Yes, I believe it's not the same because "they won't let them die".
Tell me, you have two scenarios, one where 18 people play survivor with 50 other people, including medics, are just offscreen, they have no chance of going hungry (not the same as being hungry), and their every move is captured on video, and another where 18 people are marooned on a tropical island, where there is a real chance of being wounded or killed by wild animals, dying of disease or hunger, etc. Do you really think those two scenarios are anywhere near the same? You can't possibly.
Lord of the Flies is a work of fiction, and about children, but it's more accurate, more
"real", than Survivor. Read it, if you never have.