The Hostmaster General also explains why participation trophies are &34;the worst idea ever.&34; Survivor 49 host Jeff Probst calls first vote out 'clearly pers

The Hostmaster General also explains why participation trophies are "the worst idea ever."

Survivor 49 host Jeff Probst calls first vote out 'clearly personal'

The Hostmaster General also explains why participation trophies are "the worst idea ever."

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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September 24, 2025 10:00 p.m. ET

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Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

- ** spoke with Jeff Probst in Fiji just moments after the first *Survivor 49 *Tribal Council ended.

- The host and showrunner shares if he thinks the Kele tribe will continue to get steamrolled.

- How does he feel about players now referring to him as Uncle Jeff? It's better than the alternative!

*Survivor 49* has claimed its first victim. The two-hour premiere ended with a torch snuffing, and while there was a lot of talk (that did not make it to air) at the Tribal Council about how voting would not be personal, it certainly appeared to feel that way to Nicole Mazullo when she was unanimously voted out by her Kele tribe.

** was at that Tribal Council and spoke to host Jeff Probst just minutes after the Tribal Council ended about what went down there and elsewhere during the first three days of the game. You can watch or read the entire interview below.

**: Alright, Jeff. Tribal Council ended just minutes ago. What did you see in there?**

**JEFF PROBST:** Dalton Ross, season 49. We've been doing this together a long time. What did I see? Well, here's what I thought I saw at first. The vibe I had these first three days was a little tentative. I thought maybe they're not sure. But that's not what I saw at Tribal Council tonight.

All six of them thought they were in on it. One of them were clearly not in on it. Nicole was blindsided. You could tell. She didn't even say anything on her way out. Despite all the conversation we had about whether this first vote would be personal or not, it was clearly personal. How can it not be personal?

Even though it's a game, you're saying to somebody, "Of all the people here, you're the first person that we're gonna choose to get rid of." Whatever the criteria, it still hurts. That's why I'm always in awe of people who come play *Survivor*, because it's incredibly vulnerable.

**It was fascinating how they said it wasn't personal. And that when she got voted out, I noticed she didn't say anything to them. They didn't say anything to her. No hugs, no high fives, nothing.**

Nothing. When I read the third Nicole vote, she dropped her head and she knew it was over. And that was the last time I saw her eyes. She was down the whole time. And I think that's the one thing that's the hardest thing to grasp, probably if you're just watching *Survivor*, is how real that is that they wrote your name down and said, "Of all the people here, you're the one we want gone."

Jeremiah Ing, Nicole Mazullo, and Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Is that the beauty of the Shot in the Dark? (Which is my favorite new-era twist). In the old days this might've been like, "Hey, we'll tell this person they're gone. They can't do anything." And then you don't have the blindside.**

That was the whole purpose of the Shot in the Dark. It was "We're gonna make it a lot harder to tell people they're going home because we're gonna give them this." That was always in my head. I kept saying to [exec producer Matt Van Wagenen], "I have this idea. It's a bag I have at Tribal Council and it's unpredictable, but could change the game at any moment." And then when we got to the new era, that bag became the Shot in the Dark. And I agree with you, that single format change changes everything.

**They are zero for three, last in three different competitions, but they're only down one member. So I guess the question is: What's your instinct at this point? Is this the next Vula, or are they going to rebound and get their footing?**

You know, I don't ever look at the history and say, "Oh, they're kind of like this tribe." Because I've never really found that to be true. They may lose the same number of times as another tribe, but every tribe is so unique. I actually think without this being disrespectful to Nicole, I think that vote might help them. I think they needed some unity on some level. And now they've had a common person they could put their energy on, which was voting out Nicole. Now they can all go back and say, "Okay, we're the five now." So I'm optimistic for the next challenge for Kele.

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**You gave a little comment during the break as you were getting ready for voting to let the first person out know that, "Hey, you know, it's got to be someone. And we loved having you out here and we don't like to see you go." It's a nice message and something that I guess you feel in terms of all your competitors out here.**

I think it's pretty clear if you're a fan of *Survivor* in the new era, I'm very positive. I'm optimistic. The show is hard enough. You just saw what happened to Nicole. That's personal. So I like to be at least able to say, "Hey, it is just a game. We feel bad for anybody who gets voted out."

But here's the thing, Dalton. What I also said was, "Without the vote out, what's the point of playing?" It's like the participation trophy. Worst idea ever. Who cares that I got a trophy because I showed up? I want a trophy because I won. So to win *Survivor*, you got to make sure this thing stays burning [points to torch next to him]. Nicole's done, she's out. 17 other people are now fighting for that title of Sole Survivor and a million dollars.

'Survivor 49' host Jeff Probst.

Robert Voets/CBS

**You've had alternates come in last minute before. Austin recently in [season] 45 made it all the way to the end. This is your first time ever that two alternates got into the game last minute. And not only do they get in the game, they're on a kick-ass tribe and they're in the hero positions.**

Yeah, It's pretty amazing. *Survivor* is this living, breathing organism always. And we bring alternates out in case we need them. We don't usually need them, but we have them in case we do. And we did this time. And so Jason and MC find out literally 10 hours before they had to get up that they were going to be playing.

I thought it was pretty interesting that in the very first challenge, Jason put himself in that puzzle spot, and they won it. And they looked to their tribe and were able to say, "We're not alternates, we're players in this game." Jason did it again at the Immunity challenge. He won again. They're off to a good start. It's a great story.

Jeff Probst and the cast of 'Survivor 49'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**I've noticed multiple players calling you Uncle Jeffrey. How do you feel about that?**

I don't know where that came from. I think that's just a coincidence this season. But it's better than granddad! I mean, I was called a granddad by Dee after she won, and we're here at the after show and she said to me, "Jeff, this is really surreal. I grew up with you. You were like a father figure. I mean, now it's more like a granddad." Yeah, so I'll take Uncle Jeff all day.

**This Tribal Council set is unreal. Just tell me a little bit about what production designer Zac Jensen did here.**

Zac Jensen designed one of the coolest Tribals we've ever had. We have done shipwrecks before. We have never done a shipwreck like this. This is 150-foot two-scale ship. And what was really cool about Zac's idea is he said it came together when he realized "I'm gonna put the rock that it crashed into on Tribal." So this rock right here is where the boat hit and split. And then you have all the remnants, you have all the gold and everything the pirates had stolen.

You also had them trying to get a life here on this island. We have a great little scene where as you walk up to vote, the captain of the boat was killed by being stabbed in the back. And there was somebody that Zac said tried to take over the boat from the captain and *they* died. So if you try to break your alliance, these are just little scenes out here to remind you what it's all about. But the idea with Tribal is you really do want the player to feel completely immersed. And I can tell you, even now standing here right now, you forget it's a set you really do because it is so awe inspiring.

**Would you call it stupendous?**

I would say this set is, if I could put it just in a sentence, a stupendous and behemoth shipwreck set for *Survivor 49*.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity. *

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