The Survivor 49 alternates reveal thoughts before being put into the game: 'I'm 100 percent ready...

Jason and MC speak! The Survivor 49 alternates reveal thoughts before being put into the game: 'I'm 100 percent ready to go in'

Jason and MC speak!

The Survivor 49 alternates reveal thoughts before being put into the game: 'I'm 100 percent ready to go in'

Jason and MC speak!

By Dalton Ross

California Dreams was better than Saved by the Bell. There, I said it.

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August 28, 2025 9:45 a.m. ET

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Jason Treul and Michelle 'MC' Chukwujekwu on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS (2)

Every *Survivor* hopeful dreams of that day they get the call. It's the call telling them they have made it onto the show and will be competing for $1 million dollars. But *Survivor 49* contestant Michelle "MC" Chukwujekwu never got it.

Instead, her notification from *Survivor* casting came over the phone, which was an immediate red flag. "When they called me, I was like, 'Oh no, it's not a Zoom call. That means I didn't get it,'" MC recalled to ** before she knew she would make the cast. "I kind of went in with that."

Her instinct — that players who made the cast would be told over Zoom to capture video of their reactions — was spot on. But the news was not as bad as she feared. "And then [*Survivor* casting director Jesse Tannenbaum] started talking to me and he told me I didn't make the cast, but 'We would love to have you on as an alternate.'"

The mixed message gave MC a bit of emotional whiplash. "Having horrible news and then like, 'Oh wait, I'm not completely out!' So I was like, 'Oh, this is still amazing. Yes, I'll take it! I'll take it!'"

Michelle 'MC' Chukwujekwu on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

The casting department told her to take a bit of time to think it over. "They're like, 'Oh, give us an answer by the end of the day.' And I'm like, 'I'll give you 30 minutes.' I just wanted to call my sister, see what she thought. I called her, called them back in five minutes. I'm like, 'Yes, I'm down. I'm 100 percent down.'"

It was a wise decision, because MC is now 100 percent about to be on your television screen as an official cast member of *Survivor 49*, which premieres Sept. 24 on CBS. After two players were removed from the cast the day before filming began for breaking pre-game rules regarding communication between contestants, MC and fellow alternate Jason Treul were added to the cast in a twist worthy of *Survivor* itself.

The two alternates spoke to ** in Fiji the day before the switch was made, when they still thought they were only there as backups hoping to eventually land on a future season — much in the way *Survivor 49* cast mates Sage Ahrens-Nichols and Sophie Segreti were alternates on seasons 47 and 48, respectively.

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"I call it being Schrödinger's *Survivor*," Jason said of the alternate experience. "Like, is he alive? Is he dead?"

The way Jason saw it then, his pre-game experience — and not knowing if or when he would ever play — was happening on multiple levels. "I need to play the hell out of Ponderosa in three ways," Jason explained. "Most alternates get back on, but I might not, right? It's always a possibility. So I have to live now, I have to live for the future, and I have to live for the never — all three."

And that was giving the alternate a *lot* to think about. "Those are three different Ponderosas to live where it's like: Am I sending out vibes to people so that I can get in the game and play it successfully?' I don't want to shoehorn myself. Am I pushing the limits like Shauhin did to be able to learn from my first Ponderosa, see all the pregame press and iterate on that? Am I being a little more bold than I usually am just for data gathering purposes?"

Jason Treul on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

Even the worst option didn't seem so bad to Jason. "And then three is like: Are these my last moments here? I got a free flight to Fiji, all expenses paid. I get to see *Survivor*, I get to see all the players. I get to see how the sausage is made. I get to talk to you, and this interview may never come to light. It's like, how do I soak it all in? How do I not be too preoccupied with checking the boxes for the future to not be present for the moment for this very special opportunity?"

Jason felt himself struggling between keeping his eyes on the prize and seeing the bigger picture. "It's been crazy. I'm the only person that doesn't have the guaranteed weight on my shoulders that this is going to get a lot harder for me. This could be it. It could be a nice little trip to Fiji and then I go home and I never deal with *Survivor* ever again, and if that is the case, I want to make sure that my time out here was beautiful, even though I don't want it to be the case."

And it was not. As for MC, she was fascinated by the fact that she knew something the other players did not. If knowledge is truly power on *Survivor*, then MC indeed had it, and it was a power she could also apply in a future season.

The Hina Tribe on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

"A cool thing is that the people here don't know I'm an alternate," she said. "So they're still sizing me up. 'Do I want her as an alliance or not?' It's been great reading people, and if I don't make it in, I can watch the show and see how close I am. And also just mentally preparing myself [for the future]. Ponderosa is rough. No talking, a lot of downtime. But if I come back another season, I'll know that ahead of time and I feel like that's going to make me stronger starting the game. Whereas other people will be weak from that."

Being a *Survivor* alternate is a unique experience, and being an alternate that actually gets into the game on that very season — like Sundra Oakley on *Cook Islands *and Austin Li Coon on *Survivor 45* — is even more rare. Before making it into the game, MC was aware of how unique her situation was.

"It definitely wasn't exactly what I was expecting," MC said while still believing she would be heading home in a matter of days. "But season 47 was my first season watching and it was my first time applying. A lot of people do this for years, so I was very grateful. And you never know who might get sick or get scared and drop out. I'm 100 percent ready to go in."

It's a good thing she — and Jason — both were.

*Survivor 49* premieres Sept. 24 on CBS.

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