would 've lost everything I owned today by betting that we would not still be on-air , '' said Probst . `` In fact , I was so naive to how television really worked that I just assumed because the show was really popular in the first season that it would get a second season for sure ... then I thought this will probably go on for three seasons which is pretty good . I 'll make some money , be a TV host . I had no idea we 'd be doing this 20 seasons later , '' Probst told CNN . `` Survivor '' debuted in May 2000 when Falklands War veteran and eco-adventurer Burnett bought the rights from British producer Charlie Parsons to produce the show in the United States . It was first shown in 1997 in Sweden under the name of `` Expedition Robinson . '' In an interview with Ontario 's London Free Press , CBS president Leslie Moonves remembered an early conversation with the prolific producer : `` Mark told me early on , ` This show is going to last -- do n't worry about a day job for a while .
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- `` And the title of the sole Survivor of ` Survivor : Heroes vs. Villains ' goes to ... Sandra Diaz-Twine . '' With that , the winner of the 20th season of CBS ' `` Survivor '' was announced last night at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York City . It 's been 10 years since the show crowned its first winner , Richard Hatch , earning Hatch $ 1 million , a Pontiac Aztek -- and status as America 's newest celebrity . Hatch 's fame was fickle : The celebrity spotlight , legal problems and a prison term for tax evasion took their toll on the love-to-hate-him corporate trainer . But `` Survivor '' came out of that first season as the country 's No. 1 show -- and though ratings have never hit the peaks of the frenzied summer of 2000 , it 's been an unqualified success for its network , CBS , and producer Mark Burnett . Still , 10 years ? The idea that `` Survivor '' would last a decade was not something that even host Jeff Probst would have put his money on . `` I