How Jeff Probst Risked His Health During Survivor 47

Thankfully, for everyone involved in Survivor's production, the reality show regularly earns new fans who have to figure out which seasons to watch first. After watching Jeff Probst's show for a while, those fans will quickly learn that Survivor viewers love to debate things like which seasons are the best and who the best winners are. While it is fair to debate which Survivor players are the best ever and whether Jeff is the most important reality show host, there are some facts about the show that are unquestionable.

As Survivor fans should know, there is no debating who the first player to be medically evacuated was. Another thing that seems to be undebatable is how devoted to Survivor Jeff has been. After all, Jeff put his own health at risk while filming Survivor 47.

Jeff Probst Ate Food For Survivor 47 That Could Have Made Him Very Sick

Throughout Survivor's history, there have been aspects of the show's legacy that most fans have loved. However, some of those aspects have gone missing for years, even though there were many fans who were vocal about wanting them back.

One example of a part of Survivor that was gone for far too long is the auction. However, after years of the auction being gone, Jeff Probst and company finally brought it back, and it became a memorable part of Survivor 47.

During Survivor 47's auction episode, there was a moment that many fans didn't take note of. However, thanks to one person who brought the moment up, Jeff Probst spoke publicly about his decision to put his own health at risk to create a Survivor moment.

On November 6th, 2024, an episode of "On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast" was released, as can be heard on Apple Podcasts. During that episode, which was titled "Going Once, Going Twice, Sold," Jeff got to speak about the Survivor auction.

During that discussion, Jeff stated that he was willing to put his health at risk to make Survivor a great show.

"I give everything for this show. I'm willing to risk bacterial infections, viral infections, parasites, or just general illness just to encourage future players to apply to be on Survivor."

While it may seem strange for Jeff to make that statement, it wasn't out of nowhere. Instead, Jeff's comment was in response to a question from one of his "On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast" co-hosts.

Over the last several seasons, there have been clips of Jeff Probst addressing the camera, trying to get fans to apply to compete on Survivor. During Survivor 47 Episode 8, Jeff encouraged fans to apply in a memorable way.

After fans saw Survivor: Worlds Apart's auction memorably go awry in 2015, it disappeared from the show for many years amid claims that it had been broken. The next time the auction was seen came during Survivor 45, which aired in 2023.

A a part of Survivor 47's auction, players got to stick their fingers into peanut butter and eat as much as they could in a limited timeframe. After the auction finished, Jeff put that same peanut butter to use in a way that was inadvisable.

While addressing the camera and encouraging fans to apply to compete on Survivor, Jeff put his finger in the peanut butter and ate some of it. Jeff then finished the memorable segment while talking with some peanut butter in his mouth.

In December 2024, Screen Rant published an article encouraging Jeff Probst to go off-script more often. While Jeff doing unexpected things can be a lot of fun, hopefully he won't do too many things that will risk his health.

Aside from the risk of speaking when his mouth was full, many viewers may not have picked up on how dangerous that moment could have been.

During each season of Survivor, the players spend day-after-day living in the jungle amid a wide array of germs and viruses. Those same players typically have no way to wash their hands at any point during the game.

As a result, there was no way for Jeff to know what kind of germs and viruses could have been present in that peanut butter when he ate some of it. Since that peanut butter could have been contaminated, Jeff's podcast co-host asked him if he ate the same stuff the players did.

Was that the actual peanut butter that the players who had not showered or washed their hands in two weeks had been eating?

In response to that question, Jeff expressed his gratitude to his co-host for noticing the risk he took. Jeff also revealed that he did eat the same peanut butter as the players, which could have been contaminated. "Thank you for noticing. Yes. It was." Jeff then explained that it wasn't his idea to eat the same peanut butter, but he went along with the idea when it was suggested.

"I did that casting call less than one minute after the players left. That was Jada's idea. She produces those."

Jeff Probst Almost Died While Filming For Survivor

Since people can't see germs and viruses, Jeff Probst eating possibly contaminated peanut butter may not seem that scary. With that in mind, it is worth noting that Jeff once almost died while he was filming a stunt for Survivor.

During a May 10th, 2023 episode of "On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast" that can be heard on Apple Podcasts, Jeff discussed the stunt that almost ended his life. To film the stunt, Jeff jumped out of an airplane and realized that he had pulled his parachute too late. "I check my altimeter, and then I look at the horizon, and I decide to take in beautiful California. So I'm just looking at the horizon and thinking, 'This is amazing.' And I look down at my altimeter and it says 4,500 feet."

As he was falling to the ground, Jeff remembered his training and realized that something else had gone wrong.

"The next thing they teach you is to ask yourself two questions: Is it there, meaning, is your parachute above your head? And is it square? Is it there and is it square? I look up. Is it there? Yes. Is it square? No, meaning it doesn't have four points. It has not opened. This is no lie."

Fortunately for Jeff, he clearly has the ability to stay calm under pressure since he acted quickly and saved his own life.

In that case, they said to scissor kick. So I'm at 4,400 feet. I'm quickly getting close to the ground, and I scissor kick, and the chute opens.

While Jeff proved to be the ultimate survivor at that moment, it is easy to imagine how scary that would have been for him.