Jeff Probst on Survivor Season 30: "This Is the Best Overall Cast We've Ever Had"

Survivor is celebrating its 30th season with Worlds Apart, which pits White Collar, Blue Collar and "No Collar" contestants against each other. Will this iteration feature the best cast the show's ever seen? Host Jeff Probst has high hopes.

"Two of the big keys to a good season are an interesting theme, in terms of how we divide the tribes, which we have. ... The pitch to CBS was, White Collar make the rules, Blue Collar follow the rules, No Collar break the rules," Probst tells TVGuide.com. "And then, you have to have the group of people. And this is, for my money, probably the best overall cast we've ever had. That doesn't mean there won't be duds or people that don't live up to their potential. But person to person as a group, this is a really strong group and one of my favorite casts ever."

Meet the cast of Survivor Season 30!

But, according to Probst, the show doesn't have anything planned on a week-to-week basis to commemorate the milestone. "We realized, we don't really look at this as any kind of an end," he tells TVGuide.com. "It's just a celebration."

In terms of the tribe divisions, Probst explains: "In almost every episode, there are moments that personify the three different groups of people that really are the dominating philosophies in our culture right now. The White Collars represent that part of the world that make the rules. They work in offices. They wear suits. The Blue Collars are the people who are out getting it done every day. They might wear a uniform. They might use their hands. They are the bread and butter of our country. And the No Collars are the people that are willing to break the rules, like a Mark Zuckerberg or somebody who just wants to sit on the beach and read poetry. They're not bound by societal norms. When you put those three together and force them to play this game, it's really compelling."

So, did the contestants live up to these stereotypes? "One hundred percent," Probst says. "But there was a feeling amongst the White Collars that they weren't White Collars. The Blue Collars were very proud to be Blue Collars, and the No Collars thoroughly embraced their No Collar ways. But the White Collars kept wanting to say, 'We've got Blue Collar in us. We've got some No Collar in us.' I thought that was really interesting, given the culture right now, that the one group that was a bit embarrassed were the White Collars."

Get Probst's take on each of the individual contestants - including a coconut vendor, a state trooper, and a corporate executive - here. Which tribe are you rooting for out of the gate?

Season 30 of Survivor premieres Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.

(Full disclosure: TVGuide.com is owned by CBS.)