Survivor South Africa Returning In 2020 For Season 8

Survivor South Africa lives on!

Photo: M-Net

It’s good news for fans of Survivor South Africa as the popular reality-series is returning to M-Net in 2020 for its 8th season, despite initially being shelved for the foreseeable future.

The announcement was made via the official Survivor_SA Twitter account, which credited the fan support for M-Net’s decision to renew the show for a new season.

Back in September, M-Net’s head of local productions and independent films, Kaye-Ann Williams, shared her doubts over whether Survivor South Africa would be renewed. “What we do as a team, is work out our schedule line-ups three years in advance,” said Williams. “So we have to look at how our budgets are working out, what content is coming in, what do we have the licenses for; do we have the money for it.

“Obviously ratings and performance help us to make those decisions—but we’re not there yet for Survivor South Africa,” she continued. “It’s not that we don’t love it, we absolutely love it. And we’re all dying to do it, but the stars have to align.”

Fortunately, those stars appear to have aligned, as the hit reality show will be back on our screens next year for Survivor SA: Immunity Island.

Survivor SA: Island of Secrets was a phenomenal success as a result of the fascinating but diverse group of castaways – from a grumpy granny to a nerdy superfan, beauty queens and our own Aquaman – who were not scared to take chances and give their all to make it all the way to the top,” says M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard.

The 8th season, which is now accepting applicants, will see the return of veteran host Nico Panagio and will be on M-Net 101 in the second half of 2020.

But what kind of people are they looking for? Executive Producer Handrie Basson from Afrokaans – who produces the show for M-Net – has the answer: “If you love watching Survivor, if you have shouted at the TV in frustration and admiration and if you have said ‘I can do this!’ or if you have thought ‘I will never do that!’… then it’s time to get off the couch and onto the island!”


Written by

Martin Holmes

Martin is a freelance writer from England. He’s represented by Berlin Associates for comedy writing and writes about TV and entertainment, currently for TV Insider and Vulture, previously Digital Spy, ET Canada, and Yahoo. A finalist for the Shortlist Sitcom Search in 2012 for “Siblings,” Martin received his BA in English with Creative Writing from The University of Hull. Martin is the owner and editor-in-chief of Insider Survivor.


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