Season 49 of Survivor hadn’t even began when chaos broke out behind the scenes. Host Jeff Probst simply revealed the shocking cause two gamers had been eliminated proper earlier than the cameras began rolling.
“Within the days main as much as the start of the sport, all of the gamers are collectively,” Probst shared on the September 24 episode of his “On Fireplace with Jeff Probst” podcast. “They’re at a spot we name Ponderosa. So you’ve got your whole rivals, however you’re not allowed to speak.”
In fact, as Probst defined, the principles are strict for a cause. “That’s why now we have so many handlers there to ensure no one’s speaking,” he continued. “You possibly can clearly take a look at one another, you may attempt to make eye contact. Which may give you the results you want, it may not.”
Whereas castaways can jot down their early “assessments” of rivals, precise dialog is totally forbidden. “The one factor is, now we have guidelines,” Probst emphasised. “The foundations are you can’t discuss to one another, for apparent causes. And on this season, season 49, we had two gamers who had been disrespecting that rule. They only stored speaking.”
In keeping with the Emmy-winning host, the state of affairs escalated rapidly. Probst stated he acquired a name noting “a stage of concern” over the contestants’ conduct, prompting producers to provide the pair a “stern warning.”
However issues solely acquired worse. “I went and met with our government group and stated, ‘Look, we’d have a state of affairs,’” Probst recalled. “Earlier than we may even end our dialogue, I acquired a second cellphone name saying that the extent of disrespect had reached an much more blatant stage.”
At that time, there was no turning again. “That was all it took,” he revealed. “Candidly, the choice was made in that second to right away take away these two gamers from the sport and exchange them with our alternates.”
The sudden shakeup introduced in Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu as replacements — a twist that, surprisingly, the remainder of the solid supported.
“What actually occurred was the gamers, as soon as they had been capable of discuss, they thanked our producers,” Probst shared. “As a result of they stated, ‘We had been all conscious that this was occurring. And it felt like dishonest. Like there was a bonus being had.’ And now they’re within the state of affairs of: Ought to I do this as effectively?”
Although unprecedented, Probst made it clear that the transfer was crucial. “It ought to be clear to future gamers, though I doubt it will ever occur once more, to simply know we is not going to hesitate to tug you from the sport,” he warned. “It doesn’t matter how a lot time or cash we’ve invested in you.”
As he put it finest: “We worth the integrity of the sport greater than something.”
