Since Survivor is widely considered to be one of the best reality shows ever, many people have learned a lot about Jeff Probst’s show. For example, many Survivor fans who are no longer worried about which seasons to watch first know things like who the first person to be medically evacuated was. Those same fans also know who the best Survivor players are and that some seasons are better than others.
Since Survivor’s fans are so invested in the show, they are always trying to learn more about it. Still, many Survivor fans were taken aback when Jeff Probst revealed that the official podcast changed the show.
How Jeff Probst’s Official Podcast Changed Survivor 47
In the so-called “new era” of Survivor, some of the show’s fans have had complaints about how the show has changed. However, there is one change that nobody who likes Survivor and podcasts should be complaining about.
The same night that Survivor 44’s first episode aired, the first episode of the official podcast premiered. The podcast, which is titled “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast,” is hosted by Jeff Probst, Jay Wolff, and a Survivor player.
After the third season of Survivor 47 aired, another episode of “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast” was released. That episode revealed that the podcast actually made a difference during the third episode of Survivor 47.
During the third episode of Survivor 47, fans saw something that is very rare for the show. Before a challenge commenced, the tribes were shown debating who would perform each role.
Great Survivor Podcasts According To Screen Rant | |
|---|---|
Podcast | Host |
“Rob Has A Podcast” (From the RHAP network) | Rob Cesternino |
“Survivor Know-It-Alls’ (From the RHAP network) | Rob Cesternino & Stephen Fishbach |
“Purple Pants Podcast” (From the RHAP network) | Brice Izyah |
“The Pod Has Spoken” | Tyson Apostol & Riley McAtee |
“Survivor Specialists“ | Alexa Dexter & Phil Wood |
“Silent Podcasts” | Gia Worthy & Isaiah Goins |
“Survivor NSFW” | Jonny Fairplay & Matt Bischoff |
“The Purple Rock Survivor Podcast” | Andy & John |
“Survivor Fans Podcast” | Jo Ann and Stacy |
After Survivor 47’s third episode aired, it was revealed that the moment before the challenge was inspired by the official podcast.
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While discussing the challenge moment during the podcast, Jay Wolff played part of a conversation he had with Dee Valladares when Survivor 46 was airing. The podcast episode the conversation stemmed from originally aired months earlier during Survivor 46.
During
Survivor 44
and
Survivor 45
, Rick Devens was the third co-host of “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast.”
Survivor 46’s
third co-host was Dee Valladares and
Survivor 47’s
podcast season features Charlie Davis.
While Jay and Dee were talking about Survivor 46, she described how chaotic it can be before a team challenge begins. Dee also stated that she believed showing fans how crazy things get before a challenge would be entertaining.
“Oh my goodness. It’s complete chaos… I think it’d be interesting to show us talking about it, strategizing, because we’re just going back and forth.”
Dee then went on to tell Jeff, Jay, and the listeners of the podcast how important that chaos can be.
After winning
Survivor 45
and co-hosting the third season of the official podcast, Dee Valladares has grown a large following on social media. For example, Dee had more than 108,000 followers on her
Instagram
account alone as of October 2024.
After all, Dee explained that the decisions that happen in that chaos can decide whether a team loses or wins the challenge. “We are fighting with each other because maybe someone wants to put me in a puzzle, but I suck at puzzles, so I’m not gonna be the reason why my tribe loses. Then we hear Jeff saying you’ve got 30 seconds, and we still haven’t decided who’s going in what part of the challenge. So it is chaotic, and the strategizing moment can really decide whether or not your tribe loses.”
In response to Dee’s comments, Jeff told her that he would look into the possibility of showing those moments. “I’m hearing you that it’s something we should look at.” After that comment, the flashback from the previous season of the podcast ended.
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Jay Wolff could then be heard bluntly asking Jeff Probst if showing the pre-debate challenge was inspired by Dee’s comment.
As the host of
Survivor
and the show’s executive producer, Jeff Probst has often revealed how open he is to people who suggest ways to improve the show. For example, Jeff memorably listened to Ricard Foyé, who argued Jeff shouldn’t call the tribes “guys” anymore, as an article from
USA Today
chronicled.
Without missing a beat, Jeff confirmed that he pushed to show fans that moment because of what Dee previously said on the podcast.
“Absolutely. And, look, I wanna be clear. It’s not that as a team, we’ve not talked about showing strategy before. We have. But when you asked Dee and I heard it from a player point of view, it did light a fire under me.”
Jeff described to Jay what happened after Dee inspired him to push to show the tribes’ pre-challenge debates.
“So I called Matt Van Wagonen and said, ‘Let’s just look for an opportunity next season where the strategy discussion of one tribe actually plays out in the challenge, and it has a direct impact on the result, either positive or negative. And then let’s try it in the episode. Let’s see how it feels. And then when we are getting the episode to time, let’s see if we have enough time to include it.’ And so that’s what happened, and I agree. It’s great. And that is directly related to you asking Dee and me being always curious about how to make the show better.”
If that wasn’t interesting enough, Jeff then explained that something Charlie Davis said as the podcast’s co-host was likely to change the show in the future. “Charlie’s already given me a couple of nods this season for things to either look at or adjust. Like, Charlie, you said in a previous episode, an idol that’s only good for one tribal is not as dangerous. Okay. That’s a problem. So I like that this podcast is also going to influence Survivor.”
Survivor’s Official Podcast May Also Be Affecting The Players
A week before Jeff Probst confirmed that the official Survivor podcast changed the game, one of the players also broke new ground. During the second episode of Survivor 47, the season’s most unique player stated that he wanted to co-host the official podcast.
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From the moment that he first appeared on camera, it was abundantly clear that Rome Cooney had a huge personality. As a result, much of the early part of Survivor 47 has revolved around Rome.
During one of those moments that revolved around him, Rome stated that he wanted to become one of the co-hosts of “On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast.” The moment that Rome made that proclamation can be seen in a TikTok video.
Considering that Rome brought up the potential of co-hosting the official podcast, it makes sense to assume his behavior on the show may have been affected.
Before playing
Survivor
, Rome Cooney worked as an e-sports commentator, which he felt qualified him to co-host the podcast. While that is a valid argument, the moment Rome made that comment was unintentionally funny. The reason for that is Rome argued his background made him a good choice while talking to Aysha Welch, who he didn’t know was already a reality TV podcaster.
If Rome saw his Survivor tenure as an opportunity to show off that he would be good on the show, even if he only thought about that a little, that could change his behavior. That said, Rome also seems to genuinely have a massive personality, so it seems unlikely that he would have been that different if the podcast didn’t exist.
In this long-running reality competition show, sixteen people are split into two tribes and must survive off the land in various rural locales. Each week, they compete in challenges for resources, luxuries, or immunity — and each week, one person is voted out by their teammates, losing their chance at being the sole Survivor.
- Release Date
- May 31, 2000
- Cast
- Jeff Probst
- Seasons
- 47
- Network
- CBS
- Showrunner
- Jeff Probst
