Since Survivor arguably is the best reality show ever produced, it has millions of viewers who watch every episode. Based on watching Jeff Probst's reality show from home, those viewers will never be able to understand how difficult filming the show can be. After all, there is no way for fans to truly understand how hot players can get when they compete on the show.
On top of grappling with the challenges of living in nature, Survivor players also have to cope with punishments and disadvantages in the game.
While Jeff argues that the show's disadvantages aren't too brutal, and the punishments don't go too far, they can still be extremely challenging for the show's players. With that in mind, it is fascinating to learn how Survivor 47's Gabe Ortis described the impact of players having their flint taken away can be.
Gabe Ortis perfectly explained how impactful Survivor players not having fire can be
During an exclusive interview with Surviving Tribal, Gabe discussed what's like to have flint taken away and compared that to what Survivor 49's Kele tribe went through in the first two episodes of the season.
Since the Kele tribe lost at least the first 2 immunity challenges, they went days in the game without ever having their flint. When asked to compare the situations, Gabe began by explaining how different the situations are because his tribe could maintain their fire even after their flint was taken.
"It's a tough comparison because we got our Flint in the beginning and then we got it taken away. So you can get a proper fire started. There's no reason that you should ever lose that fire. So when we lost our Flint, we came back and we still had like coals and embers that you can kind of just blow on and stack whatever on top of it and you could get a fire going again. So we never were like walking around just like we were hopeless, 'We can't get fire.'"
While Gabe explained that he couldn't fully relate to what the Kele tribe was going through without fire for days, he still gave a perfect explanation for why their plight would be incredibly impactful. The Survivor 47 alumni began by describing how having a fire would have a calming impact on Survivor players. Gabe also explained how gathering around their fire would bring his tribe together during the game.
"What I will say is that not having that fire, I think is quite a big deal. And the reason is because there's something in our primate monkey caveman brain, some part of that, that is very calmed by fire. And it kind of brings people together a little bit.
"I can't tell you how many times that we would be on the island, especially in the pre-merge and everybody would be off doing their own thing. Kyle would be gone trying to catch crabs. I would be looking for an idol. Tiyana, Sue and Caroline would be in the water. And then I would come back and I would start a fire, Kyle would start a fire and nobody would say anything, but just one by one, everybody would float back towards the fire. And then you kind of blink and like everybody's in a circle sitting around the fire. It's this unspoken, we're just drawn to it. I don't know what it is. And it just has this like calming effect.
"So I think that when you're dealing with being as homesick as you are, when you're as hot as you are, and apparently 49 is a very hot season from everything we're hearing. When you're as hungry as you are, when you're just so stressed out, and especially in those early days where you're really stressed out and the hunger and the fatigue are hitting you really, really hard. Something about having that fire, that warmth at night, it's one less thing you don't have to worry about. So I think it does have a profound effect on the people who don't have it."
After describing the communal effects that having a fire can have on a tribe, Gabe discussed the more practical impacts of what the Kele tribe went through since they didn't have a fire for days. On top of any concerns about not being able to prepare food, Gabe brought up how not having a fire forces a tribe to go without a source of warmth. Furthermore, Gabe described why his tribe was able to sleep better because having a fire kept bugs away.
"Also for utility, it's nice to be warm at night when it gets cold. It does wonders to keep bugs away. So on Tuku, we actually had two fire pits. We had one for warmth when we were sleeping and we had another one that would fill the shelter up with smoke. Not nothing too bad, but enough to keep bugs out. So it's like, it does a lot of these like just subconscious and utility things that make life just like 5% easier. And when you're living life on 0% on Survivor, that 5% means a lot. So yeah, it sucks is the short answer."
In addition to Gabe describing the impacts of players not being able to create fire, something else he had to say was worth noting for fans and Survivor's producers alike. While talking about Jeff Probst taking the tribes' flint away, Gabe pointed out his belief that Survivor needs to do a better job of depicting how players are affected by that.
"I wish that they could do a better job showing that in the edit. And I don't know if that's the producers asking more pointed questions about it in confessionals. I don't know if it's Jeff bringing it up at Tribal, but there is a profound effect."
Watch the full interview with Gabe:
Watch Survivor 49 on Wednesday nights on CBS and Paramount+!