Survivor 48
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 was the sixteenth consecutive season to be filmed in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji. The season 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 castaways divided into three tribes: Civa, Lagi, and Vula. The name of the merged tribe is Niu Nai, a name coined by contestants David Kinne and Mary Zheng from the Chinese term Niu Nai, meaning "milk". Notable castaways include frequent Today Show contributor Dr. Cedrek McFadden. The cast also includes Eva Erickson, the first openly autistic person to compete in the history of the show.Future appearances
Kyle Fraser, Joe Hunter, and Kamilla Karthigesu are set to return to compete on Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.Season summary
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 and Civa, though both tribes avoided Tribal Council. Following a tribe switch, 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 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.