Survivor UK returned to television screens, via the BBC, for the first time in more than 20 years in 2023 after first airing with ITV back in 2001/02.
The reboot was hosted by Joel Dommett and saw contestants “marooned in a tropical location where they are divided into two tribes, competing against each other in a range of physical and mental challenges” in an attempt to be crowned the sole survivor.
The BBC spent £30 million making the new Survivor series, according to The Sun, which was filmed in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 2023.
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Survivor axed after just one season in ‘TV’s most expensive flop’
The final of the BBC’s first series of Survivor UK aired back in December 2023, with Matthew emerging victorious and winning the £100,000 prize, alongside the title of sole survivor.
Now, nearly two years later, host Joel Dommett has revealed the reality show will not be returning for a second season.
Dommett, speaking to The Sun, said: “It just shows you how nothing is a given in telly.
“I thought Survivor would be huge. I thought that would be my job for the next 20 years.
“I’ve done shows and thought that’s not coming back and it keeps coming back and then you do something like Survivor, which you think is guaranteed and it doesn’t come back.”
Survivor only attracted an average of 2.6 million viewers, the news outlet reported, despite being given a prime slot straight after Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One.
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A source, speaking in The Sun, commented: “Survivor was given a plum spot in the schedule right after Strictly Come Dancing but totally tanked.
“Execs just can’t get their head around why the UK just can’t find any love for a format which is beloved around the globe.
“After a year of speculation that the BBC’s remake was facing the chop, it’s now official.
“It’s looking like TV’s most expensive flop ever.”
The BBC was contacted, but refused to comment.
