Andy DehnartUpdate: Survivor Nicaragua was confirmed by CBS on May 16.
Survivor will indeed produce its 21st and 22nd seasons in Nicaragua, as a tourism official told a newspaper there that the next season of the CBS series will be filmed there.
Both “the famous U.S. TV show ‘Survivor’ and the Spanish version ‘Superviviente’ are also in the process of confirming Nicaragua as the site for their next shows,” the Nica Times reported, citing Nicaragua Tourism Minister Mario Salinas. He said, “These shows will have a very important [promotional] effect for the country in the U.S. and European markets.”
Currently, the Italian celebrity version of the series, L’Isola dei Famosi (The Island of the Famous), is filming off on the Pearl Cays, “a small cluster of remote islands three miles off Nicaragua’s southern Caribbean coast,” according to the paper. (See photos here.) It’s not clear if CBS’ version will film there, too, but the remote location combined with facilities that can support a production makes it somewhat likely.
The crew is staying on Big Corn Island, which is located well off the eastern coast of Nicaragua but has facilities to support the production, as the paper reports that “Italian crew will be staying in hotels, eating at local restaurants and employing local transportation for two months.” But the paper also says that some locals think the production is “more of a bother than a benefit,” especially since crew members on the Italian production are making demands for discounts or free things.