The Secrets About What Happens At Survivor's Tribal Councils That Fans Don’t See

Since Survivor premiered in the year 2000, it has been around for so long that new fans have to figure out which seasons to watch first. In addition to those new fans, Jeff Probst's beloved reality show also has fans who remember when the first player was medically evacuated. Most of those fans have strong opinions about which players are the best ever, who the greatest winners are, and how to rank every season.

However, even those longtime fans tend to not know some Survivor facts like whether Jeff is likely to quit soon. Some of the most fascinating Survivor facts that fans don't know about pertain to what goes on behind-the-scenes during tribal councils.

Survivor's Elaine Stott Revealed How Male Players Have A Tribal Council Advantage

When fans watch Survivor, they typically see roughly ten minutes of scenes that take place at tribal council. Those scenes often make the tribal council process seem relatively quick and painless. The players are shown answering a few questions, writing a name on paper, and then someone has their torch snuffed.

However, in the past, Survivor players have revealed that tribal councils are a lot more involved than they seem to be on the show. For example, Elaine Stott from Survivor: Island of the Idols once revealed a fact about tribal councils that fans don't consider.

As Elaine explained, male Survivor players have a tribal council advantage that makes the process easier for them.

In March 2021, Elaine was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly about her Survivor experience.

Elaine Stott played during Survivor: Island of the Idols and became one of the season's most popular players, by far. Able to last 35 days in the game, Elaine ultimately came in 7th place before she was voted out and joined the jury.

During the resulting conversation, Elaine pointed out that the seating arrangements at tribal councils give men an extremely simple but powerful advantage.

"Usually what happens is women typically sit in the front row and men in the back. If you watch past seasons, women are in the front row 90 percent of the time. I'm assuming it's because of height issues and men are typically taller, so they put them behind us shorter girls. The logic makes sense, but I don't think it's fair! On my season I was the shortest person on my cast, and I never sat in the back row one time."

Elaine went on to explain why sitting in the front is a disadvantage for the female players and her logic makes perfect sense.

"The difference is that when you sit in the back, you can whisper or give glances or just communicate undetected by other players, which I think is a huge advantage. When you're in the front row, those kinds of things are way more noticeable and harder to do. It may seem insignificant, but I really think it makes a big difference. I think by making the height of the seats adjustable, us shorter girls could sit in the back row and be allowed the opportunity to do those shady things at Tribal without fear of being seen."

To Elaine's point, the male players get another advantage because they typically are sitting in the back. On top of it being easier for them to do things in secret, they can also easily see what the female players are doing.

Survivor's Malcolm Freberg Revealed Many Facts About Tribal Councils

Easily one of the most popular players from the mid-era of the show, Malcolm Freberg got to play Survivor three times. Since Malcolm has gone to so many tribal councils, he was able to tell Business Insider what they are like in May 2022.

The first thing that Malcolm revealed while talking to Business Insider was about what happens before tribal councils.

As Malcolm explained, the players are instructed to walk up and down the beach repeatedly before they leave for tribal council.

"I hate that. So, so much. Even if you didn't see it in the episode, we did the walk every time we went to Tribal. We'd line up, wait for a producer's cue, then march 100 yards down the beach. Then we'd turn around, hike the 100 yards back, wait for the next cue, and do it all over again."

Malcolm went on to explain that players also have to wait a long time in silence for tribal councils to begin. "I'll hazard a guess that, after leaving camp, it usually took two and a half hours for Tribal Council to start. There are several contributing factors here. Travel from our camp on the beach to the Tribal set usually took well over half an hour. Once there, everyone had to go through medical checks and get mic'd up. This would all happen in complete silence under the watchful eyes of producers — if anyone said anything during this time, which doesn't exist on the show, it wouldn't be able to be included on TV. Even if all those steps happened quickly, we'd have to wait for total darkness before starting Tribal."

While talking to Business Insider, Malcolm also explained that during tribal council, Jeff gives players instructions.

The Worst Final Tribal Council Performances, According to Screen Rant

• Woo Hwang
• Stephenie LaGrossa
• Albert Destrade
• Amanda Kimmel
• Hannah Shapiro
• Ken McNickle
• Stephen Fishbach
• Katie Gallagher
• Amanda Kimmel (Again)
• Phillip Sheppard
• Russell Hantz

In order to make sure that the players can be heard properly, Malcolm says that Jeff walks the players through how loudly to speak when they cast their votes.

"So every season I've been on, Probst stood in front of us and said, 'This is me talking,' at a normal volume. The host repeated the phrase over and over again as he walked to the voting booth and as he returned to us. You could usually just barely hear him in the booth. Then he'd change his volume to a whisper and repeat the process. Now, you absolutely couldn't hear a word while he'd ostensibly be voting. It's incredibly helpful and made me feel comfortable knowing how loud to speak during the vote."

As fans will already know, Jeff Probst asks the players a lot of questions during tribal council. However, sometimes, players have more to say when Jeff is beginning to wrap things up. According to what Malcolm told Business Insider, players have to stick up for themselves if they aren't ready for the vote to begin.

"One point that always stands out is that you, the player, shouldn't allow the vote to start unless you've said all you need to say. On one of my seasons, Probst prefaced this tip with a vague anecdote. He said a former player — I don't know who — complained after their boot that they hadn't gotten the chance to say all they wanted to say at Tribal. So now Probst makes a point of empowering every castaway to hold up the vote if they feel the need to do so."

Malcolm also spoke to the outlet about how important it is for Survivor players to understand how to answer Jeff's tribal council questions. "Being too cagey with an answer at Tribal won't get Probst off your back. He'll probably just come right back to you. I remember during my first season, someone at their first Tribal Council tried only giving 'yes' or 'no' answers to Probst. I won't disclose too much detail, but imagine the worst tongue lashing your father ever gave you in front of all your friends, and your father is a television icon that, in part, can control your chance at a million-dollar prize."

One of the most interesting things that Malcolm explained to Business Insider was about what happens when Jeff goes and tallies the votes. As Malcolm explained, the players are left waiting for Jeff to return with the votes a lot longer than it seems on the show.

"On TV, Probst says, "I'll go tally the votes," disappears for a few seconds, then quickly comes back with an island-themed jug in his hands. In reality, immediately after Probst disappears, multiple producers come onto the set and enforce silence. Because, again, this interlude doesn't exist for television purposes and anything significant said between castaways would have to be cut. It takes about 15 minutes for Probst to return."

Survivor's Jeff Probst Reveals What He Does When He Is Tallying The Votes

In October 2024, a fan asked Jeff Probst a question during an episode of "On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast" as can be heard on Apple Podcasts. In response, Jeff revealed what happens when he tallies the votes during tribal council.

During the podcast episode, Jeff explained that he carefully orders the votes so that he reads them in the most interesting way.

"Alright, I’ll walk you through this because I take this seriously. I really do. I take the votes to a private area and go through them and put them in order. And the reason they have to be in order is not just for dramatic impact but it’s also because we’re always gonna read votes for every player that got a vote. The only votes I don’t read are when the only votes left are for the player who already has the most votes. So, they already have the majority so the rest are all theirs and it’s not gonna change anything. You have to order them to make sure you accomplish this. In terms of reading the votes, I’m pretty focused. I, honestly, before I come back with the votes kind of center myself because I’m doing math. I know the stakes are big, and I don’t want to make a mistake."

Given how important the moment that Jeff reads the votes is for the players and the show, it makes sense that he takes that so seriously.