This season was supposed to have ten pairs of loved ones competing, but one pair dropped out due to a medical emergency just prior to the game beginning. This left a gender imbalance among the Castaways. The last time that happened was Survivor: Fiji.
For the first time since Survivor: Tocantins, Exile Island returns to the game. One tribe chooses who to put up in the Reward Challenge. The person chosen competes against their loved one. The loser of the challenge goes to Exile Island along with someone chosen by the winner of the challenge from his/her own tribe. The two people sent to Exile Island chose one of two urns, one of which has a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol hidden back at both camps.
Once again, two seasons are filmed back to back in this location, San Juan del Sur, Rivas, Nicaragua. The second season to film here will be Survivor: World's Apart. This location was used twice before with Survivor: Nicaragua and Survivor: Redemption Island.
There were several 'Celebrity' Castaways this season, John Rocker, a former baseball player with Major League Baseball; twins Natalie Anderson and Nadiya Anderson, who competed twice on The Amazing Race (2001) in seasons 21 and 24. Couple Jaclyn Schultz was Miss Michigan in Miss USA (2013) and Jon Misch was a linebacker for Michigan State University, Couple Josh Canfield and Reed Kelly are both veterans of the Broadway stage.
This was one of only two seasons which began with a Day 0, where the pairs of loved ones were marooned together. The other was the original Survivor: Blood vs. Water. The only other season to go beyond 39 days of game play was Survivor: The Australian Outback.