Have you ever wondered what happens at Tribal Council between the contestants voting and Jeff Probst actually reading the votes? Well, wonder no longer. The longtime Survivor host opened up about the process this week, and it’s a good reminder of how much control he seemingly has over the game.
The reveal happened during the Q&A portion of Probst’s popular podcast On Fire. He was asked how he tabulates the votes and whether it’s difficult to reveal them to the contestants with a straight face. Well, it turns out those two things sort of go hand in hand. After everyone is done voting, he picks up the votes and takes them to a “private area” where he goes through all of them and rearranges them to be in the order he wants them read. Afterwards, he’s able to keep a straight face while reading them because he’s mostly focused on keeping the math in his head and communicating that. You can read a portion of his quote below…
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.
First, let’s talk about the one rule he mentions. Jeff confirmed here what fans have known for a long time. The only specific rule for ordering the votes is that any unread votes at the end must all belong to the person who was just voted out. That means if one person gets seven votes and another person gets two votes, Jeff has to read both votes for the person still remaining in the game. That rule has seemingly been in place for a long time, and it’s definitely the right way to do it. So, no excitement there.
What I think is far more interesting, however, is that the host is seemingly choosing what order to read the votes in himself. He mentions going to a quiet place, reading all the scrolls and rearranging them himself. That’s not a huge shock, but it is apparently confirmation that he’s the one deciding whether to read the votes in a straightforward manner where he alternates between the highest vote-getters or whether to read them in a more creative order, typically to further add to the surprise of a close, unexpected blindside.
I’m certainly not complaining. Jeff typically does a very good job at figuring out what order the specific situation calls for, but it does make me wonder how many other calls he’s making on the ground by himself versus having a little powwow with producers on what to do. We know he consults medical when it comes to pulling people from the game, but what about other decisions like when to merge the tribes? Does he have the final say on that?
I know who is ultimately deciding doesn’t sound super important, but to hardcore fans of Survivor, it definitely is. There is endless debate amongst the fanbase about every new wrinkle added to the game and whether it’s a fun twist or an example of producers meddling too much. There’s rarely universal agreement, except about the very best and worst twists, but there certainly always is plenty of conversation and aggressive opinions, even if it's about things as minor as editing.
Regardless, Survivor is currently in the midst of its 47th Season, and the action is getting really good. The tribes recently merged, and there are a ton of very interesting players left. You can check out the action on Wednesday nights on CBS or via other streaming methods.