“Survivor” host Jeff Probst accidentally spoiled his own live finale, revealing who the final three contestants were before the pivotal fire-making challenge was shown on screen.
It was, perhaps, one of the wildest moments in “Survivor” finale history, proving just how tricky it can be to produce a live, 3-hour show with so many moving parts. It was also a rare mistake from consummate professional Probst, who still managed to gracefully recover from the incident by poking fun at it.
Now, in interviews conducted after the finale finished taping, both Probst and the other person central to the mishap—Rizo “RizGod” Velovic—reacted to the chaos.
Jeff Probst’s Mistake Explained
The mix-up went down live on May 20, during the 3-hour finale of Season 50. After Aubry Bracco won the final challenge in the pre-taped portion on the island, she chose to take Joe Hunter to the final three, making Jonathan Young and Rizo compete in a fire-making challenge to decide who would get the final spot.
As Rizo and Jonathan sat down to start the challenge, the show went to a commercial, but not before cutting to the live finale taping. It’s there that Jeff called Rizo out on stage, talked to him about how important the fire-making challenge is, and then said, “You’ve become the final member of our jury.”
The rest of the contestants on stage, as well as the studio audience, were shocked, as Jeff spoiled the challenge results before anyone had actually seen it play out. The moment, it seems, was meant to happen after Rizo lost. Even Jeff seemed confused, asking, “What just happened?” before the show cut to commercial.
When they returned, Probst jokingly played off the mistake as a “Survivor” twist. “We call it, ‘A peek into the future.’ So now, we’re going to watch Rizo lose in a fire to Jonathan,” he quipped, before viewers did just that.
Jeff Probst Explains What Went Wrong
Probst gave some insight into what went wrong during a May 21 appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King.
“What’s happening when you’re doing a ‘Survivor’ finale is two things. You’re running the show, the episode, and then we’re doing these live hits where I talk to these players,” he began.
“I’m not watching the show. I’m backstage getting ready for my funny question with Rizo about if only he had practiced fire making. So, I come out, and we’re all set up on the stage. You’ve got an empty seat for Rizo. I don’t think anything’s weird,” Probst explained.
He said that as he began talking to Rizo about losing in fire, Probst claimed he could “collectively feel the energy” from the audience “go to an emoji like this,” before making a shocked face.
“But I don’t know what’s happening, and I’m looking down, I see Dee on the end saying [cut it],” he continued. “What happened? I’m still not sure. We have a big team. Mistakes happen. But we just got ahead of ourselves and none of us saw it.”
Gayle, however, told him she thought he handled the screw-up “so brilliantly,” as he added, “What else can you do?”
Rizo Reacts to Jeff Probst’s Mistake
Rizo also reacted to the spoiler in interviews with both Entertainment Weekly and PEOPLE after the episode finished filming.
“‘Survivor’ history!” he exclaimed to EW. “Never been voted out of ‘Survivor, ‘two times playing, only one of four people ever that happened to. And also the first finale flub ever in 50 seasons, and the RizGod was a part of it. So that’s what happened.”
He told EW he believes most of production was “under the assumption fire already happened.”
“But I was in the green room saying like, ‘Wait, I’m waiting for myself to lose here. What are we doing?’ And Jeff’s like, ‘Bring out Riz God. And they’re like, ‘You’re up!’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna work with what we got here,’” he recalled.
“I’m playing off Jeff, and Jeff is talking about fire, and I was like, ‘Well, I’m not trying to reveal it.‘ So I’m like, ‘Win or lose, I’m proud of how I played,’” he told EW. “And Jeff’s like, ‘Sit your a– on the bench.’ And I’m like: well, this is awkward.”
Speaking with PEOPLE, Rizo said he “was very confused.”
“Jeff wanted to give me my moment, which was great, but I’m getting my moment before the travesty of losing fire back-to-back times,” he added. “So, I was trying to be a professional, I was trying to be funny, trying to see if Jeff would pick up what happened.”
He added that Probst thanked him for being a “good sport” about the incident.
I thought they worked it out, but I really wanted to watch RizGod do it before I knew he lost it. I adore this young man. I think he played the most intelligent game of this season. Too bad the OG’s wouldn’t have given it to him as he was the best player. Next time RizGod. I rooted for him the whole season. Get on the show again and practice that fire making. Great player. Best smile. #TeamRizo