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The Summit premiere aired exclusively on CBS on Sunday, September 29, 2024, at 9 pm ET. In this reality TV competition series, 16 contestants embark on a journey to climb a mountain in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. The grand prize of a million dollars is divided between players in their backpacks. Additionally, if a contestant requires medical help, they are eliminated from the show and the prize fund decreases from its original amount.
Towards the end of each task, participants are asked to vote out someone— which doesn't affect the prize amount. The group has to complete each task within 14 days or else they will not be given a chance to distribute the final grand prize among one another.
As all the contestants on The Summit are inexperienced individuals, show host Manu Bennett shared how he and the production made sure everyone was safe.
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In a conversation with US Weekly on September 29, 2024, Manu referred to his experience on the show he participated in, during which a contestant's safety was compromised. This is why it was important for Bennett to ensure the crew and production had evaluated safety measures, he said:
“I did that show called Going Straight. It was an interesting step into that kind of world back then. There was an accident that took place in that particular filming of that series that was quite serious. So one of my major concerns when I stepped up to do The Summit was just safety.”
Host Manu Bennett shares details of The Summit behind the scenes that ensure safety of contestants
The Summit host continued emphasizing that all cast members were provided with safety and precautionary measures were put into immediate effect. Manu also shared that the participants were unaware of what they were signing up for.
They didn't know that they were about to climb a mountain and that a million-dollar prize fund was involved. This is why the production had to be extra careful in providing assistance to each contestant. Banu said:
"I — at all times — felt that the network had those bases covered, which I thought was paramount to making sure we were shooting a show that was going to guard these 16 non-experienced people of a very complex mountain system.”
The Summit host continued stating that the cast members were unaware as they had no idea what show they were on. He further mentioned:
"I don’t believe that they knew as far as I was told. So they didn’t know that they were going to be scaling a mountain — that was going to be their surprise. And they didn’t know there was a million dollars involved.”
Revealing what safety measures were taken, Manu shared that behind the scenes involved "an international group of well-versed mountaineers" as well as professional coordinators. He stated:
“As far as safety is concerned, there was an international group of well-versed mountaineers involved in our show. We had one of the best coordinators of obstacle courses. We had some pretty admirable mountaineers that were making sure that nobody stepped too far off track."
Stream The Summit season 1 episode 2 exclusively on CBS on October 9, 2024 at 9:30 p.m. ET. The premiere episode is available on CBS as well as Paramount Plus.
