Survivor 49 premiere pays tribute to the late locations manager, Vince Costello, in an emotional way, with a view to his critical contribution to the fiji adventures on the show.
Here’s what’s known:
- There was a tribute card, which appeared at the end of the credits that said:
Love in memory of Vince Costello, always in our hearts.
- Vince Costello: Since the show had started in Fiji in 2016, Vince Costello had been the Locations Manager since then.
- As the locations manager, he was involved in scouting and securing challenges, camps and production logistics locations across the Fiji Mamanuca Islands.
- The duration of Costello working with Survivor was almost ten years, between 2016 and 2025.
- In 2025, he later that year was diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) in its late stage as revealed in a GoFundMe organized by Survivor executive producer Jesse Jensen.
- It has been reported that he died soon after the season 50 production ended.
- His family is also connected to the show: his daughter Aline Costello was a locations assistant, and a son Patrick Costello was a camera operator.
Cast / Crew Reactions as well as Production Reactions.
- In pre-premiere interviews, People has said that the culture of production on Survivor is usually family-like, with crewmembers talking about their lengthy stay, connections with each other, and mutual admiration of the Fiji setting and community.
- On the one hand, as the GeekSided article notes, the tribute itself, which read “In loving memory of Vince Costello, forever in our hearts,” appeared immediately after the credits, which, on the one hand, was a silent recognition of the show itself.
- As Parade noted, the GoFundMe put together by the executive producer Jesse Jensen showed out that Costello had been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer earlier in the year, and the campaign had turned into a way of the Survivor community coming together around him, and his family.
- In the GeekSided article it is also mentioned that in the wake of the tribute, it was announced publicly:
The level of support really moved Vince and humbled him, he cannot express enough thanks to you, it has been so appreciated by them.
- In the article in the People, it is also stated that Vince had his children Aline (a locations assistant) and Patrick (camera operator) who were a part of the crew. His family intervention gives the tribute an emotional depth.
Fan & Online Reactions
- Fan sites and entertainment magazines were everywhere with the news of the tribute and applauded Survivor on paying tribute to a behind-the-scenes person who generally remains unnoticed.
- On Reddit, I was not able to find a big thread that could be dedicated directly to the tribute to Vince Costello (however, the r/survivor community is active).
- This was the case by wider coverage in the entertainment media who then made the tribute look like a sign of respect given to someone in a locations role in a show such as Survivor (which relies so much on the natural terrain, logistics and how safe it is in remote locations).
Community Tributes
- Fan Reactions: Reddit and other forums have also given their condolences and their memories of Vince Costello and his work on the show. One post on the r/survivor community in Reddit had observed his long-term service as the locations manager and added that a few of his kids were employed on the show, demonstrating that the family has been closely involved in Survivor.
- Media Publicity: The tribute has been covered by multiple media outlets highlighting the critical role played by Costello in producing the show and how he wholeheartedly dedicated himself to the premiere of the show in Season 49. The awareness about his passing and the contributions he made to the Survivor community has been disseminated with the help of such reports.
What Jeff Probst and Authoritative Sources Have said / implicated.
- In Who Was Vince Costello? Everything to Know… (Primetimer), no direct quote of Probst on the tribute itself, but the timeline is mentioned in the article: Costello died soon after Survivor Season 50 was made.
- In an interview with People (published in several sources), his daughter Aline talked about the process of working with her father:
We are a close family and, as such, I would say that the person who could do it would be us. It’s been good.”
- In that People story, also, Vince had talked of the working relationship and environment:
Fiji is most culturally minded and respectful .. Out of each and every Fijian citizen on this employment we have been very thankful.
In the GeekSided tribute article, executive producer Jesse Jensen posted (through the GoFundMe page) the following:
Vince was really moved and humbled by the support of so many people, he can never be thankful enough, it has changed the world to them.
What we are missing / What have not found (Yet).
- I did not find any publicly, or social media post by any contestant (former or present) regarding the dedication or the death of Costello (as of yet).
- Then there was nothing in which Probst explicitly mentioned the tribute or the death of Costello, did not go beyond the context of the situation in the media reports, namely the Survivor family.
- No significant crew members in the company (e.g. heads of production departments) appear to have made public tributes in the sources I reviewed – other than the general articles.
Conclusion
The tribute to Vince Costello that opens the Survivor 49 is a moving example of the human faces that are behind the camera who make the show possible. The locations manager of Survivor, Costello, was extremely involved in scouting, acquiring, and controlling the stunning Mamanuca Islands where the competition takes place since the show had settled in Fiji in 2016.
His unexpected death due to liver cancer at its advanced stages, only a few months after the finale of Season 50, had a tremendous impact on the small crew of the production and his family, who work on the show as well. The premiere was brought to a still graceful close, in loving memory of Vince Costello, forever in our hearts, with the dedication card. This was not only a tribute to a highly appreciated colleague, but also a reminder of those heroes who can so easily seem unrecognized, whose experience and enthusiasm enable a worldwide reality show to succeed season after season.
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