Survivor 49 ended its opening episode with a bit of an unexpected somber note, with the season premiere closing with a dedication card honoring a late member of the team.
“In loving memory of Vince Costello, forever in our hearts,” read the tribute that aired directly after the credits rolled on the season 49 premiere. The dedication was designed to honor a beloved member of the team responsible for making the show we all know and love.
Who was Vince Costello?
Vincent Costello joined the Survivor family 10 years ago when the show made the move to Fiji, working as the locations manager for the long-running show. As a native Fijian, Costello used his knowledge of the area to help scout and secure locations for filming in the Mamanuca Islands which have been home to production since 2016.
It quickly became a family affair, as Costello’s daughter Aline began working on the show as a locations assistant, while his son Patrick joined the show as a camera operator. In an interview with People, Costello reflected on his time working on Survivor, praising the show for respecting the culture and natives of Fiji.
"Fiji is very much into culture and into respect, and it's been great working for Survivor in that respect. From every single Fijian citizen on this job and for all the citizens of our little country, we've been very grateful."
People reported in their profile which ran ahead of the season premiere that Costello worked on roughly 50 productions before landing his position at Survivor, which he called a life-changing experience. Costello’s work on the show began in 2016 with season 33, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X. It's unclear whether he was involved in the production of season 49 and 50 with IMDb only crediting Costello for working on the show through season 48.
A GoFundMe page set up by Survivor executive producer Jesse Jensen revealed that Costello was diagnosed with late stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Liver Cancer) earlier this year, and sadly passed away sometime after the filming of season 50 per People.
"Hello all, once again thanks so much for all the love you have sent to Vince and his family. Vince was truly touched and humbled by the amount of support he received from you all and wanted me to pass on a huge a vinaka vakalevu from him and the whole family, he can’t thank you enough, it has meant the world to them," Jensen wrote in a July 28 update, at which time they closed donations on the page at Costello's request.
Given the pivotal role he played in helping to make so many seasons of the show we know and love possible, it's really sweet to see CBS and Survivor honor his legacy as they did in the Survivor 49 premiere.
On behalf of the entire team at GeekSided, our thoughts are with Costello's family, friends, and loved ones as well as the entire Survivor production team.