Jeff Probst Has Banned This ‘Survivor’ Alumnus From ‘Survivor’ Events
Most Survivor fans, when they think of Jeff Probst, would probably use words like “fair,” or “reasonable.” It’s not easy to imagine Probst actively hating anyone. He typically keeps his personal feelings about contestants out of the game, other than to say that they add character or drama to a season.
There’s one major exception to this rule, however. In Survivor history, there’s one player that Probst absolutely loathes. And, after a certain event, Probst was even driven to ban this castaway from all future Survivor events.
If you’re a stalwart Survivor fan, you might already have an inkling of which villainous castaway would be abrasive enough to draw Probst’s ire.
Who is Johnny Fairplay?
John Dalton, or Johnny Fairplay as he’s commonly known on Survivor, is one of the show’s greatest villains. Fairplay has gone down in Survivor history for telling what has largely been panned as one of the game’s most despicable lies. Probst called it the “greatest lie ever told on Survivor.”
Fairplay had his friend Dan show up for the “loved ones” reward episode of his season, where winners typically get to spend time with their friends or family. Fairplay asked Dan to come on, and to pretend his grandmother had died while he was on the show. When he received the “news,” Fairplay fake cried and utilized the sympathy it garnered to earn the challenge reward from a teammate.
In a confessional interview, Fairplay revealed, “My grandmother’s sitting home watching Jerry Springer right now.”
Beyond that, Fairplay played a very aggressive, abrasive, and generally rude game. He would allegedly show up to tribal council drunk, and frequently behave abusively towards his fellow contestants.
Getting personal
Though Fairplay may have been abrasive and difficult to deal with, Probst appreciated that to a degree.
“And then you have Jonny Fairplay, who’s completely despicable. It was actually fun to work with Fairplay on the show because he’s a producer’s dream. When he shows up drunk or flips somebody off, he’s bringing you gold every time. I wish we had a Jonny Fairplay every season,” said Probst.
However, Fairplay managed to offend Probst on a very personal level. “Personally, however, he’s an absolute jackass whose actions at the Vanuatu finale after-party pissed me off so much that he’s banned from any event that I’m at from now on. I’m done with Jonny Fairplay,” Probst explained.
The after-party debacle
It turns out that Fairplay made a fool of himself at the Vanuatu finale after-party. Entertainment Weekly reports that Fairplay got into a heated argument with Probst’s brother. As a result, Fairplay was booted from the after-party and subsequently banned from all Survivor events.
According to speculation by several users on a tapatalk.com thread, rumor has it that Fairplay also groped a fellow female contestant at the after-party, which angered Probst. Even if it’s a rumor, it’s not difficult to believe that Fairplay might behave in this way.
Forced to work together
Unfortunately for Probst, despite his misgivings, Fairplay was invited to play Survivor once more on Survivor: Micronesia. When CBS told Probst they were planning on inviting Fairplay to participate, he was not thrilled.
“My first vote was we don’t need him. Send him home. Make a point that there is a level of participant that we don’t need on this show,” Probst said. “CBS said, ‘That’s interesting, Jeff — you can leave now.’ So my vote doesn’t count for anything.”
Fairplay isn’t a big fan of Probst, having said, “Do I hate him? Absolutely. And I think he would say the same about myself.”
When he heard Probst didn’t want him on Survivor: Micronesia, Fairplay said, “I heard he didn’t want me here. If that’s the case, I will enjoy making his life more miserable.
Luckily for Probst. Fairplay was voted out during the very first tribal council of the season.
