After Jeff Probst initially was hired to only be Survivor's host, he went on to take a lot of authority over the show as an executive producer. Now widely seen as the person in charge of the hit show, fans pay a lot of attention when Probst talks about the series.
Recently, Probst garnered a lot of attention when he publicly distanced himself from a recent Parvati Shallow scandal. Since many fans were focused on that story, it seemed like something else he had to say about the reality show mostly flew under the radar. Even though many viewers don't seem to have noticed it, Probst just walked back one of his most infamous statements about Survivor.
Despite a past statement, Jeff Probst is still willing to cast Survivor villains
More than a year after Probst initially made his no villains statement on Rob Has A Podcast hosted by Rob Cesternino, he walked back that stance during the Nov. 19 episode of his podcast.
During that episode of On Fire with Jeff Probst: The Official Survivor Podcast, which was titled "In the Dark," Probst began by describing who he believes the Mount Rushmore of Survivor players is.
“The only four people on my Mount Rushmore. Yes, Parvati, one of the most dominant to ever play, incredibly charming, mischievous, devious, duplicitous, all the things that Tony is, and Robbie is, and Sandra. Also worth mentioning, all four of them are villains, celebrated villains, villains that we love.”
As can be heard on Apple Podcasts, it was after Probst explained that he believes that the four greatest Survivor players ever were villains that he brought up his controversial past comment. As Probst explained, Survivor will still cast villains as long as they aren't unnecessarily nasty. Probst even argued that a Survivor 49 player might be a villain.
“The only reason I bring up villains, is that people keep saying Probst doesn't want villains. Oh, Let me be clear. If you know a Rob, a Sandra, a Tony, or a Parvati waiting to play Survivor, please give them my personal number because we will put them on the show immediately.
"But if what you're talking about in the kind of villains you want is sort of that throwback. And we've had some that are just sort of mean spirited. They're not fun. It's ugly. Yeah, those people, no, we don't want them. They can apply to other shows. But the idea of villains is still very much alive. I think in Survivor 49, you could argue Savannah's making a case to be a villain, kind of in the mold of Parvati a little bit, actually.”
Back in February, Probst was interviewed for the "Rob Has a Podcast" media empire. While speaking to the Survivor Hall of Famer Rob Cesternino, Probst discussed a wide array of topics. Most notably, Probst infamously stated that Survivor wouldn't be casting villains as long as he remains in charge of the reality show.
“In the hands of somebody else, I can tell you, for sure, there would be more ‘villains,’ more negativity, more yelling at each other. It’s just not going to happen when I’m part of the show. I’m just not interested in it. There’s too many other things we could do and still have fun.”
After Probst made that statement at around the 17-minute mark of the above video, many of Survivor's most passionate fans have never forgotten his remark. Instead, Probst's perceived no villains stance has often been pointed to as a major piece of evidence about what is wrong with the current state of Survivor.
Many observers have also been shocked by Probst's past no villains stance since many of Survivor's most popular players ever have been considered huge villains. Survivor's most memorable perceived villains include people like Sandra Diaz-Twine, Tony Vlachos, Parvati Shallow, Rob Mariano, Russell Hantz, and Benjamin "Coach" Wade.
Speaking of Coach, he will return for Survivor 50! The new season premieres on Feb. 25, 2026, on CBS and Paramount+.