‘Survivor’ Players Turn On Probst Over Controversial Comment

jeff probst survivor 44 episode 9 tribal council
Nick Davis

New comments from Jeff Probst about a contentious Survivor issue have some former contestants striking back.

The new era of Survivor has known its share of controversies. A lot of them come in the form of a disconnect between the fans and production. Many fans feel as though the makers of the show no longer understand what it is that fans like about Survivor. That lack of understanding is seen through the many new advantages, the 26-day seasons, and other unpopular changes. Recently, Jeff Probst took to his podcast On Fire with Jeff Probst to defend one of these new changes. The response to his comments has been more than a little negative.

Make Fire

Probst’s comments concern the new-era addition of a fire-making challenge at the final four rather than a vote to determine who moves on. The change first came in Season 35 and has stuck around ever since. It hasn’t been a particularly popular change, as many viewers on social media regularly express. However, it’s stuck around for nearly 10 seasons, nonetheless.

In Season 43, fan-favorite Jesse was sent home at the final four due to losing this fire-making challenge to Gabler. Jeff defends this on the podcast saying Jesse would have gone home even if there was a vote. His argument was that if Jesse went home due to being a threat either way, at least fire-making gives him a chance. It also results in his elimination being more “dramatic.” Several former players have given responses, airing their grievances with this.

survivor 44 episode 7 advantage
The “Control the Vote” advantage from Season 44, Episode 7

Adam Klein, the winner of Season 37, wrote: “This question/premise set up a total straw man argument that fits right into what Jeff already believes about fire-making. That we just want our favorites to win. People don’t hate fire-making simply because that was the mechanism that eliminated Jesse. We don’t like it regardless.”

Rafe Judkins, the third-place contestant on Season 11, wrote: “If Jesse plays a great game, he doesn’t go to Final 4 with people who vote him out for sure unless he wins immunity/fire challenge. An F4 vote encourages great players to bring other great players to the end who are also threats to win so you’re not the automatic vote.”

New Survivor

It’s clear that there’s still a gap between the fans’ expectations of how Survivor should work and the production’s understanding. At this point, it almost feels as if there’s a doubling down going on. A stubborn “Don’t tell us what to do” attitude toward viewers of Survivor that production is taking on as it receives more and more negative criticism for changes to the show. So who’s going to give first? If they wait until fans lose interest and move on to start making some necessary changes, those changes may come too late.

jeff probst survivor 44 episode 9 challenge
Jeff Probst in ‘Survivor’ 44, Episode 9

New episodes of Survivor Season 44 are premiering every Wednesday on CBS. Are you still a fan after all of these years?

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