Summary

• Jimmy Fallon's suggestions influenced both the worst and best Survivor seasons in surprising ways.
• Fallon's had the idea of a fan vote for Survivor.
• Fallon also had a far less successful idea for Survivor.

Throughout Survivor history, there have been some truly great seasons that new fans should watch first. On the other hand, there have also been a handful of Survivor seasons that a lot of fans can't stand. In fact, there is one season that most Survivor fans consider to be the worst in the show's history.

Unfortunately for Survivor's competitors, the problem with the show's worst season had nothing to do with players being injured. Instead, Survivor's worst season suffered for two main reasons. Amazingly enough, one of the reasons why that Survivor season failed was influenced by Jimmy Fallon.

This article will reveal how Jimmy Fallon had a major influence over the worst Survivor season ever. Then, the article will look at how Jimmy Fallon also suggested something that led to one of the best Survivor seasons ever.

Jimmy Fallon Influenced The Worst Season Of Survivor In A Surprising Way

In May 2024, Entertainment Weekly updated its definitive ranking of every Survivor season. In 2022, a fan on the r/survivor subreddit argued that one season of Survivor was the worst by far, since they claimed it wasn't even close.

Both EW and that r/sruvivor user agreed that Survivor: Island of the Idols is the worst season ever. Unfortunately for Jimmy Fallon, that may be a hard pill to swallow, since the Tonight Show host had an interesting influence over Survivor: Island of the Idols.

In 2020, Jimmy Fallon interviewed Jeff Probst during an episode of The Tonight Show. During the resulting conversation, Probst spoke about how an email from Fallon changed Survivor: Island of the Idols.

During their 2020 interview, Probst explained that Fallon was a Survivor superfan who sometimes emails him with ideas for the show. Probst then revealed that Fallon once sent him an email with a pair of ideas for the show.

In March 2023, Jeff Probst spoke to Entertainment Weekly about another suggestion he took from a famous Survivor superfan. After Tyler Perry suggested that the show introduce an idol that could be used after the votes were read, Probst added it to the show. However, Probst told EW that he later realized that the superidol was a mistake, and he blamed himself for adding it to the show.

According to Probst, Fallon's first suggestion was, "not the best". However, not only did Probst think that Fallon's second idea was a good one, but he used the suggestion during the production of Survivor: Island of the Idols.

"The next one was called the Invisibility Box. Then you say, 'during Tribal, somebody can sit in like they're in an outhouse and hear everything that's being said, but nobody can tell they're there.' That's 2018. I go to location, Tribal's already being built. I'm looking around, 'How can we do this idea?' Doesn't work." While things didn't work out at first, Probst made Fallon's suggestion work the following year.

"A year later, March 18, 2019, I send you a photo. So that is the Invisibility Box that we designed the entire Tribal around your idea and we used it on the show."

During Survivor: Island of the Idols, two of the show's best-known legends, Sandra Diaz-Twine and Boston Rob Mariano, were brought back. However, Diaz-Twine and Mariano weren't brought back as players.

Instead, Diaz-Twine and Mariano resided on the Island of the Idols where some of the players would visit them, Diaz-Twine and Mariano would then offer that player advice and put them through a challenge that would either take their vote or give them an advantage.

During each tribal council, Diaz-Twine and Mariano sat in the box that Fallon suggested. This allowed Diaz-Twine and Mariano to provide commentary on the tribal council for the viewers at home. The box also allowed Diaz-Twine and Mariano to know what was happening in the game which helped them provide advice.

Even though Diaz-Twine and Mariano are fan favorites, their inclusion in Survivor: Island of the Idols was panned by most viewers. The reason for that is that most viewers felt that they were a distraction from the main game. The popular consensus was that the duo's scenes also weren't entertaining enough to make up for that.

With that in mind, the fact that Fallon's suggestion played a role in Diaz-Twine and Mariano's inclusion in the season was too bad. After all, most fans would likely argue that Fallon's suggestion didn't improve the show.

Even though most fans were disappointed by how Surivor: Island of the Idols utilized Diaz-Twine and Mariano, that isn't the main reason why that season is so hated. Instead, the main reason the season is so hated is that it was severely affected by a disturbing series of events.

Early in the season, a player named Kellee Kim told producers that Dan Spilo was touching her inappropriately. Instead of taking immediate action, the show's producers asked Kim if she wanted Spilo ejected. Of course, that put Kim in an untenable situation both morally speaking and in terms of her game.

As the game progressed two of Kim's tribemates used the inappropriate touching controversy for their own strategic advantage. That turn of events disgusted many viewers even more. In the end, Spilo was ejected from the game after he was accused of inappropriately touching a woman on the production crew. By then, Kim had already been voted out.

During Survivor: Island of the Idol's reunion, Jeff Probst apologized to Kellee Kim for what happened to her. "I want to acknowledge and apologize for your pain. You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t deserve it.” Probst also revealed a new set of policies were in place to make sure nothing like that happened again. Probst also admitted that the producers should have handled that situation better. "We’ve learned so much about what we could have and should have done instead. And if this happened today, we would handle it much differently.”

All the drama surrounding Spilo and how Survivor's team handled the situation really ruined Survivor: Island of the Idols for most people.

Jimmy Fallon Had An Even Bigger Influence Over One Of Survivor's Best Seasons

Three years before Jeff Probst revealed how Jimmy Fallon influenced Survivor: Island of the Idols, a very similar scene played out. In 2017, Probst appeared on The Tonight Show and gave Fallon credit for another suggestion that Survivor's producers implemented.

During the 31st season of Survivor, a group of former players were welcomed back. Each of those people had played once before and lost but they made their mark on fans. At the start of the season, a group of 32 potential players were listed and fans were asked to vote on who would play during the season.

Which potential Survivor: Cambodia players weren't voted in by fans?

• Carolyn Rivera
• Mikayla Wingle
• Natalie Tenerelli
• Sabrina Thompson
• Stephanie Valencia
• Teresa Cooper
• Brad Culpepper
• Jim Rice
• Max Dawson
• Shane Powers
• Troyzan Robertson

Based on the fan vote, 20 of the 32 potential players were added to the cast of Survivor: Cambodia, a season that is also known as Second Chance.

When Probst appeared on The Tonight Show in 2017, he revealed that he'd realized that he'd taken credit for Fallon's idea. The reason for that is Probst had taken credit for the idea of doing a fan vote to decide who would play in Survivor: Cambodia. However, Probst later realized that Fallon was the one who suggested the fan vote to him.

"So I was looking back through the ideas, and I realized you gave us an idea where you said we should let America vote for who they want to play. And we did that a couple of years ago. And I took full credit for it and totally forgot it came from you."

Learning that Fallon suggested the fan vote is amazing since that made Survivor: Cambodia a lot better. After all, fans got to pick the players they wanted to see return, which meant the cast was made up of fan favorites. The fan vote also made fans even more excited for Survivor: Cambodia.