Jeff Probst has been the heart and soul of Survivor since its premiere in 2000. He has continued to host the show throughout these two decades. So much so that he was even appointed the executive producer, and later the showrunner of the reality show. After this, he started molding Survivor in a new manner and even added some of his elements and ideas.
One such idea of his, even though interesting, didn’t go down well with the fans. However, the television personality has his own reasoning for the same.
Jeff Probst’s Controversial Survivor Rule That Fans Dislike
Survivor can easily be one of the most grueling and challenging reality shows out there. But despite this, it has managed to gain a very loyal fan following throughout the years. It presented a unique concept of how certain individuals are isolated on an island and have to perform several tasks and challenges in order to survive and continue amidst the element of elimination.
With the show, Jeff Probst has also entertained the viewers throughout these years with his amazing presentation skills. But things started changing after 2010, when he took over the showrunner title of the show. Soon, Probst started adding several other elements to the reality show to make it more appealing to the public.
For instance, initially, participants are left stranded on an island for 39 days. While this continued for the initial 40 seasons, things changed in the 41st season when a 26-day cycle was announced. Not only this but the initial food supply given to contestants was also taken away.
Probst also introduced a new rule that the losing tribe loses their fire-making flint after each immunity challenge. On the same rule, he added via The Things and said:
I [love] keeping their flint not because I love inflicting pain. [I do it] because it’s a consequence. And Survivor has a lot of consequences. The biggest one is you get voted out, and your game is over. So you lose an Immunity [Challenge], you lose a player, you lose your flint, you lose your morale. Suddenly, you’re hungrier. And it just makes a moment when you do win so satisfying.
Probst implemented this concept to bring more depth and creativity to the show. However, it didn’t go down well with the fans online who from the get-go claimed that this rule was completely unnecessary. These remarks have made their way to the host as well.
But he remains adamant on bringing out new and unique challenges for the players and also constantly reminding them that in the game of Survivor, the stakes are quite high where every misstep might get them eliminated from the show.
Jeff Probst Advises Against Watching All Survivor Seasons in Order
Survivor has been on CBS screens for many years now, with several seasons for fans to binge-watch. While this is great for the show’s admirers, watching forty-plus seasons is no easy task. This was the main question of one fan who asked Jeff Probst during a podcast episode how to watch the show.
The fan also inquired if they should watch the show chronologically or if Probst would recommend something else. To this, the host answered:
I love this question, because I get it a lot when I meet families where they maybe have a 7 or 8-year-old who’s just discovering Survivor. (Further) I would absolutely not watch in order. I can’t imagine anything so ponderous. I’d go online and I would just look for fan suggestions and follow them.
Instead of starting with the very first season, Probst suggests exploring fan recommendations online. He highlights notable seasons and players, such as Heroes vs. Villains, David vs. Goliath, and contestants like Russell Hantz, Tony Vlachos, Coach Wade, Parvati Shallow, Sarah Lacina, and Boston Rob.
Probst recommends focusing on dynamic players first, which can lead viewers to discover important earlier seasons later. For instance, watching a standout player’s seasons first provides context and makes older seasons like Marquesas more meaningful.
You can watch all the seasons of Survivor on Hulu.
