Even after 24 years and 46 seasons of hosting Survivor, Jeff Probst still gets surprised when votes at tribal council don't go the way he expects. And, that happened again in the Survivor 47 premiere.
There are spoilers ahead for the season premiere of Survivor 47, "One Glorious and Perfect Episode."
In the Survivor 47 premiere, Andy Rueda of the Gata tribe had a rough time during the first immunity challenge that led to heat exhaustion, inside thoughts being said out loud, and publicly throwing fellow tribemate Jon Lovett under the bus.
Andy admitted that his feelings about being left out had resurfaced during the first few days of the game and struggled to continue. It seemed clear that Andy was heading home, but again, this is not how things work on Survivor.
Why Jeff Probst was shocked about Jon Lovett was voted out first
On the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast, Jeff revealed to cohosts Charlie Davis and Jay Woolf that he felt bad for Andy for what had transpired, thinking that Andy would be the first person voted out of Survivor 47.
"Based on how things were after the challenge, I was shocked," Jeff told Jay and Charlie. "I thought he was done. I thought Andy was a massive liability for all the reasons we've been talking about."
Things changed when the Gata tribe returned to camp. Immediately, the tribe (except Andy) told Jon that they were going to vote Andy out, but they were going to tell Andy that they were voting for Jon to throw him off.
Immediately, Jon knew something was up, and then, it became a race against the clock for Jon to convince the rest of the tribe to change their minds. Unfortunately, for him, it did not work out that way, which was a surprise to Jeff and probably most of the Survivor fans.
Jeff talked a little bit more about why he was shocked but realized that it made sense to make the move that Gata made.
"In hindsight, Jon is obviously a very bright guy, and he's a tremendous storyteller," Jeff said. "So, it really should never be a surprise that people like Sam might pick up on this idea and decide Andy can actually be more valuable because of what happened, and Jon could be a massive threat because of who he is. So, maybe, the move right now in episode 1 is to take out somebody we all believe can win this game. And, I think that's what they did."
And, that's basically what Jon told TV Line and other outlets in exit interviews. It seemed clear that this move was about strategy more than it was about getting to tomorrow or getting to the merge.
It's sad to say, but in many ways, Andy removed himself from winning the game based on what happened in the first episode. I'll be shocked if he makes it much further in the game, but I do think there is a very popular strategy to use these players as a shield. In the podcast episode, Charlie Davis, who used more volatile players to his advantage on Survivor 46, shared that he thought the "savvy players" on the Gata tribe were now using Andy as a "smokescreen."
Jon's exit was especially surprising to Jeff because he expected him to go quite far in the game. After an interview with Jon, Jeff revisited what he wrote in his notes.
"In another interview, I wrote, 'He should and could go very deep. He's so smart. What would stop him?'," Jeff said.
I listed Jon as a player to watch in the Survivor 47 premiere. Unfortunately, it was because I thought he was destined for a long run rather than being the first person voted out, but that's Survivor. Anyone can go home at any time. Maybe, we're in for a weird season!
It's interesting, too, because Jeff has already teased in the season preview that this season is "kind of like Game of Thrones." Perhaps, we're in for one of those weird years where the perceived favorites are targeted ruthlessly from Day 1. I don't know if Jon was really one of the favorites heading into the season, but Jeff clearly perceived him to be.
What it all amounts to, in my opinion, we're in for a wild season of Survivor! The cast is great, and now, we just get to sit back and watch it all play out!