags from the chest which they tossed onto three small high platforms. The first tribe to land all three sandbags won a pot, machete, and flint. Lagi won the challenge. Kyle from Civa and Kevin from Vula were selected to compete for their tribes' supplies. Supply Challenge: Following a buried rope that had a machete locked to the end, they used the machete to chop open a coconut to retrieve a key to unlock the machete. They then had to retrieve a pot from the top of a tall pole by any means possible. They filled the pot with seawater and used that to fill a large glass jug to float a key to the top that would unlock a flint. The one who unlocked the flint won the supplies. Kevin won when Kyle accidentally broke his jug. Kyle, in a demonstration of sportsmanship, then helped Kevin finish filling his bottle. At Civa, Kyle & Kamilla bonded and brought David & Chrissy into a majority, while the whole tribe tried to decipher the meaning of numbers and animal symbols at camp. At Lagi, the men aligned and debated whether to bring Eva (who Joe bonded with) or Bianca (who Thomas bonded with) into a majority. Feeling the odd person out, Star searched for an advantage, but her extended absence was noticed by everyone. At Vula, Saiounia’s frustration with Mary and Stephanie’s disinterest in strategizing led her to align with the men. She discovered a Beware Advantage and, with the help of her alliance, cracked the cypher to earn an idol. Immunity Challenge: Players raced over a massive net ramp and through a net tunnel. One player used a Fijian war club to smash a mask, releasing a box with a key in it. The key unlocked a heavy sled that the team moved down a track, over some sandbags, and up an incline to the top of a tall platform. Two players then used the pieces inside the sled to assemble a Survivor logo puzzle. The first two teams to finish won immunity plus a large shelter-building kit for first place and a smaller toolkit for second place while the losing tribe had to forfeit their flint. Lagi and Civa won. Saiounia targeted Stephanie for her puzzle performance; Mary and Stephanie in turn targeted Saiounia, feeling threatened by her aggressive gameplay. Kevin and Justin debated turning on Saiounia despite their wariness of her idol. At Tribal Council, Saiounia and Stephanie disagreed over their differing approaches to the game. Ultimately, everyone except Mary voted out Stephanie, who attempted a failed Shot in the Dark.
690	2	"Humble Traits"	0.6/8	March 5, 2025 (2025-03-05)	4.31
Despite Saiounia insisting Mary should go next, Kevin told Cedrek and Justin he hoped to blindside Saiounia. At Lagi, Star found the Beware Advantage and asked everyone except Eva to help her decipher it; Thomas tried to convince Shauhin to ditch the advantage clue and stall long enough to vote Star out, making Shauhin wary of Thomas. Journey: Mary, Mitch, and Thomas went on a journey where they had to solve a timed puzzle involving arranging numbered wooden blocks. If they failed to complete the puzzle in the time allotted, they lost their vote; if completed in time, they received an advantage. Mitch won a Block a Vote and Thomas won a Steal a Vote. Mary lost her vote. Back at Vula, Mary confessed to losing her vote. Thomas told Lagi he protected his vote by not playing, while Mitch told Civa he won a Block a Vote, to Charity’s elation. The other four on Civa searched for an advantage, which Kyle found and Kamilla helped decode, earning Kyle an idol. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Starting on a floating platform, one castaway climbed a ladder to the top of the platform and dove into the water to swim under a platform and release two buoys. They placed the buoys in trays on the platform and then swam under a second platform over to a third. Once there, the remaining castaways swam in pairs to the first platform and, working together, transported the buoys over a balance beam using poles. Once all players had reached the final platform with their buoys, they took turns shooting the buoys into a basket. The first two tribes to land all five buoys won immunity and a large fishing kit for first place and a smaller fishing kit for second place. Thomas was injured when Bianca accidentally jabbed her pole into his eye, but he continued. Civa and Lagi won following Cedrek and Kevin’s poor showing on the balance beam. Saiounia rallied against Mary, who appeared helpless without a vote, but Kevin continued to target Saiounia. Cedrek told Saiounia of Kevin’s plot and urged her to play her idol, making Saiounia target Kevin instead, though Cedrek and Justin were reluctant to vote out their strongest member. At Tribal Council, Saiounia played her idol to negate Kevin’s vote, and everyone except Mary blindsided Kevin.
691	3	"Committing To The Bit"	0.7/9	March 12, 2025 (2025-03-12)	4.63
At Vula, Mary evaded Saiounia’s attempts to follow her around to prevent her finding an advantage. Tipped off by Joe about Star's unsolved Beware Advantage on Lagi, Eva tested Star's honesty by appearing to talk strategy, but this backfired when Star told Bianca and Thomas that Eva had thrown their names out as possible sacrifices. Shauhin and Thomas were also wary of Eva’s close bond with Joe, which she made no secret of in front of the rest of the tribe. At Civa, David and Kyle weighed their options after Mitch approached them for an alliance with himself and Charity. Reward/Immunity Challenge: A caller for each tribe directed their three blindfolded tribemates around and through obstacles, searching for three key bags that were used to unlock a slide puzzle. The caller then led the blindfolded members to the puzzle table and directed a still-blindfolded tribemate in solving the puzzle. The first two tribes to complete their puzzle won immunity and a large comfort kit for first place and a smaller tarp for second place. Lagi and Civa won yet again. Immediately following the challenge, Lagi had to choose one person from each tribe to go on a journey; Bianca, Justin, and Kamilla were chosen. Journey: The players each had to roll eight dice with flames and skulls until they got four of either; four flames won the advantage, while four skulls cost them their next vote. Bianca and Justin lost their vote, while Kamilla won an extra vote. Following Mitch's example, Kamilla reluctantly told the rest of Civa about her extra vote, while Bianca confided in Thomas after keeping it from her other tribemates. At Vula, Justin did not disclose he lost his vote, even to Cedrek. Mary intentionally refrained from searching for an advantage to give Saiounia the perception she had already found it. Saiounia felt uneasy about Mary’s behavior and tried to convince Cedrek to split the vote on Justin; both Cedrek and Justin argued that Mary was bluffing, which Mary played up when Saiounia directly confronted her. At Tribal Council, Mary played her Shot in the Dark and successfully negated the two votes against her. On the revote, Saiounia voted Justin while Cedrek voted Saiounia; neither changed their vote on the second revote, leading to a deadlock. Cedrek, the only person who had not been voted for, was left with the final decision. Saiounia passionately argued that Justin's hiding his lost vote was a sign of his dishonesty. Cedrek, on the condition that Saiounia and Mary learn to work together, sent Justin home.
692	4	"The House Party's Over"	0.8/10	March 19, 2025 (2025-03-19)	4.70
On day 8, Jeff announced a tribe swap. The new Civa had Bianca, Cedrek, Chrissy, Mitch, and Saiounia. The new Lagi had Charity, David, Eva, Mary, and Star. The new Vula had Joe, Kamilla, Kyle, Shauhin, and Thomas. At Civa, Cedrek and Mitch bonded over their experiences with stuttering, while Bianca hoped to align with Saiounia and Cedrek, but Saiounia threw Cedrek under the bus. At Lagi, Eva offered Star up on the chopping block and bonded with David, who conspired to blindside Charity. At Vula, Kamilla told everyone Mitch was forced to play for an advantage on his journey, making Joe and Shauhin wary since Thomas said he chose not to play to protect his vote. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Tribes raced to remove heavy sandbags from a large cube, then moved said cube under a high structure to retrieve two bags of small sandbags. They then had to toss the sandbags through a rectangular frame and land them on a barrel. If they knocked down the frame, they had to reset it and start over again. Finally, they had to dig up a large puzzle piece and race to a platform and build a temple puzzle. The first two tribes to complete their puzzle won immunity plus a large array of fresh fruits for first place and a smaller fruit array for second place. Even with new members, Vula lost again. Kamilla secretly gave Kyle her extra vote, and they pretended to be against each other to trick the Lagi alliance. At Tribal Council, the Lagis voted Kyle, who played his idol. Kamilla and Kyle’s votes blindsided Thomas, sending him home with a Steal-a-Vote in his pocket.
693	5	"Master Class in Deception"	0.7/10	March 26, 2025 (2025-03-26)	4.77
Kyle revealed via confessional that he used Kamilla’s extra vote. Reward Challenge: Tribemates took turns throwing sandbags at a rotating target to release a bag of three balls. They then bounced the balls off a net into a basket. When all three balls were in the basket, they carried the basket to the final phase where they rolled the three balls on sloped platforms into three target holes. First place got a trip to Sanctuary with coffee, beverages, cheese, pastries and sandwiches. Second place got a platter of pastries with juices back at camp. Lagi and Vula won reward. Saiounia’s anger at Mary’s excitement over winning aggravated her tribemates. The Vula members bonded during their reward, vowing to stick together. Immunity Challenge: Tribes jumped into the ocean and swam to shore pulling a boat with a chest in it. They then carried the chest up the beach where they had to unbraid ropes to retrieve a key to unlock the chest. They then dug in the chest for four balls. Once they had the balls, they dug a passage under a log. Once everyone had passed under the log, each tribe member had to maneuver a ball through a table maze to a different target hole. The first two tribes to finish won immunity. Vula and Lagi won immunity, and emotions ran high when Eva opened up to everyone about her autism after becoming overstimulated at the challenge and being consoled by Joe. At Lagi, Eva also decoded Star’s beware advantage, and Star gave Eva the idol, forging a new alliance. At Civa, Bianca told Cedrek she had no vote minutes before Tribal. However, this backfired as Chrissy joined Cedrek in eliminating a devastated Bianca.
694	6	"Doing the Damn Thing"	0.7/10	April 2, 2025 (2025-04-02)	4.77
Sai was furious with Cedrek for keeping Bianca’s lost vote from her. On day 12, treemail announced the beginning of the game’s individual stage at Lagi’s camp. Everyone was tasked with finding an advantage for the upcoming challenge, which was found by Saiounia. Charity spread the word that Eva had an idol, but this led Eva’s allies to target Charity. David, Eva, Joe, Kyle, and Shauhin aligned with the hope to have honest, strong players in the end. Reward Challenge: Divided into two teams of 6, players proceeded in pairs through a mud crawl to a mat, whereupon the next pair could go until all had gone through the crawl. They then navigated an over/under wood chip-filled obstacle and proceeded to a heavy bag of puzzle pieces. They untied the bag and hauled it up a rope ladder to the top of a platform and then down a slide. They then had to climb a sloped slide to the top of another platform where two team members solved a puzzle. The winning team earned a merge feast after the challenge. Saiounia’s advantage gave her a bye into the individual immunity challenge and allowed her to partake in the merge feast. Immunity Challenge: Players had to balance a ball on a platform on a pole while periodically adding segments to the pole. The last one remaining won immunity and a merge buff. Kyle won immunity. Charity and Saiounia pushed for Eva to go, but everyone else debated whether to send Charity or Saiounia home. At Tribal Council, Saiounia voted Cedrek, but Charity was eliminated before the remaining 12 were officially merged.
695	7	"Survivor Smack Talk"	0.7/9	April 9, 2025 (2025-04-09)	4.89
Cedrek was dumbfounded over receiving a vote, while Mitch was hurt that his ally Charity went home despite being told Saiounia would go. To regroup, Mitch bonded with Shauhin and Joe, though Joe was wary of Mitch’s threat level. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Divided into two groups of 6 by random draw (orange was Chrissy, Eva, Joe, Mitch, Saiounia, and Star; purple was Cedrek, David, Kamilla, Kyle, Mary, and Shauhin), players gripped a bar that held up a bucket with 25% of their pregame weight. Letting the bucket drop broke a tile eliminating that player from the challenge. The last person on each team won immunity. The last to remain also won a food reward for their team. Both teams would vote someone out at tribal with the team losing reward voting first and the person voted out not making the jury. Joe and David won immunity, with David winning group reward. The orange group (exiled to Civa) targeted Saiounia, but Chrissy grew concerned over how big a threat Mitch was. At Tribal Council, Chrissy publicly called out the “honesty and integrity” mindset of the group. Mitch played his Block a Vote against Saiounia, who was voted out unanimously. At purple, Shauhin was the decoy vote as everyone targeted Cedrek, who had no clear allies in the group. Kyle was worried that Shauhin would make a move on him and plotted with Kamilla to give David the perception that Shauhin had an idol. At Tribal Council, however, everyone stuck to their original plan of sending Cedrek to the jury.
696	8	"A Rift Between All of Us"	0.8/11	April 16, 2025 (2025-04-16)	4.79
Noting David and Mary’s tight duo (with David wanting to add Mary to his "strong five" alliance), Shauhin tried to strengthen his relationship with Kamilla. Survivors were instructed via tree mail to pair up at camp prior to the challenge. The pairs were: Joe-Eva, Kyle-Chrissy, David-Mary, Shauhin-Kamilla, and Mitch-Star. Reward/Immunity Challenge: The challenge consisted of 3 phases. The four advancing to Phase 3 won a reward of tacos and drinks. The overall winner received immunity. Phase 1: Pairs had to retrieve a step while crawling through a sand filled tunnel. They then had to dig up a second step and finally plant a flag back at their mat. The first three pairs to finish moved on. The two pairs eliminated were sent on a journey where their vote would be at stake. Star, Mitch, Shauhin, and Kamilla went on the journey. Phase 2: The teams used their steps to complete a puzzle staircase. They then had to cross a rope bridge using three planks they moved with them to cross and down a slide to their mat. The first two teams to reach their mat moved on. Chrissy and Kyle were eliminated. Phase 3: The final four had to hang on to a tall pole as long as possible Eva won immunity. At the reward, Eva was able to retrieve a small scroll she found in the chips without anyone noticing. The scroll said she could sneakily retrieve an advantage the next night Journey Challenge: The journey challenge consisted of a long tray holding gray and red balls, with many more gray balls than red. The contestants took turns selecting either one or two balls at a time and putting them in their own tray. The first person to get three red balls in their tray lost their vote. Kamilla and Mitch worked together to ensure Star lost her vote. David and Mary targeted Kamilla, but Joe wanted Chrissy gone when he learned she threw his name out. Kyle also tried to save Kamilla, leading to conflict with David. At Tribal Council, Chrissy continued to actively campaign against the “strong alliance”, which David pushed back against. Ultimately, the entire tribe came together to send Chrissy to the jury.
697	9	"Welcome to the Party"	0.6/9	April 23, 2025 (2025-04-23)	4.58
David continued to target Kamilla, so Kyle cut ties with David. David also offended Joe by saying Joe went back on his word. Eva snuck out that night to retrieve the advantage her scroll told her about, but Shauhin noticed and alerted Joe. Eva was given an extra vote but could risk it for a 50-50 chance at Safety Without Power. She earned the Safety Without Power and could risk that for a 1-in-3 chance at an idol, but she chose to keep the Safety Without Power and told her allies about it. Despite her wariness of David’s paranoia, Eva hoped to keep her alliance together. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Standing on a platform, survivors held on to a bar that was attached to an overhead chute that placed pressure on a ball preventing it from rolling down. If a contestant failed to hold the pressure causing their ball to drop, or if they stepped off the platform, they would be eliminated from the challenge. The last one standing won immunity and a feast. Joe won and shared reward with Mitch, Eva, and Shauhin. Mary and David convinced Star to target Mitch out of fear that Kamilla had an advantage, but Joe, Eva, and Kyle considered betraying David due to his pushiness. At Tribal Council, a shocked and angry David was sent to the jury.
698	10	"My Enemies Are Plottin'"	0.7/9	April 30, 2025 (2025-04-30)	4.59
Kamilla, Mary, Mitch, and Star aligned to counter the remaining “strong” alliance members, but Mitch was wary of Mary and Star for voting him at the previous tribal. To Kyle’s dismay, Kamilla told him that Mary and Star wanted Joe out. Reward Challenge: With their arms and legs tethered together, castaways had to snake their way across mounds in the sand holding a buoy in their mouth. Once at the end, they unlocked three rings to toss onto targets. The first person to land all their rings won a fried chicken and waffle reward at another island. Kyle won and shared reward with Eva, Kamilla, and Shauhin in hopes that Joe would keep tabs on the others at camp. Joe told Mary why David was targeted and complimented her threat level, but Mary believed it was just jury management on Joe’s part. Immunity Challenge: Castaways had to balance a wobbly table and place blocks spelling the word “immunity.” If their stack dropped, they had to restart. The first person to finish their stack and stand on the starting platform for three seconds won immunity. Joe won his third immunity challenge. Mitch, deciding not to proceed with the minority alliance, advised Star to play her Shot in the Dark, while Kamilla was not receptive to a suggested move against Kyle. This forced Mary and Star to target each other; at Tribal Council, Kamilla and Mitch joined Star in voting Mary, but the others sent Star to the jury.
699	11	"Coconut Etiquette"	0.6/8	May 7, 2025 (2025-05-07)	4.43
Journey: Survivors drew rocks and Eva drew the purple rock. In a timed challenge she stacked wooden tiles on a rotating disk while standing on a narrow board and using only her foot to rotate the disk. If she successfully stacked four levels, she retained her vote. If she stacked eight levels, she would win a Knowledge Is Power advantage. If she failed to get at least four levels, she would lose her vote. Eva successfully stacked four levels but chose not to risk her vote for the advantage as she already had power in the game. Reward/Immunity Challenge: Survivors pushed a survivor wheelbarrow over obstacles while balancing a vase containing a key and adding a second vase with key along the way. At the finish, they used the keys to unlock pieces to an arch word puzzle. The first to build the arch spelling "Unforgettable", won immunity and a food reward. Kamilla won the challenge and chose Mitch and Eva to join her on reward. Knowing she was on the bottom, Mary publicly targeted Joe, telling Kyle he had no chance of winning the game unless Joe and Eva were separated. At tribal, however, Kyle remained loyal to his alliance and Mary was unanimously sent to the jury causing David to stand up with his arms crossed, staring at the remaining cast members.
700	12	"Icarus Time"	0.8/10	May 14, 2025 (2025-05-14)	4.90
Reward Challenge: Survivors held on to handholds while lying on a steeply angled slide above the water. Every few minutes they moved down to the next smaller handhold. If they slipped off the slide, they were eliminated. The winner would get reward of burgers, fries, cheesecake, loved ones letters, and a night at Sanctuary. Shauhin won the challenge and chose Joe and Kyle to join him at Sanctuary. Back at camp, Mitch and Kamilla targeted Joe with Shauhin as a backup. At Sanctuary, Shauhin pitched to Kyle that they blindside Eva to split up her and Joe. Once back at camp, Kyle told Kamilla a plan to throw Shauhin under the bus by telling Joe and Eva that Shauhin flipped. Immunity Challenge: Survivors used a sandbag to knock a rope with a Gordian knot off a high platform. They used the rope and knot to snag a Y post and pull themselves across the sand while balancing on a barrel. They then crawled under a heavy net and untied a bag of balls used to navigate a winding maze dropping the balls into pockets along the way. The first to finish won immunity. Joe came from behind to win his fourth immunity challenge. Afterward, Kamilla continued Kyle's lie by telling Joe and Eva that Shauhin had shown her an idol and had said "no one can sit at the end next to Joe". At tribal, Kyle's plan came to fruition, sending a shocked Shauhin to the jury.
701	13	"Only One of Yous Can Win"	0.7/9	May 21, 2025 (2025-05-21)	4.56
Immunity/Reward Challenge: Survivors climbed up and down an angled net and crawled through a mud filled net tunnel. They then shot a ball through a hoop that fed the ball into a sandbag filled net tunnel. The contestants moved the ball through the tunnel and then tossed the ball into a basket that raised a series of numbers that were used to unlock a key. They then ran up a steep ramp and unlocked a puzzle. The first to finish won immunity and reward. In a massive comeback, Kamilla won and chose Eva to go with her to Sanctuary. Mitch was the clear target and was sent to the jury unanimously at Tribal. The next morning, Kyle and Kamilla agreed that they could not sit next to each other at the end, with Kyle promising Joe that he would take him if he won. Final Immunity Challenge: With one hand tied to their side, survivors dropped a ball into a spiral rack. They had to catch the ball at the bottom and drop it in again. At intervals, they added another ball, and then another so multiple balls were going at all times. If a ball dropped, they were eliminated. Kyle won the challenge. He kept his promise to Joe, pitting Eva against Kamilla in the firemaking challenge. Eva had an episode after struggling to make fire, leading Joe to comfort her and Kyle to consider going to fire himself against Kamilla. However, he stuck to his original choice. Fire Making Challenge: Eva was the first to get flame and it turned into no contest as Eva's fire burned through before Kamilla ever got a flame. At the Final Tribal Council, the jury saw Joe and Eva as having played the same game, while Kyle highlighted his genuine relationships with everyone while playing a more strategic game behind the scenes. When Eva tried to take credit for the Shauhin vote, Kamilla asked for Kyle's perspective; Kyle revealed his plot to betray Shauhin, which impressed the jury. They ultimately awarded Kyle the victory; Eva received Mary and Star's votes to place second, while Joe received Cedrek's vote to place third.

Voting history

Survivor 48 voting history

	Original tribes						Switched tribes			No tribes	Merged tribe
Episode	1	2	3				4		5	6	7		8	9	10	11	12	13
Day	3	5	7				9		11	13	14		15	17	19	21	23	24	25
Tribe	Vula	Vula	Vula				Vula		Civa	None	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai	Niu Nai
Eliminated	Stephanie	Kevin	None	Tie	Tie	Justin	Thomas		Bianca	Charity	Saiounia	Cedrek	Chrissy	David	Star	Mary	Shauhin	Mitch	Kamilla
Votes	4–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	Consensus	3–0		2–1–1	7–5–1	5–0	5–1	8–1	6–3	5–3	6–1	4–2	4–1	None
Voter	Vote																		Challenge
Kyle							Thomas	Thomas		Charity		Cedrek	Chrissy	David	Star	Mary	Shauhin	Mitch	Immune
Eva										Saiounia	Saiounia		Chrissy	David	Star	Mary	Shauhin	Mitch	Won
Joe							Kyle			Charity	Saiounia		Chrissy	David	Star	Mary	Shauhin	Mitch	Saved
Kamilla							Thomas			Charity		Cedrek	Chrissy	David	Mary	Mary	Mitch	Mitch	Lost
Mitch									Saiounia	Saiounia	Saiounia		Chrissy	David	Mary	Mary	Shauhin	Kyle
Shauhin							Kyle			Saiounia		Cedrek	Chrissy	David	Star	Mary	Mitch
Mary	Saiounia	None	None							Charity		Cedrek	Chrissy	Mitch	Star	Joe
Star										Charity	Saiounia		None	Mitch	Mary
David										Saiounia		Cedrek	Chrissy	Mitch
Chrissy									Bianca	Charity	Saiounia		Shauhin
Cedrek	Stephanie	Kevin	Mary	Saiounia	Saiounia	Justin			Bianca	Charity		Shauhin
Saiounia	Stephanie	Kevin	Mary	Justin	Justin	None			Chrissy	Cedrek	None
Charity										Saiounia
Bianca									None
Thomas							Kyle
Justin	Stephanie	Kevin	None
Kevin	Stephanie	Saiounia
Stephanie	None

Jury vote
Episode	13
Day	26
Finalist	Kyle	Eva	Joe
Votes	5–2–1
Juror	Vote
Kamilla
Mitch
Shauhin
Mary
Star
David
Chrissy
Cedrek

Notes

Reception

Despite Jeff Probst calling it "one of [his] all-time favorite seasons", Survivor 48 was not well-received by fans or critics. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked the season 26th out of 48, citing several episodes where not much happened but praising the pre-merge and the dynamic between Kyle and Kamilla. Nick Caruso of TVLine ranked this season 33rd out of 48. Andy Dehnart of reality blurred wrote that "great people alone do not make for great strategic competition reality television. And when there are 90-minute episodes, sometimes only one challenge that's so generic it blends together with all the other challenges, and producer meddling in the form of journeys and advantages that go nowhere, you have a recipe for a dull entry into the 48-season history of this great show." Brian Moylan of Vulture called it a lackluster season with a satisfying ending. Cher Thompson of Screen Rant called the season lackluster and boring. Julien D'Alessandro of Collider called it "one of the more boring seasons in recent memory". Mack Rawden of CinemBlend wrote, "It had some moments here and there, but best case scenario, it's near the bottom of the New Era rankings. I didn't like it." Matt Hambidge of FandomWire wrote, "Survivor 48 was a wildly frustrating season. A fairly strong start, followed by a rough post-merge. It really wasn't until the penultimate episode that things got moving, and that is far too late to fully save a season. It's enough to keep it out of the bottom of the new era seasons, but that’s about it."

Viewership and ratings per episode of Survivor 48

No.	Title	Air date	Rating/share (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)	Ref.
1	"The Get to Know You Game"	February 26, 2025	0.7/9	4.27	0.3	1.77	1.0	6.04
2	"Humble Traits"	March 5, 2025	0.6/8	4.31	0.3	1.42	0.8	5.73
3	"Committing To The Bit"	March 12, 2025	0.7/9	4.63	0.2	1.38	0.9	6.02
4	"The House Party’s Over"	March 19, 2025	0.8/10	4.70	0.2	1.36	1.0	6.06
5	"Master Class in Deception"	March 26, 2025	0.7/10	4.77	0.2	1.29	0.9	6.06
6	"Doing the Damn Thing"	April 2, 2025	0.7/10	4.77	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
7	"Survivor Smack Talk"	April 9, 2025	0.7/9	4.89	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
8	"A Rift Between All of Us"	April 16, 2025	0.8/11	4.79	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
9	"Welcome to the Party"	April 23, 2025	0.6/9	4.58	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
10	"My Enemies Are Plottin'"	April 30, 2025	0.7/9	4.59	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
11	"Coconut Etiquette"	May 7, 2025	0.6/8	4.43	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
12	"Icarus Time"	May 14, 2025	0.8/10	4.90	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
13	"Only One of Yous Can Win"	May 21, 2025	0.7/9	4.56	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

External links

• Official website