Castaway

Castaways (also known as contestants, players, or survivors) refer to the people who compete on Survivor.

About
Contestants are either applicants who submitted audition tapes, went casting calls or basically recruited. Other contestants such as Jon Misch and Jaclyn Schultz initially applied for The Amazing Race, but were suggested to apply for. Applicants would be narrowed down to a shortlist.

Once the cast is selected, production has the contestants fill out several visa applications to conceal the actual country they will be filming at. Once at the filming location, the contestants would be sequestered to Ponderosa until filming begins.

Each season of Survivor ranges from having 16 to 20 castaways, each competing to become the Sole Survivor of the season. Each castaway would be assigned on a tribe (either by the production's choice or by Schoolyard Pick by the contestants themselves), although there are times that tribes aren't assigned on the first day, and there is an instance in  where two castaways, Jonathan Libby and Wanda Shirk, were eliminated before tribes were assigned.

The castaways have to compete in a secluded region (e.g. an island or Savannah) where they have to stay there for 39 days (except for, where it was 42 days), avoiding elimination. The castaways compete in two kinds of challenges: the Reward Challenge, where the tribe, a single or a group of castaways could win for a reward like tools for the camp, food, or a trip on spots outside the game; and the Immunity Challenge where castaways compete for exemption from Tribal Council, or individual immunity where individual(s) cannot be voted out in Tribal Council.

On Day 39, the final two or three castaways would face the recent castaways eliminated in the game in Final Tribal Council which consists the jury, who would have the power to choose which of the remaining castaways would become the Sole Survivor.

Castaways usually carry in the game clothes and a bag, where they are sometimes allowed to carry a luxury item. The castaways are also instructed to wear their buffs all the time to make viewers distinguish easily what tribe each castaway is assigned to.

,, , , , , , , , and all featured castaways from seasons past. They are known as returning players.

Trivia

 * There are currently 478 castaways who have played Survivor (237 male castaways, 241 female castaways).
 * Of all the castaways, 79 have participated in multiple seasons, with 63 castaways of the 79 castaways competing twice, 14 castaways competing three times and 2 castaways competing four times, Rob Mariano and Rupert Boneham.
 * Of all the castaways, 23 of them have been eliminated due to medical concerns or voluntarily ejecting themselves from the game. Three players (Jenna Morasca, Susan Hawk, and Colton Cumbie) quit on their second attempt at the game, while three other players,Jonathan Penner, James Clement, and Terry Deitz, were evacuated on their second attempt.
 * If certain information from the outside world is urgently needed to be relayed a castaway (e.g. death of a family member), the contestant must be pulled out from the game before knowing the said information, as seen in Cambodia, when Terry Deitz was rushed home to be with his critically ill son.
 * Jeff Probst explained that the increase of contestants from 16 to 18-20 is to provide more "wiggle room" (i.e. to have less preempted Immunity Challenges and Tribal Councils) in case of quits or medical evacuations.