Countdown to ‘Survivor: Island of the Idols’: Season 39 with Rob and Sandra premieres sooner than you think

The wait is almost over! We’re now less than 60 days away from the premiere of “Survivor: Island of the Idols,” which is set to debut Wednesday, September 25 on CBS. This 39th season changes up the game by bringing back two former winners — “Boston” Rob Mariano and Sandra Diaz-Twine — to act as mentors for the brand new castaways. While Rob and Sandra won’t be eligible for the $1 million prize, they will have an influence on the ultimate winner as their advice could end up either making or breaking the newbies’ games.

Little else is known about Season 39 of CBS’s reality TV show, but the preview trailer does give us a sneak peek at what Rob and Sandra will be up to this time around. “Between the two of us, we’ve played over 200 days,” red-hatted Rob reminds viewers. “We’ve both won the game. Sandra’s the only contestant to ever win twice. We know everything there is to know about ‘Survivor.’ I mean, I wrote a book on it!”

Sandra chimes in, “If they can take what Rob can teach them and what I can teach them and put it all together, they can take home the million dollars. That’s it. All they gotta do is listen.” However, she also warns that they’re “not giving anything for free.” As a reminder, Rob won “Survivor” on his fourth go-around (Season 22, Redemption Island) while Sandra claimed victory on her first two tries (Season 7, Pearl Islands and Season 20, Heroes vs. Villains).

Four-time Emmy-winning host Jeff Probst returns once again for this 39th installment. As he explains to Entertainment Weekly, the idea for “Island of the Idols” came about from wondering “how to get a player like Boston Rob, who has said he’d never compete again because he doesn’t feel he’d ever really have a shot to win, to return to the show.” Probst adds, “They aren’t playing, they can’t cast a vote, they can’t be voted out and they can’t win the million dollars. The basic idea is they run a ‘Survivor’ boot camp. They teach aspects of the game and then give players a chance to test what they’ve learned.”

Find out how Rob and Sandra’s “boot camp” plays out when “Survivor” Season 39 debuts on CBS in less than two months. In the meantime, tell us what you think about the “Island of the Idols” concept down in the comments section and join the discussion in our reality TV forums.