Every Survivor fan who is past the point of figuring out which seasons to watch first will know how much the show has changed. Fans of Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show who can identify the first player to be medically evacuated realize how big of a difference some of those changes have made. In fact, some of those changes have helped the show’s best players compete in great seasons, and stand out as fantastic winners.
Throughout Survivor’s history, several celebrities have played the game, including Mike White, who went on to create The White Lotus. After the Hollywood heavyweight played the game, Jeff credited Mike with making a specific change to the popular reality show.
Why Survivor Fans And Jeff Probst Should Be Thankful To Mike White
Throughout the history of Survivor, the show has introduced many twists that fans love because they make the show much more interesting. Some of the best examples of that are the immunity idols and tribe swaps.
However, there have also been too many twists that fans absolutely can’t stand. Worse yet, some of those twists that fans were completely against appeared during more than one of the reality show’s seasons.
One unpopular Survivor twist that appeared during several seasons is Redemption Island. As it turns out, Jeff Probst once credited Mike White with being responsible for Redemption Island being retired.
For those that don’t know, Redemption Island allows players who’ve been voted out to earn their way back into the game. After most tribal councils, the players compete in a challenge to remain on Redemption Island or leave the game. At two points in the game, the player remaining on Redemption Island is allowed to re-enter the game.
Survivor’s Best and Worst Twists, According to Entertainment Weekly | |
|---|---|
Survivor Twist | Best or Worst |
Hidden Immunity Idols | Best |
The Fake Merge | Best |
The Mutiny | Best |
The Idol Nullifier | Best |
Juror Removal | Best |
The Medallion of Power | Worst |
The Outcasts/Redemption Island/Edge of Extinction | Worst |
Dividing the Tribes by Ethnicity | Worst |
The Haves vs. Have Nots | Worst |
Final Four Fire-Making Challenge | Worst |
In November 2014, Jeff spoke to Entertainment Weekly about Survivor: San Juan del Sur — Blood vs. Water. During that conversation, Jeff confirmed that the Redemption Island twist was set to be part of that season until Mike convinced him to go a different direction.
Related
Survivor Winner Natalie White Completely Disappeared According To Her Former Tribemate And Friend
Survivor winner Natalie White, who notoriously beat Russell Hantz, has completely disappeared and distanced herself from her former tribemate.
While talking to Entertainment Weekly, Jeff revealed that before the season was filmed, he told Mike about the plans for it.
Three Survivor seasons have featured the Redemption Island twist, Survivor: Redemption Island, Survivor: South Pacific, and Survivor: Blood vs. Water.
As Jeff explained, Mike reacted negatively when he learned that Redemption Island was set to return.
“I confided in him about the basic creative for the Blood vs. Water season and when I mentioned Redemption Island coming back he had a very lackluster response — ‘Oh, you’re doing Redemption again?’”
As Jeff went on to explain, there had been debates behind-the-scenes about whether to bring Redemption Island back. Still, the decision had been made to include the twist during Survivor: San Juan del Sur — Blood vs. Water.
During an episode of “On Fire With Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast” that can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Jeff Probst addressed Survivor’s controversial twists. During that episode, Jeff stated that the Redemption Island twist it retired.
As Jeff explained to Entertainment Weekly, however, there was something about Mike’s disappointed reaction to the twist returning that changed his mind.
“The words hit me like a stray, leftover Medallion of Power right between the eyes. We had debated Redemption Island during our Survivor creative meetings and for some reason hearing him say it at that moment tipped the scale.”
After convincing Jeff not to bring back Redemption Island, Mike continued to affect Survivor.
Related
Survivor 47’s Kyle Ostwald Revealed The Amazing Reason He Voted For Sam Phalen To Win
Survivor 47’s Kyle Ostwald revealed the amazing reason why he voted for Sam Phalen to win and stopped Rachel LaMont from getting every jury vote.
In 2018, Mike affected Jeff Probst’s reality show, but that time it was as a player. During Survivor: David vs. Goliath, Mike White competed, and he began the season as a member of the Goliath tribe.
Already a successful filmmaker by the time he played Survivor, although Mike created The White Lotus later, that was why he was on the Goliath tribe. Mike also enjoyed a lot of success as a player as he became the runner-up during Survivor: David vs. Goliath.
Jeff later made it abundantly clear again that he greatly respects Mike’s opinions and abilities. During a September 2024 episode of “On Fire With Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast” that can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Jeff expressed openness to working with Mike. However, Jeff explained that he would only hire Mike to work on Survivor in a specific circumstance.
“If after Mike White completes what we all hope will be a decades-long run of White Lotus, he said, ‘Hey, Probst. I’d be interested in being a producer on the show.’ And we happen to have a producing slot that we were looking to fill, and there wasn’t anybody already in our producing ranks who was in line, which is also very unlikely that that would happen. Then in that specific situation, who knows? Mike White could join the producing ranks of Survivor.”
In September 2018, Entertainment Weekly spoke to Mike White about his relationship with Jeff Probst. During that conversation, Mike was asked about his role in getting rid of Redemption Island.
Related
Exclusive: The Traitors And Big Brother Star Danielle Reyes Reveals Why Her Survivor Audition Flopped
Before Danielle Reyes became a Big Brother icon and played The Traitors, her Survivor audition utterly failed.
When he was asked about the unpopular twist, Mike took credit for getting Jeff to cancel plans to bring Redemption Island back. Furthermore, Mike explained why he had such a negative reaction to the idea of Redemption Island returning.
“I take the credit. I’ve never been a fan of Redemption Island. That’s just me. I love the show. I’ll watch the worst season of the show and it is still the best season of TV for me. It’s the ritual killing aspect of Survivor where the stakes at the end are that someone’s dead. The idea that they can come back to life just feels like it takes that away. I think there’s a primal, ritualistic, killing thing that is part of the pleasure of the game, and I think that that kind of undermined it.”
During the same conversation, Mike also told Entertainment Weekly that he isn’t as close to Jeff as the Survivor host’s anecdote may make it seem.
“Well, the truth is I have met Jeff socially over the years. But it’s kind of like… I don’t want to insult him, but it’s not like we are close friends. I’m a super fan, like the way a super fan would come up to him.”
As a result, Mike admitted that Jeff was an intimidating presence when he got the chance to play Survivor. “In the moment when you’re on the beach, it’s like Jeff Probst! In those moments, he looms as this figurehead deity. So like all the other contestants, you want Jeff to like you. You want to come through for Jeff and I was exactly the same. I was like, ‘I want Jeff to be happy that I’m on the show. I want to be a good contestant.’”
Survivor
- Release Date
-
May 31, 2000
- Network
-
CBS
- Showrunner
-
Jeff Probst
- Directors
-
Jeff Probst
- Writers
-
Jeff Probst
