Andy DehnartCBS’s Tough As Nails has been one of the best surprises of this past year. It’s a brand-new format that premiered last summer and stepped into Survivor’s timeslot this spring, and has been much more than a seat-filler.
It’s the next great reality competition, and has really come into its own. It’s a worthy addition to CBS’s lineup of prestige reality TV competitions, and by that I mean Survivor and The Amazing Race.
Season two has been just as strong as season one—at least after an off-camera expulsion solved the problem of the show’s worst casting decision.
I’m sad that it’s almost coming to an end; season two ends on April 14. The team competition between Savage Crew and Dirty Hands ended on the penultimate episode, and now all that’s left is for the final four to compete for $200,000.
But the good news is that a new season will start filming just five weeks after that, at least according to the published plans.
While CBS has yet to official renew Tough As Nails, season three is currently casting. The show is planning a production window that goes from mid-May to early July, and includes two weeks of isolation before the actual month-long filming of the competition takes place.
The casting website explains when production will take place:
If selected, could you be away from home (work and family) for roughly 6 weeks which includes 2 weeks of quarantine (Covid-19) plus 4 weeks of filming. The dates are subject to change but are set for May 19 – July 3, 2021, as of today.
Applicants have to be U.S. citizens who are 21 or older.
While a casting notice aired at the end of the penultimate episode on April 7, filming starts so soon that I wonder if casting isn’t already complete for season three. Could they even be casting for season four?
I ask that because application says that producers “will be in touch approximately 45-60 days before filming to follow up should we be moving forward with your application,” and assuming their announced May 19 start date holds, that means people would be notified between March 20 and April 4—two days before the casting announcement aired on TV.
Either way, it’s great to know more Tough As Nails is on the way, whenever it may premiere. (Summer? Fall?)
I can honestly say that I’ve haven’t really missed Survivor—rewatching seasons one and two have helped with that, and also I think the show and I needed a break—but I have grown so fond of Tough As Nails and its cast of supportive, competitive people that I really will miss it. I’m glad a new season will be coming sooner than later.