Inside Jeff Probst’s days on ‘Survivor’ and his thoughts on the future host

For more than two decades, Jeff Probst has been the face of “Survivor,” guiding players through the challenges and drama of Tribal Council. The host now shares his behind-the-scenes routine and shares his views on what type of host the show would need if the time came for him to step away.

Jeff Probst’s thoughts on island life

Probst has been the host of “Survivor” since its debut in 2000, and over the years, a lot has changed. Back then, each season was taped in a different location, but over the past decade, Fiji has become the reality show’s home.

In an attempt to Business Insiderthe 64-year-old host shared his daily life on the island. The new era of “Survivor” locks players on an island for 26 days, and although Probst says the work doesn’t really stop until the end, a normal day for him starts at 6 a.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m.

He wakes up to the morning sun and the sounds of the ocean, then trains before embarking on “Survivor” work. Probst says exercise is good for his mental health, adding: “I feel better when I do it. I feel like I’m letting my body know, ‘We’re going back to war, let’s go’.”

The host gives in to his desires

While the players fend for themselves when it comes to food, Probst and the crew are fed by a catering team. At home, Probst says he only eats one or two meals a day, but his appetite changes during his time on the island and he indulges in burgers with fries and ketchup.

“Whatever I want, I give in. I don’t judge at all because the environment is so different,” he says, adding: “I don’t eat hamburgers often, but locally, I have one at least for a week. Then, when I come home, I go back to a fairly healthy way of eating,” he explains.

Jeff Probst repeats challenges with replacements

Part of Probst’s job as host and executive producer on “Survivor” is to rehearse the challenges before the contestants perform. Since they only have one take, the series has a Dream Team of team members who test out the challenges.

“Our only chance to really see how we’re going to film the challenges is to get the Dream Team together and rehearse it,” says Probst. This is a way to ensure challenges run smoothly and find the best way to capture the action when competitors are playing.

“Sometimes I run a challenge with the players in the morning, take a quick break for lunch, then 90 minutes later I go out to rehearse the next challenge with the Dream Team,” Jeff explained.

In between these tasks, he also makes other decisions, like what an immunity idol should look like or where perks will be hidden.

What does the host do in their downtime?

As Probst said, there isn’t much to do on the island once the day is over. “We live on a small island and there are no restaurants or cinemas,” he said.

Instead, he tries to have “date nights” with his wife, where they watch a show they both like at the same time, even when they are apart. “I’ll put it on my iPad, she’ll put it on her iPad, and then we’ll say 3, 2, 1 and play. So it’s a pretty fun way for us to bond,” the host explained.

Apart from that, if he has a few minutes to himself, his favorite form of entertainment is watching police interrogation videos on YouTube. “I like these subtle shifts in power dynamics, observing how people react and what they have,” he explained.

Jeff Probst’s thoughts on a new host

Although Probst wants to continue hosting the show as long as he can, he knows there will come a day when he walks away from “Survivor.” As he said Peopleone of the biggest mistakes networks make when replacing hosts is focusing on their popularity.

“They look at the color of their hair and how many followers they have on Instagram. That’s not what it’s about,” Probst said, adding that the future “Survivor” host should be “endlessly curious” and “fearless.”

“You have to follow your instincts. That’s very hard for people to do today because we criticize each other online all day long, and then you second-guess your instincts. To hell with them. You have to have them,” Probst said.

“Survivor 50,” featuring all the returning players, premiered Feb. 25 on CBS.