Jeff Probst explains trash-talking the “Survivor 46 ”contestants before a challenge

Humble pie was then served.

Survivor 46 contestants were stunned on this week’s episode when someone had a few choice words before a challenge. And that someone was Jeff Probst.

The tribe of nine had self-separated into three teams of three for the contest, and when the host gazed upon the assembled groups, he had an immediate reaction when he saw Q Burdette, Liz Wilcox, and Venus Vafa together. “I'm going to put my Survivor fan hat on again and go out on a limb right now, Q, and say that you, Liz, and Venus are first out and have no shot.”

It was a somewhat shocking statement from the host, and when the taken aback team responded with, “Thanks for that vote of confidence. Jeff,” Probst told them, “Prove me wrong.”

While the move was certainly surprising, it is in line with the bolder Probst we have seen this season. Even the episode was titled “Spicy Jeff.” And it shows the host reverting to his old-school form when he would act more as the mouthpiece for the audience in front of the TV screen at home. “This is what everybody watching right now is thinking,” he told the team. “That’s what this game is. If we can’t say what we are seeing what’s the point in being out here?”

The host discussed his pre-challenge declaration on the latest episode of his On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast when asked about it by cohost Jay Wolff. “I'm always evolving,” says Probst on the podcast. “I wish I could tell you I had a specific approach to how I host Survivor, but I don't. The only two things I've stayed true to over 23 years is being myself and asking the questions that I think the audience is asking at home. So when you take the audience point of view as your point of view, it gives you a lot of room to roam because there is so much human behavior on display and so many decisions being made at any given moment.”

It’s also simply a case of Probst being Probst. “Then you merge that with just my own personality, which is endlessly curious, especially about why we behave the way we do —  then you see why this is the perfect job for me. I can't imagine being stimulated like I am on Survivor on another show.”

What made the trash talk even more interesting is that the host ended up being wrong. Q, Liz, and Venus were not the first team out, and before coming in second, they pushed eventual winners Charlie Davis, Hunter McKnight, and Maria Shrime Gonzalez to the limit. So how did Probst feel having to “eat that humble pie,” as Wolff calls it?

“I loved it,” Probst says on the podcast. “I have no problem being wrong. I'm wrong all the time. I just like being a part of the game. So when the players engage with me and laugh and banter, or they tell me a lie about something that's happening or that isn't happening, I like all that. I have no problem being wrong. That happens all the time. I just want to be involved. And in this case, I do think the audience was thinking what I was thinking, which is, ‘Ooh, they're going to have a tough go of it.’ They didn't win, but they certainly did a lot better than I thought they were going to do.”

And there’s no telling what Spicy Jeff might say next. To listen to Probst break down everything else that happened this week on Survivor 46 — including the host’s new custom made “butt cushion” — check out On Fire with Jeff Probst.

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