Survivor Season 49 Honors Late Location Manager Vince Costello

Survivor’s Season 49 premiere closed with an on-screen dedication reading “In loving memory of Vince Costello, forever in our hearts.” Costello, 61, was the show’s Location Manager from 2016–2025 and a Fiji native who scouted tribal camps, challenge sites and Tribal Council backdrops across the Mamanuca Islands after a career on roughly 50 film and TV productions. Executive producer Jesse Jensen launched a GoFundMe after Costello was diagnosed with late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, raising more than AUD 86,000; the campaign was paused once that amount was reached, and the family temporarily relocated to Australia for treatment. Reports say Costello died earlier in 2025 after production wrapped on Survivor Season 50. Both of his children have worked on Survivor production, continuing the family’s involvement in the series.