Watch These 14 Competition Shows If You Love 'Survivor'
While it's impossible to fully replicate the thrill of tuning into Survivor every week, there are some competition and reality shows that closely mirror the greatness of the long-running reality series. Whether you want to see people endure even more extreme survival situations, love seeing creative challenges each episode, or you're just a fan of the scheming and backstabbing, we've got recommendations here to help you branch out from those 29 days on an island.
"Alone"
If you want to see hardened survivalists fend for themselves in harsh environments, Alone on the History Channel is pretty riveting. All contestants are completely marooned—even from camera crews—as they film their journeys themselves. With no set time limit, cast members are tasked simply with outlasting each other until they either tap out, injure themselves, or become too malnourished to remain.
"Hell's Kitchen"
They aren't left to eat just coconuts and rice somewhere in Fiji, but the contestants in Hell's Kitchen do have to withstand being screamed at by Gordon Ramsey during grueling cooking challenges. Like Survivor tribes, the cooks have to rely on teamwork with people they just met while attempting to successfully complete each and every one of Ramsey's requests.
"Taskmaster"
The Channel 4 panel series is one of the funniest shows coming out of the UK right now, pitting comics against each other as they try to win the most points by executing goofy challenges written by the creator Alex Horne. Their performance is then judged by Greg Davies, the show's Taskmaster, in a live format.
"The Mole"
The Mole originally aired on ABC back in 2000 with Anderson Cooper as its host. The reboot season, which aired in 2022 on Netflix, has a pretty similar premise to the initial iteration.
One member of the group is secretly a Mole, responsible for interfering with team challenges done to add money to a prize pool. Eliminations occur at the end of every episode after the contestants take a quiz to determine who the Mole is. The person with the least correct answers is then sent home.
"The Amazing Race"
Both Survivor and The Amazing Race are on CBS, and stars from one series have even gone onto the other on several occasions. If you're a Survivor fan and haven't seen it yet, check out Boston Rob and Amber play in Season 7 of Amazing Race hot off their performance in Survivor: All Stars.
"Naked and Afraid"
Naked and Afraid is one of those ideas you can't believe made it out of the elevator pitch stage, but this Discovery series has become hugely popular having spawned several spinoffs. Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing just began airing, bringing popular contestants back from past seasons of the original to compete for a $100,000 prize.
"RuPaul's Drag Race"
Along with comedic challenges and incredible runway outfits whipped up at a moment's notice, the beating heart of this show are the amazing cast of talented drag performers who you root for and will undoubtedly fall in love with each and every season.
"Beyond the Edge"
Want to see celebs trade their pampered lives for brutal physical challenges in the jungles of Panama? Well, look no further than Beyond the Edge on CBS. While there's only one season, you can't miss watching stars like Ray Lewis, Colton Underwood, and Metta World Peace make the most of their time with nothing but some supplies in a backpack.
"Running Wild with Bear Grylls"
In another example of Hollywood projects pushing famous people out of their comfort zones, National Geographic series Running Wild with Bear Grylls features a new celebrity guest every episode. It follows them as they work alongside famed survivalist through some survival skills tests in various remote locations.
"The Challenge"
This show initially puts stars from original MTV reality programs like The Real World and Road Rules through the absolute ringer before inviting other reality stars to compete in future seasons. A recent one brought in a ton of Survivor alums to duke it out against each other, including fan favorites like Tyson Apostol and Sarah Lacina.
"Big Brother"
If you've gotten tired of seeing contestants suffer in terrible conditions and just want pure gameplay, alliances and strategy, you should probably add some Big Brother into your reality diet.
"Eco-Challenge"
If you're curious what put reality TV super-producer Mark Burnett on the map before Survivor, it was his competition show Eco-Challenge. Bear Grylls hosted a revival of the series titled World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji for Amazon which aired in 2020.
"American Ninja Warrior"
American Ninja Warrior and Survivor have one key element in common: overconfident fans who lean back on their couch and say "I could do that, easily!" Even if a contestant doesn't make it to the end, doing one section of the remarkably hard obstacle courses in this show is jaw-dropping achievement by the athletes who sign up.
"The Bridge"
This HBO Max reality show leaves twelve strangers on a remote beach. They're given the task of building a floating bridge across the water to an island, which has £100,000 in prize money waiting for them. Oh, and they have 20 days to do it. If they get to the money, the players then have to vote for which single person goes home with the prize based on their contributions to the group.
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