‘The tribe has spoken’: Survivor fans voice frustration after Trump address interrupts show

The Survivor tribe has spoken… and they’re not thrilled. 

That’s because Wednesday night, CBS didn’t get to stick to the plan, instead having to interrupt the series’ extra-long merge episode to air U.S. President Donald Trump’s prime-time address on the war in Iran.

The broadcast was interrupted at approximately 9 p.m. ET, when the president delivered an address from Washington, D.C.

Devoted fans of the franchise were quick to voice their frustration online after the pre-empting of the tribal circle segment.

“I need Trump to start watching Survivor so he can stop interrupting it,” one X user wrote.

“Most game-changing episode of Survivor… and it’s stopped because [of] a Trump announcement,” wrote another.

“So annoyed,” a third wrote.

Canadian blindside

Global TV, the Corus Entertainment-owned network that airs the American competition series simultaneously, pulled off a blindside of its own, serving Canadians’ immunity.

Instead of running Trump’s speech, the network opted to air a decade-old rerun of Border Security: Canada’s Front Line, a show that ran from 2012 to 2014 and followed Canadian Border Services officers at airports and land crossings. 

This prompted some confusion from users on X, with one writing, “girl why is border security playing…”

The 50th season of Survivor premiered in February with a cast of 24 fan favourites from previous seasons, including Canada’s Genevieve Mushaluk and Kamilla Karthigesu.

Mushaluk and Karthigesu, along with longtime player Colby Donaldson, were sent home after Wednesday’s surprise triple elimination. The season finale is set to air on May 20. 

This isn’t the first time Trump has interrupted an episode of Survivor. During the finale of its 49th season in December, the show also had to pause for a presidential address — just before the season was set to crown its champion. 

After pausing for about 20 minutes, the finale picked up and fans at home watched Savannah Louie take the win. 

At the time, even talk show host Stephen Colbert joined in, using his opening monologue to poke fun at the president’s timing.

“Survivors, you’ve endured starvation, extreme heat and poisonous snakes…. but for your final challenge, you must listen to a bitter old man talk about a ballroom,” Colbert told his Late Show audience. 

It’s important to note that Wednesday’s interruption was planned. CBS issued a programming advisory ahead of the address stating, “The special two-hour SURVIVOR episode (starting at 8:00 PM ET/PT) will resume where it left off immediately following the president’s address for Eastern and Central Time Zone viewers on the CBS Television Network and air in its entirety.”

For viewers watching in Pacific time, the episode aired uninterrupted, sparing West Coast fans from wanting to bring their torches. 

Other fandoms lose flint, too

It wasn’t just Survivor fans who felt like they lost their flint. 

NBC and Fox also paused hit shows like Chicago Fire and The Masked Singer finale to make room for the president’s speech, in which he told Americans that the ⁠hard part of ‌the Iran war was done, that his “core strategic objectives” were near-completion and that the conflict will end soon.

Fun fact: The executive producer of Survivor since its inception, Mark Burnett, also produced Trump’s reality show The Apprentice.