If Wednesday’s two-hour premiere of Survivor 47 left you stunned, you’re not alone. Long-time host Jeff Probst said that he was shocked to see who went home during the first episode. The showrunner revealed his thoughts during a recent episode of the “On Fire With Jeff Probst” podcast. Here is what he had to say.
Jeff Probst ‘Shocked’ By Survivor Premiere Outcome
During the first episode of Season 47 of Survivor, it seemed pretty clear who would be going home. It appeared that Andy Rueda made plenty of enemies in a short amount of time.
Andy, an AI research assistant from Brooklyn, suffered from heat exhaustion during the challenge. Then he wound up calling out the other people in the tribe for not liking him and went on to throw his last ally under the bus. Somehow, he wasn’t voted out though.
The entire tribe made a unanimous vote to get rid of Jon Lovett, a celebrity podcaster. Jeff Probst admitted that the vote stunned him.
“Based on how things were after the challenge, I was shocked,” Jeff revealed on the podcast. “I thought Andy was done and he seemed to be a massive liability for all the reasons we’ve been talking about.”
Jeff confessed that he was already feeling bad for Andy prior to the vote. “I was actually kind of sad as Andy walked off, because I wanted him to get everything he wanted out of this experience, and it didn’t seem like it was going to happen,” he said.
Jeff Favored Jon Lovett Ass Someone Who Could Win
Although he was shocked by the vote initially, the Survivor host said he could see the logic in it. “In hindsight, Jon is obviously a very bright guy, and he’s a tremendous storyteller,” Jeff said.
“And so it really should never be a surprise that people like Sam might pick up on this idea and decide, ‘You know what? Andy could actually be more valuable because of what happened, and Jon will be a massive threat because of who he is. So maybe the move right now in episode 1 is to take out somebody we all believe could win this game.’ And I think that’s what they did,” the host concluded.
Fans were likely surprised by the decision to vote Jon Lovett out as well. Days before the season premiere aired, Jeff Probst described him as one of the best storytellers to ever appear in the Survivor franchise. He’s already gone.
Jeff Probst talked about his first impressions of Jon. “I wrote, ‘He’s amazing, very compelling, incredible storyteller. He will be great. Yes, he should be on the show,’” he recalled. “And then as we continued to talk more in future conversations, I wrote, ‘He does overthink things. This could cause decision-making issues.’ And then after another interview, I wrote, ‘He should and could go very deep. He’s so smart. What would stop him?’”
Unfortunately, Jon’s time on Survivor was short-lived. To see who is voted off next, you’ll have to tune in.
New episodes of Survivor air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.
Amanda Blankenship is an overcaffeinated wife and mother. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her watching reality TV or a good, juicy drama series.