Jeff Probst lived to tell this story.
The longtime host revealed what ruined the outcome of the all-important challenge during Wednesday’s live “Survivor 50” finale.
During the three-hour broadcast, Probst incorrectly announced before the broadcast that contestant Rizo Verovich had lost the fire-starting challenge and was the final juror.
“What’s happening when you’re doing the finale of ‘Survivor’ is you’re running the show, the episode, and you’re doing these live hits where I come out and talk to one of these players. I’m not watching the show,” Probst elaborated on Thursday’s “CBS Mornings.”
Probst, 64, said he was “preparing behind the scenes” to tease Velovich about his loss.
“‘If he was practicing starting fires,'” he told host Gayle King about the ribs. “So here we are. The stage is ready and there’s an empty seat for Lizzo. I don’t think anything will go wrong.”
The dynamics in the crowd quickly changed as Probst talked about Velovich’s loss and jury seat.
“It wasn’t until I started talking to Lizzo about losing the fire. I’m telling you, there were 1,200 people here, so I felt the energy coming from all those emojis (😱).”
But Probst didn’t understand.
“I don’t know yet,” he continued. “We have a big team and mistakes are going to happen. We just got ahead of ourselves and none of us saw it coming.”
“Rizzo said to us afterward, ‘I don’t understand why he would put me on a jury when I was standing right next to you, and I haven’t even lost!’ But… it’s live!” Probst joked.
Ms King, 71, praised her fellow TV presenter for handling the situation “very brilliantly” and said she was “taking notes”.
“If that happened to me, I’m going to do what he did,” King added.
CBS (via Getty Images)
After the fire, contestants who were on stage with him explained that “the fire hasn’t happened yet.”
“I don’t even know what happened,” the Emmy Award-winning host said before the show went into a commercial break.
When the finale returned to air, Probst told the audience: “In case you’re confused, this is what happened. We were going to show firestarters and then have Lizzo, the firestarter loser, come out and talk about how she could have won if she had practiced firestarting.”
But he spun the moment perfectly, calling it the “Survivor” twist.
“This is the final twist of the season,” said Probst, who has hosted the reality series since its inception in 2000. “We’re calling this a ‘peek into the future.’ So now we’re going to watch Rizzo lose by fire to Jonathan (Young).”
A pre-taped segment showed Belovicz losing a challenge to ignite the 33-year-old Young in the Final Four.
On Thursday, Velovic spoke about this viral moment.
“I was so confused,” he told People. “Jeff wanted to give me a chance, which was great, but I’m getting given a chance before the disaster of back-to-back losses.”
Velovich said he is “trying to be a pro” at the moment, but hopes Probst “senses” what the problem is.
Afterwards, Probst thanked Velovic for being a “great sport.”
“Survivor 50” ended with Aubrey Bracco defeating Young Hunter and Joe Hunter by an 8-3-0 jury vote.
The New Hampshire native won $2 million.
Bracco, 40, finished second in Season 32 in 2016 before returning for Seasons 34 and 38.
“It was very special,” Bracco enthused to Entertainment Weekly about finally winning the grand prize. “I felt the love. It’s been 10 years. It’s been quite a journey. I’m truly blessed.”
“Survivor 51” premieres on CBS in September.
