Jeff Probst at the start of Survivor season 35 in Fiji, the same location that will host Survivor 36, aka Survivor Ghost Island. (Photo by Robert Voets/CBS)

by Andy Dehnart 20 Dec. 2017 | 7:30 pm

Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers concludes with its two-hour finale and live reunion, which means we’ll be learning more about Survivor 36, which is called Survivor Ghost Island. 

Here’s what we know so far about the new season, which will debut on Feb. 28, after the special celebrity edition of Big Brother ends.

Survivor 36’s title, tribes, and twist

Survivor Ghost Island is the first season of new players since Gabon to not divide the cast into tribes based on characteristics. The title was revealed by Martin Holmes and confirmed via a photo posted to social media this summer by Survivor’s casting director, Lynne Spillman.

The tribes are Malolo (orange) and Naviti (purple), and each has 10 players. The tribe divisions were published by Inside Survivor’s Martin Holmes on Monday.

Not much is known about the name or any related twist, but Inside Survivor says that it’s likely to be an Exile Island-like twist that “will be populated with advantages from past seasons.”

The site says definitively that Ghost Island “will be a separate location castaways are sent to throughout the game for short periods of time,” not another form of Redemption Island.

Update: On the season 35 reunion, Jeff Probst described this as “bad decisions from former players coming back to haunt.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he said, “One of the most enjoyable aspects of the show is looking back on the dumbest decisions ever made. So we decided to build a season around all of those bad decisions.” He added that he thinks the season will be “definitely a tip of the hat to our fans.”

Survivor Ghost Island’s cast

The 20-person cast consists of all new players: once again, that means no returnees—two seasons in a row!

But this season, they’re very, very young: 14 of the 20 contestants are under age 30; 17 people are under age 35; and the oldest is 43.

Inside Survivor first published the cast list in July, after production concluded; the cast includes one person who wrote about the show for Inside Survivor.

True Dork Times’ Survivormeter will be frequently updated during the season with cast members’ stats.

Location: Fiji, again

Season 36 is the fourth season in a row to be filmed in Fiji after Survivor Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.

Host and showrunner Jeff Probst wants Fiji to be the show’s permanent home, which it basically has been for two years now.

Filming dates

The season was filmed in June and July 2017.

True Dork Times’ season 36 calendar breaks down the season, which started June 5 and ended July 13.

The season 36 preview

Update: During the finale, Jeff Probst described Ghost Island as “the graveyard for bad Survivor decisions,” and said the players will have the chance to “reverse the curse of some of the worst decisions in Survivor history.”

Examples included Erik giving up immunity, James being voted out with two idols, and Lauren’s burned half-idol that she gave to Mike.

Here’s the preview that aired during the reunion: