Survivor: Caramoan

Why wasn't the whole Caramoan cast on the reunion stage?

At the Survivor: Caramoan finale and reunion on 12 May 2013, castaways eliminated before the jury phase were seated in the audience rather than on stage, a first in the series. Jeff Probst said a new stage could not hold the usual number of people. Eight pre-jury castaways attended.

Confirmed The seating change and Jeff Probst's explanation for it come from named-author reporting published within two days of the broadcast, read here through preserved archive captures. Nobody is accused of wrongdoing. The pre-jury castaways who came to Los Angeles attended the taping and were seated in the audience.

Erik Reichenbach Erik Reichenbach Brandon Hantz Brandon Hantz Alexandra Pohevitz Alexandra Pohevitz

What the record shows

  • Confirmed For the first time in the show's history, castaways eliminated before the jury phase were seated in the audience rather than on stage at the Caramoan reunion, broadcast 12 May 2013.
  • Confirmed Nine of the season's twenty castaways finished pre-jury. Brandon Hantz did not attend the taping, so eight sat in the audience. They were not kept out of the building.
  • Confirmed Asked about it by Entertainment Weekly, Probst said "the main reason was staging" and that on a new stage the design "couldn't accommodate the usual enormous amount of people we have at the reunion". He said the same configuration might be used again.
  • Confirmed Probst also said he empathised with the pre-jury cast feeling left out, and that a player voted out early often does not have enough story for a reunion spot.
  • Confirmed Erik Reichenbach was on the jury and was seated on stage, and was still not asked to speak. In an Entertainment Weekly interview published 13 May 2013 he called the reunion a "farce", "disrespectful", "ridiculous" and "insane", and said no explanation was given to him.
  • Confirmed Andy Dehnart reported for reality blurred that the reunion had moved to CBS's Radford lot, and wrote that he did not accept that the production design team could not find room for eight more people.
  • Confirmed Alexandra Pohevitz, voted out second, posted a photograph of the pre-jury cast on Facebook. Dehnart reported that others privately said they had brought guests to Los Angeles at their own expense and met wardrobe requirements, then went unaddressed on air.
  • Disputed Probst said that he and Brandon Hantz had a conversation and that everyone, Brandon included, felt his not attending was the best decision. Dehnart reported that Russell Hantz publicly contradicted that account, and flagged Russell as an interested party.
  • Unverified No CBS statement on the seating decision beyond Probst's interview answer has been located, and no source reviewed here establishes what, if anything, the Caramoan pre-jury castaways were paid to attend.

What actually changed that night

Survivor: Caramoan ended on 12 May 2013 with the finale and the live reunion in the same broadcast. Twenty people played that season. Three reached the end, eight sat on the jury, and nine were voted out or removed before the jury phase began. At every previous reunion the whole cast had been on stage. This time the pre-jury group was seated in the audience.

The distinction matters and it gets flattened in most retellings. They were not banned, uninvited or turned away. They flew in, they were in the room, and they watched the show from seats rather than from the set. Brandon Hantz did not attend, which left eight of the nine in the audience.

Probst said it was the stage

Jeff Probst gave the reason to Dalton Ross at Entertainment Weekly, and Andy Dehnart quoted the answer at reality blurred on 14 May 2013. Probst said "the main reason was staging", that the season used a new stage, and that its design "couldn't accommodate the usual enormous amount of people we have at the reunion". He added that the same configuration might be used again, and that interviewing twenty people at once is difficult to manage.

He did not present it as a judgement on the people involved, and this page does not treat it as one. Probst said he empathised with the pre-jury cast feeling left out, while also saying that a castaway voted out early often does not have enough story to warrant a spot.

The reporting did not accept the explanation

Dehnart's piece is where the pushback is documented. He noted that the reunion had moved to CBS's Radford lot rather than the soundstage used for earlier December reunions, and wrote plainly that he did not believe the show's production design team could not find room for eight more people. That is his assessment as a critic, not an established fact about the set, and it is presented here as such.

He also reported the cast's practical complaint. Some of the pre-jury group said privately that they had brought guests to Los Angeles at their own expense and had to meet exacting wardrobe requirements, and were then not spoken to on air. Alexandra Pohevitz, the second person voted out, posted a photograph of the pre-jury cast on Facebook.

Erik Reichenbach was on stage and still did not speak

The loudest objection came from someone the change did not apply to. Erik Reichenbach finished fifth, sat on the jury, and had a seat on the stage. He was also the only Favorite up there who was not asked a single question, which is the part he was reacting to. He had been medically removed inside the finale three days from the end, and the reunion never returned to it.

In an interview published by Entertainment Weekly on 13 May 2013 he called the reunion a "farce", "disrespectful", "ridiculous" and "insane", and said no explanation was given to him for why he was not asked to speak. He said he exchanged about two words with Probst at the dress rehearsal and nothing further.

Brandon Hantz and the one contested point

Brandon Hantz was not at the taping. Probst said the two of them had a conversation and that everyone, Brandon included, felt this was the best decision. That is Probst's account of a private conversation and it is the only version of it on the record from a participant.

Dehnart reported that Russell Hantz publicly contradicted it, while noting in the same breath that Russell is not a disinterested source. Neither account has been tested, so both are presented as claims. Nothing here says Brandon was excluded and nothing here says he chose to stay away.

What is still open

No CBS statement on the seating decision has been located beyond Probst's answer to Entertainment Weekly. The network never issued anything separate, and Probst's interview remains the only explanation on the record.

Payment is also unresolved. Dehnart wrote that in the past castaways had been paid to attend a reunion, but no source reviewed here establishes what the Caramoan pre-jury group received for that trip. It should not be assumed either way.

People in this story

Questions people ask

Why weren't all the Survivor: Caramoan cast on the reunion stage?
Jeff Probst said the reason was staging. The season used a new stage whose design, in his words, could not accommodate the usual number of people. Castaways voted out before the jury phase were seated in the audience instead.
Was that the first time Survivor did this?
Yes. The 12 May 2013 Caramoan reunion was the first in the show's history at which pre-jury castaways were seated in the audience rather than on stage. Probst said the configuration might be used again.
Were the pre-jury castaways banned from the reunion?
No. They attended the taping and sat in the audience. Eight of the nine pre-jury castaways were there. Describing them as banned, barred or uninvited misstates what happened.
What did Erik Reichenbach say about it?
He called the reunion a farce, disrespectful, ridiculous and insane in an Entertainment Weekly interview on 13 May 2013. He was on the jury and seated on stage, but was the only Favorite up there who was not asked to speak.
Why wasn't Brandon Hantz at the Caramoan reunion?
Probst said he and Brandon spoke and that everyone, Brandon included, felt it was the best decision. Reality blurred reported that Russell Hantz publicly contradicted that account. Neither version has been independently tested.

Sources

Checked on 2026-07-26. If something here is wrong or out of date, we want to know: get in touch.