Jeff Probst Talks ‘Survivor’ Season 50, Smart Players’ Moves & More

Wouldn’t you know who you’d be getting when you go with past players? It’d be a more informed choice. 

Yes, but even when you do that, you don’t always get it right. We’ve done returning player seasons before, brought people back and then, later, we’ve said, “Oh, we didn’t think we were going to get that from them!” You have the conditions of the game and that impacts people differently when you’re out in the jungle. You’re hungry, you’re not sleeping, and you’ve been betrayed. That’s when different parts of your personality come out.

How much do you think idols will influence the way the game is going to be played in these remaining episodes for this season? 

Huge.

In what way?

Well, this has been a season so far where nearly every idol that’s been in the game has left the game in somebody’s pocket. So that starts influencing anyone else who has an idol as they determine, “Am I going to play it?” and “Will I be safe?” or “Am I going to risk being the next person to get voted out with an idol?” So, it has a huge impact on the psyche of the player.

Do you think Q has enough time to recover from his live tribal snafu and stage a win?

Q is a great example of a player whom we really wanted on the show and we never saw this part of his game at any point during the casting process. He’s so unpredictable and so electric and polarizing. And another player that you could say is on the invite list to come back [for Season 50]. There really are just so many.

Other than tip your hand and say you’re 100 percent going to play an idol, what do you think is a nonsense move in Survivor?

A nonsense move? That’s really an interesting way to phrase the question. I think a nonsense move on Survivor is to already decide who you’re going to vote off before you have to. And I will say the good players don’t do that. The good players stay alive in the moment and will [go with the] ebb and flow until they figure out where [the game] is really going.

What’s the smartest move you’ve seen this season? 

I think any time you’re willing to take out an ally and then you go ahead and you do it. It’s probably a good move because the gut instinct that they were coming for you is probably right. There is a sort of a feeling among Survivor players that the minute you get a weird feeling in your stomach you should listen to it because something is happening.

Are you often surprised by who ends up in the final three — or have you gotten good at predicting?

No, I predicted one winner in the 46 seasons that we have had.

Who?

Wendall Holland — and I attribute that to luck. He won Survivor: Ghost Island. You guess enough and sooner or later you’ll get one right.

Not every reality show has had the same host for its entire run as Survivor has with you. You’re the foundation of that show. 

Thank you.

Having said that, would you ever take a season off and partake in a celebrity edition of Survivor? 

I think about it. It would be a test. I’d like to see if I could do it right because it tests you — not just physically and emotionally, but also, mentally. You ask yourself, “How good are you at setting traps? Emotional traps or strategic ones? Can you persuade someone who they might not want to believe you? Can you cajole? Can you deflect?” I like asking all of that stuff.

If you took part in a season, you wouldn’t be able to host, though. 

I don’t know. We’d have to get somebody else to host. I don’t know who that would be because the risk is that they’d be better than me and I’d lose my job. That’s why I will never play Survivor and take that risk!

Survivor, Season 46, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS