In his first-ever ‘Survivor’ challenge, host Jeff Probst gives shout-out to Kansas
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jeff Probst competed in a Survivor challenge for the first time in the series.
- Probst surprised remaining 11 contestants during the endurance challenge "Wrist Assured.”
- Each player held a handle supporting a bucket with 25% of their pre-game body weight.
Jeff Probst has hosted “Survivor” since it debuted in May 2000. And in 50 seasons of trash-talking contestants as they struggled through excruciating physical challenges, he never lost any sweat of his own — until the episode that aired Wednesday night.
For the first time in the series’ history, Probst, 64, competed in one of the show’s immunity challenges — and gave a shout-out to the “great state of Kansas” as he struggled to survive it.
He surprised the remaining 11 contestants on “Survivor 50” as they prepared to compete in an endurance challenge called “Wrist Assured.”
Each had to hold onto a handle attached to a rope holding up a bucket containing weight equal to 25% of their pre-game body weight. When the bucket dropped to the ground, they were out.
But Probst proposed a surprise side-bet before they began.
“Typically this is where I come over and I reveal a bag of rice and I tell you that I’m gonna need maybe five players to voluntarily sit out of this challenge, give up your shot at immunity in exchange for enough rice to last the rest of the season,” he told them.
But fans voted to see the castaways do more than sit on the sidelines to earn the rice, he said.
“So I have a different idea because I, too, am a fan of ‘Survivor.’ So I have an idea I’d like to put into the game,” he said.
He said he would put the rice back into the game if five contestants would make a side-bet with him, “because I’m running today’s challenge.”
Someone yelled, “are you serious?”
“If you want to earn your rice you’re gonna do it by outlasting me,” he said.
After some negotiating, four contestants — Ozzy, Joe, Tiffany and Jonathan — took the bet.
“This historic ‘Survivor’challenge is on,” Probst said as he got into position. “And I will admit it is much heavier than I thought.
“I also need to admit one other thing: This was Jimmy Fallon’s idea.”
He said the late-night host polled his audience, asking if anyone wanted to ever see Probst participate as a player. “It was 90%,” Probst said. “Thanks, Jimmy. That’s why we’re out here.”
He started trash-talking the castaways, who jabbed back as Probst struggled to hold the bucket in the air, grimacing and readjusting his grip.
“I deserve all of this, 25 years of trash-talking,” he laughed as a montage ran of him insulting contestants over the years.
“What is with this challenge? Who made this challenge? This is barbaric,” he griped. “God, I’m letting my whole crew down right now.”
Then he launched into a quick litany of people he was competing for.
“This is for Akilia who does all our laundry. The great state of Kansas,” he shouted.
“Fiji Airways for flying you all here. Zak Brown for coming out. For coach Ralston, little league baseball. My mom, the biggest fan in ‘Survivor’ history.”
Probst was born in Wichita and lived there with his family - enjoying Sunday dinners at The Lazy R restaurant with his grandmother — until his early teen years, when his family moved to Washington state.
“I’ve lived in Seattle, New York and Los Angeles and traveled all over the world with ‘Survivor,’ but there is nowhere else I would have rather grown up than Wichita, Kansas,” he once said.
“I had great friendships. I made great memories, and I was raised with strong values. I choose to believe those early years gave me the foundation I would later need to withstand the challenges of Hollywood.”
In the end he dropped the bucket and lost the bet.
“We eating tonight, y’all!” Tiffany shouted.
“Wow, I bow down,” Probst said. “I will never talk the same kind of trash again. Until next season.”
“How many minutes was I up?” he asked.
Seven and a half minutes.
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