Jeff Probst Reveals Unique Way He Prepares for ‘Survivor’
There’s no denying that Survivor is a show with serious staying power. This cult classic premiered in May 2000 and is now in its 44th season.
Survivor follows 18 castaways who are dropped on the beautiful islands of Fiji with very few luxury items (and zero toiletries), who form a new society, compete in mental and physical challenges, and try to survive the harsh conditions in order to be crowned Sole Survivor and win the $1 million prize. The castaways often come from diverse backgrounds and are very competitive, which makes for some interesting reality TV.
Needless to say, the show’s host, Emmy Award-winner Jeff Probst, has to do some preparation of his own in order to lead the castaways to victory. Recently, on his podcast, he revealed the rather unique way he prepares to host each season.
Jeff Probst prepares for ‘Survivor’ in an interesting way
On Fire with Jeff Probst is the new official Survivor podcast, produced and hosted by Probst himself. Here, he often recaps the episodes of the show, sometimes interviewing ex-cast members about their experiences. His co-hosts Brittany Crapper and Jay Wolff are often featured as well.
Recently, on the episode “Getting to Day One,” Probst talks about all the prep work that goes into setting up for each season. He also mentions what he does when he’s not filming the show, which is watching police interrogation interviews he finds on YouTube (after getting a haircut and eating plenty of greasy burgers and fries, of course).
So… why the police interrogation videos? Probst claims that it helps him observe the “cat and mouse game” and what people look like when telling the truth versus telling a lie.
There isn’t much downtime between seasons. By the time filming has wrapped up from one season, the team is already working on editing as well as thinking about casting for the next season.
Probst claims he deals with his anxiety, which he says is “always simmering just below the surface.” He always wonders if they’ll be able to pull it off again, even after 22 years. So it’s easy to understand why watching the police interrogation videos helped him.
Survivor has also been referred to as a social experiment, intending to see how people react in stressful situations. Watching human behavior, even in that manner, is probably beneficial to Probst.
‘Survivor’s most surprising betrayals
Survivor is about surviving the elements of nature and thriving without the comforts of home, but it’s also a mind game. This sometimes means turning on your fellow castaways and betraying your friends in order to remain on the island.
Some shocking betrayals include Jeff Varner outing Zeke as transgender. This did not end well for Varner. Everyone jumped to Zeke’s defense and sealed Varner’s fate.
Almost as shocking: Ciera voted out her own mother, Laura, in an episode of Survivor: Blood vs. Water. Laura and Ciera were the only family pair left in the game by day 26, but it still felt brutal.
Forming alliances on Survivor is always risky, as former castaway Matt learned when he was blindsided by Rob, who voted him out twice (he returned to the game from Redemption Island). After everything Probst has seen and his interesting hobby, we wonder if anything surprises him at all anymore.
