“Survivor” enthusiasts will rejoice to hear that The Claremont Challenge, a 5C student-led production inspired by the beloved reality TV series, is making its triumphant return.
The CBS show “Survivor” is a reality TV program where contestants are sent to a remote island to compete in challenges, form alliances and strategize to be the last one standing. The Claremont Challenge Club, which takes inspiration from the show, has created a 5C version known as “Survivor: Claremont” where student-producers cast peers as participants, draft challenges and film the program. Contestants are interviewed throughout the taping, adding humor and drama.
On Feb. 21, the club screened the first episode of their third season titled, “OMG.” The season was filmed last fall and will be released in full this semester.
The episode introduced the 18 contestants, who were divided into three tribes: Brains (green bandanas), Beauty (purple bandanas) and Brawn (orange bandanas).
In the first challenge each of the three tribes attempt to solve a puzzle by finding clues scattered around Scripps, Pitzer and Claremont McKenna Colleges.
Ultimately, the Brains tribe won the challenge with Beauty taking second place.
The episode ended with a second challenge in which students are blindfolded and have to find clues on the Pitzer Clocktower to solve a crossword puzzle.
The Brains won again, with Beauty and Brawn close behind.
The Claremont Challenge was founded by Will Pakenas PZ ’23 out of his love for “Survivor”. While the first two seasons were not fully filmed, the club had gained enough support and momentum by the third season to begin filming the activities.
Executive producer George Zhang PZ ’25 explained his experience as both a cast member and a member of the crew.
“I [first got involved] when I was [cast as] a participant on season 2 of Survivor Claremont,” Zhang said. “I had a really fun time and decided to get involved with the production side of things. Over the past few months, I’ve been editing this past season and I’ve also been making preparations for the new one which I am really excited for.”
Applications for “Survivor: Claremont” open every semester and typically receive 30-40 responses per cycle. After carefully reviewing each application, the crew does their best to ensure diversity and representation between the colleges in their casting.
“We try to make sure that all schools and a variety of grades are represented,” Zhang said. “We just want to make sure to cast people who we feel like would have a lot of fun.”
As for the creation of the challenges themselves, season 3 player Bayley Bauer PZ ’26 says each of the challenges entail mental, physical and endurance components.
“It’s just fun to have a nice little thing to compete against other people and I tend to be a competitive person, so it’s nice having this thing I do every week,” Bauer said.
The season 3 premiere amassed a large crowd at the viewing party, prompting the producers to announce that season 4 had started filming.
“We have an expanded group, which I am really excited for,” Zhang said of the upcoming season. “We have people from the previous season who’ve decided to come in and join and we’ve really created an environment where a lot more ideas are going into the creation of this season and that will hopefully lead to more exciting gameplay and challenges.”
New contestants were also in attendance at the screening.
“I know nothing about ‘Survivor,’ but I happen to live with some ‘Survivor’ superfans … so I have been coerced into joining,” Annie Voss PZ ’26 said. “I don’t get to be competitive very often, but I think that when I am competitive I have a lot of fun with it.”
Episodes are available on The Claremont Challenge YouTube channel, which is slated to drop all season 3 episodes soon.
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