BBC show that 'cost £30,000,000 axed after just one season' (2026)

Survivor has reportedly been cancelled by theBBC after just one season on the air.

The new version of the reality show hit screens in 2023 in a primetime Saturday night slot on BBC One with comedianJoel Dommett, 40, at the helm – and is rumoured to have cost the broadcaster £30,000,000 to make.

Survivor saw 18 people compete in a series of challenges on a desert island to win £100,000, just as the original noughties show had tasked contestants with.

The contestants wereflown out to the Dominican Republicand split into two tribes where they had to outwit each other and vote others out. Yet the programme struggled to attract viewers.

Survivor was reportedly in jeopardy as soon as after the first episode aired on the BBC, because it only attracted 2.6 million viewers on average, despite airing in the post-Strictly Saturday slot.

The ratings were around two million less than the numbers Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel pulled in the week prior – which allegedly prompted crisis talks among TV execs at the time.

There had been rumours the show was on the chopping block last year and it has now been reported that Survivor is no more.

The Masked Singer presenter Joel told The Sun: ‘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.’

Joel told Metro last year he had remained hopeful Survivor would return for a second season – although he admitted it needed an overhaul.

He said: ‘Fingers crossed… there’s a lot of stuff that we would do slightly differently. Like with every first series, it’s hard, so I think a second series would be amazing.

‘Everyone seems to really love it, so I’m excited that – hopefully – [we get to] do another one.’

The show aired in the UK in 2001 and 2002 on ITV, before the BBC reboot. It originally launched in America, where it has gone on to be a hugely popular global franchise, which is still running today.

Metro contacted the BBC for comment.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE: MasterChef fans in ‘tears of laughter’ at bizarre Gregg Wallace editing

MORE: Strictly 2025 line-up confirms Arsenal star and Game of Thrones legend

MORE: Second MasterChef contestant edited out of series after Gregg Wallace and John Torode scandals