Shock Reveal! Jeff Probst Confesses to Deliberately Leaking Fake ‘Survivor’ Spoilers in Interviews

The game of cat and mouse extends off the island.

Robert Voets/CBS Jeff Probst on ‘Survivor 49’© Robert Voets/CBS

Survivor is an incredibly cutthroat game built on deception. And apparently that deception does not just take place out on the island. Nor is it contained to the players.

This news comes courtesy of host and showrunner Jeff Probst, who reveals that he has actually taken part in some Survivor subterfuge of his own. Not only that, but he has done it at the expense of — GULP! — Survivor reporters like myself.

All of this came to light on the latest episode of the On Fire with Jeff Prosbt podcast after the host was asked by a fan named Kayla if it was difficult to keep information secret, and if he had ever slipped up and revealed something by accident.

“I used to get this question all the time in interviews,” Probst answers on the podcast. “And on occasion, I would have fun, and at some point in the interview, I would pretend that I just said something I shouldn’t have.”

Wait, it gets even more insidious as the walking, talking house of lies would not just verbally mislead his poor intrepid interviewer, but also throw in some misleading visual cues as well. “I would let my eyeballs kind of roll around in my head, and I could see the reporter catching it,” Probst continues. “And they would say like, ‘Wait a minute, I think he just gave… did you just give something away? Probst, I think you just gave something away. I saw you roll your eyes!’”

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You might think at this point that the host would then come clean and reveal his ruse, but apparently that is not how you do it on Survivor. Instead, Probst would actually double down. “And then I would linger for a minute and then kind of look at him and say, ‘Did I?’”

For Probst, part of the fun of this clearly insidious game is to mirror what happens on the show. On Survivor, you never truly know what is real, and that includes the way producers are constantly trying to throw twists at contestants to keep them off balance. It seems the host likes extending that confusion to journalists: “I would always say, ‘I could tell you right now who the winner is, and because of the nature of the show and my personality on the show, you wouldn’t know if I was telling you the truth anyway.’”

As to whether he has ever accidentally spoiled anything, Probst answers that, “I don’t recall ever spoiling it, and I used to have to work hard at it and think very hard. Now it’s so drilled into my head.”

Of course, he still has to do a little mental calculation any time he is approached by someone to chat about the show. “Still, when I meet a fan on the street, I have to remember what episode they’ve seen, because we’ve edited ahead so I know who has been voted out.”

His strategy in such circumstances? “I tend say less and let them lead me, and then I respond to their question.”

Whether that response is genuine is now anybody’s guess.