{"id":99444,"date":"2025-10-24T22:46:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/99444\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T22:46:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T22:46:09","slug":"jason-treul-reveals-how-he-joined-survivor-season-49","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/99444\/","title":{"rendered":"Jason Treul Reveals How He Joined ‘Survivor’ Season 49"},"content":{"rendered":"

Season 49 of \u201cSurvivor<\/a>\u201d has already been full of twists and turns. Yet, the surprises started before the cameras even started rolling this time around, with two of the contestants joining the cast just hours before the reality show<\/a> officially began. Both Jason Treul \u2014 a 32-year-old legal clerk \u2014 and Michelle \u201cMC\u201d Chukwujekwu<\/a> \u2014 a 29-year-old fitness trainer \u2014 entered the latest series at the very last moment. Now, Treul has revealed exactly what the process was and how he felt once he found out.<\/p>\n

Jason Treul Explains How He Joined \u2018Survivor\u2019<\/p>\n

Both Treul and Chukwujekwu were upgraded from alternate<\/a> after two of the original cast broke rules. \u201cSurvivor\u201d has strict procedures in place about communicating with other contestants to prevent any pre-game alliances and ensure the integrity of the CBS show<\/a>. According to Jeff Probst<\/a>, the two removed players violated this specific rule and so were ditched before filming began.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, Treul explains his philosophical take on how he came to appear on season 49. \u201cI think that in the grand scheme of things, Survivor is a game of luck,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was luck that I even got on the show, and it\u2019s luck that got me off the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the interview, Treul details how he was told he would be joining the cast of the show and the emotions that were running through his head. It turns out that he initially thought that he was being flown home when he was approached by members of the show\u2019s producers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI get pulled to the side, and in my head I\u2019m like, \u2018Okay, well, goodbye, folks. This is the last you\u2019ll see me because I\u2019m going to be taken out back and shot in the yard or something because I\u2019m out of the game. You all can focus on 49 and I\u2019ll go back to my life,\u2019\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as I\u2019m being taken, I\u2019m getting taken past where we sleep and I\u2019m in the middle of the field and I\u2019m like, \u2018Oh, okay, this is Old Yeller. I\u2019m getting taken out back.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Treul Was Overwhelmed When He Found Out<\/p>\n

As it happens, Treul was actually being separated from the other alternates so he could be informed that he was now part of the new season. The bizarre circumstances and unexpected news<\/a> proved overwhelming for him and he was unable to fully control his emotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then they inform me, \u2018Hey, so how does it feel to be on 49?\u2019 just in the middle of this field at Ponderosa,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately collapsed to the ground and I am screaming maniacally. It\u2019s such a fever dream. And then that elation lasted for days. I was waking up on the island thinking, \u2018This is not real. I\u2019m back on Ponderosa. This is like an Inception-style dream.\u2019 It was insane to have lived it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Season 49 of \u201cSurvivor\u201d has already been full of twists and turns. Yet, the surprises started before the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-99444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}