Survivor season 46: winner, how to watch and everything to know about the reality TV show

Jeff Probst on Survivor
Jeff Probst on Survivor (Image credit: Robert Voets/CBS)

A handful of TV shows have become so ingrained in our culture that it's hard to imagine them not airing. Survivor, like The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, is one of them (maybe it's an "S" thing). And the train kept rolling with Survivor season 46.

Survivor season 45 was one of the biggest seasons of the show, literally, as every episode was at least 90 minutes (the Survivor season 45 finale was three hours). Season 46 didn't slow things down, as once again each episode ran at least 90 minutes, with some being even longer than that.

But it's not the episode length that makes the show, it's the castaways, the challenges and the twists that do it. So for more information on all of that, read on to find out everything to know about Survivor season 46.

Survivor season 46 winner

When all was said and done, it was Kenzie Petty that earned the title of Sole Survivor of season 46 and won the $1 million prize.

Here are how the other contestants finished:

  • David "Jelinsky" Jelinsky
  • Jessica "Jess" Chong
  • Randen Montalvo
  • Bhanu Gopal
  • Jemila "Jem" Hussain-Adams 
  • Moriah Gaynor
  • Tim Spicer
  • Soda Thompson
  • Tevin Davis
  • Hunter McKnight
  • Tiffany Nicole Ervin
  • Venus Vafa
  • Q Burdette
  • Maria Shrime Gonzalez
  • Liz Wilcox
  • Ben Katzman
  • Charlie Davis

How to watch Survivor season 46

Now that Survivor season 46 has concluded, if you need to catch up with the season you can so so on Paramount Plus, which not only allows subscribers to watch the episodes from the latest season, but all seasons of the reality competition show.

Survivor season 46 host

One member of the Survivor season 46 cast we do know is Jeff Probst, who once again returns to host the reality series like he has since the very beginning. Throughout his tenure on the show, he has won five Emmys, four for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program and one for Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (before there was an Outstanding Reality Series category).

While we wait to hear more info about the actual contestants Probst will be starring alongside in season 46, the host shared some of his initial thoughts in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:

"The cast of season 46 is a really unusual collection of smart, funny, eclectic humans," says Probst. "You're going to love so many of them. You'll feel it in the opening moments of day one when we first meet everyone. There is a sense of humor and sense of fun that is going to make this group really entertaining to watch."

Survivor season 46 premise

If you are somehow unfamiliar with what Survivor is all about, let's get you caught up real quick.

Survivor is a reality competition show that sees 18 people become castaways in a remote location with no access to modern life. Split into three tribes, they must create their own shelter, acquire their own food and more as they also compete in various challenges that test them both physically and mentally.

In the first part of the season, the three tribes compete against each other in immunity challenges, with the tribe that comes in last forced to go to tribal council, where they vote one of their members out of the game. When the game gets down to about half, a merge happens, bringing the remaining players into one tribe and having things turn into an individual competition.

However, forming alliances, employing social strategies and more are also beneficial in helping to win the game, where the ultimate goal is to "outwit, outplay and outlast" in order to be the Sole Survivor and win $1 million.

Survivor season 46 trailer

As promised, here is the first look at Survivor season 46: 

Survivor season 46 location

Though earlier seasons of Survivor moved around a bit, with iterations taking place in Australia, Africa and elsewhere, Survivor has found a permanent home on the islands of Fiji, where Survivor season 46 is set to take place as well. 

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Michael Balderston

Michael Balderston is a DC-based entertainment and assistant managing editor for What to Watch, who has previously written about the TV and movies with TV Technology, Awards Circuit and regional publications. Spending most of his time watching new movies at the theater or classics on TCM, some of Michael's favorite movies include Casablanca, Moulin Rouge!, Silence of the Lambs, Children of Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and Star Wars. On the TV side he enjoys Only Murders in the Building, Yellowstone, The Boys, Game of Thrones and is always up for a Seinfeld rerun. Follow on Letterboxd.