Survivor 47 host Jeff Probst says he's 'not a pushover'
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Did the host let the Gata tribe off too easy with an egg exchange? Probst says no.
By Dalton Ross
Jeff Probst laid an egg on this week's episode of Survivor 47. Oh, we kid! The problem, actually, is that not enough eggs were being laid, leading to a negotiation in which the host appeared to let some players off easy.
Probst welcomed the three teams into this week's immunity challenge only to see that the Gata tribe brought the three chickens they had won at an earlier challenge with them. It turns out the hens weren't laying many eggs, and one of the contestants, Sierra Wright, would not let her tribemates kill and eat the chickens. So they brought the chickens back and asked if they could swap them for some eggs.
After some quick back-and-forth negotiations, the two sides struck a deal for 18 eggs in return — which seemed like a more than generous offer, seeing as how the tribe did not even want the chickens to begin with. The host and showrunner discussed the exchange on the latest episode of the On Fire With Jeff Probst podcast.
'Survivor 47' host Jeff Probst
'Survivor 47' host Jeff Probst. Robert Voets/CBS
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"It surprised me in that we've never had anyone return chickens,” Probst says on the podcast. "That was a shocker. But it's a great reminder of why every season of Survivor is unique, because of the group dynamic. You have people from so many different walks of life, approaches to life, different value systems, different priorities. You can never predict what will happen in any given situation when you have multiple people with multiple opinions."
Probst also gives some insight into his side of the bargain. "The thought process for me on a negotiation is really pretty simple," he says. "I just asked myself: If I am at home watching right now and I'm doing my best to just be objectively fair in that moment within the spirit of what Survivor is about, is this offer a fair one, and not just for this tribe but for the other tribe or tribes as well? And the question always in the back of your mind is: Are we going to set a precedent that could come back to haunt us? So you're making that decision in real time."
Probst defends the deal as well as the number of eggs he gave the Gata tribe: "I felt the deal we made was fair and was in the spirit of the game, because I looked at it like this: Those chickens are an asset that tribe earned, and they've decided, 'We don't have any use for them.' Well, it's still an asset, so it still has some value in terms of the negotiation, and I felt the asset of meat, the chickens, was pretty valuable, and their request for eggs seemed fair. So we made the deal."
Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 47'
Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 47'. Robert Voets/CBS
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For those who have become a bit more accustomed to the recent return of Spicy Jeff and may have been surprised the host let Gata off the hook so easily, Probst has a message: "I promise, I just want to say both to fans and players, I'm not a pushover. I'm not! But I always will be open to hearing any pitch, and if it meets all the criteria that I've listed, then you never know."
Probst has at least one defender in his On Fire cohost (and Survivor 46 runner-up) Charlie Davis. "I actually did the math, and one chicken has about 1,200 calories on the lower end," Davis says on the podcast. "So you've got, we'll say, 3,600 calories for three chickens, give or take. Then let's look at the eggs. One egg has about 80 calories, so you're going to get 1,440 calories for 18 eggs. You're less than half the amount of energy for the chickens. I'm taking the chickens every single day! So I think, Jeff, you might have swindled them without even realizing it, and without them realizing it."
For more from Probst and Davis on the latest Survivor 47 episode, check
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