As the host of Survivor since it premiered in the year 2000, Jeff Probst has a truly unique perspective on the beloved reality show. On top of that, he has also wielded a lot of control over the show for many years now, as he has been executive producer and showrunner of the series. Simultaneously, interacting with every player ever also means that Jeff knows things like how much Survivor players smell.
Given the extreme level of reality show expertise that he has, it certainly would be interesting to see Jeff compete in one of them. That said, it obviously would be wildly unfair for him to compete on Survivor, given his knowledge of the show and relationships with everyone involved. That begs an obvious question that the celebrated host recently gave his own perspective on. What reality competition show could Jeff Probst win?
Jeff Probst believes he could win The Traitors
In September 2025, Jeff Probst attended the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards as one of the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program nominees. While walking down the red carpet, he was asked a fascinating question when he was being interviewed by Gayle King for CBS Mornings. Jeff was asked which reality show he could win, excluding Survivor. Initially, Jeff seemed taken aback, and he even remarked that it was a question he'd never really considered.
"Damn, I've never thought of that question."
After giving the question a few seconds of consideration, Jeff named one of the best reality competition shows currently on television, The Traitors.
"I’d like to give Traitors a shot. I like the duplicity. I think what’s so fun. That’s what’s so fun about Survivor, you can lie, cheat, do whatever you want. ‘What are you willing to do?’ That’s the question. So I like that game of social manipulation."
In response to Jeff's fascinating answer to that compelling question, Gayle focused on one portion of the things that the Survivor host had said. In a follow-up question, Gayle asked if Jeff Probst is a duplicitous person. While lightly laughing and with a winning smile on his face, Survivor's host confirmed he can be deceptive in the right situations.
"Depending on the situation and the context, absolutely!"
At that point, Gayle began to move on by asking Survivor's host what he was most looking forward to about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. However, a clearly very engaged Jeff wasn't ready to move on just yet. Instead, Jeff excitedly described a hypothetical scenario of how he and Gayle could succeed if they competed on The Traitors together.
"Imagine you and I are in on the con together. That's why it would work. Everyone would say, 'Gayle would never team up with Probst. She's not duplicitous.' And, I'd say, 'I don't even like Gayle. We would never team up.' And then, we would conquer. And then you would plead the fifth, saying, 'I had nothing to do with it.' You would probably win."
Even though Jeff stated that he thought Gayle would likely win if they teamed up on The Traitors together, the totality of the conversation made it clear he believed he could prevail on the show. With that in mind, I would absolutely love to see him compete in Alan Cumming's castle. Considering that season 4 of The Traitors cast another reality show host, Top Chef's Kristen Kish, it certainly seems like Jeff joining in on the fun some day could be an actual possibility.