The CBS competition show Survivor was not afraid to remove contestants for breaking the rules. And in the latest season, that’s exactly what they had to do.
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The 49th season of Survivor is officially in session, having started airing on September 24. In the latest episode of presenter Jeff Probst’s podcast, however, a serious drama occured only 12 hours before filming.
In On Fire with Jeff Probst Podcast: Shipwrecked episode 1, Jeff Probst talks about the two unruly contestants they faced right before filming was about to begin. Two contestants displayed a deep disregard for the rules as they communicated to each other before the game began.
“That’s why we have so many handlers there to make sure nobody’s talking,” he explained. “You can obviously look at each other, you can try to make eye contact. That might work for you, it might not.”
Subtle body language is one thing. But outright communication is another.
“The rules are you cannot talk to each other, for obvious reasons. And in this season, Season 49, we had two players who were disrespecting that rule. They just kept talking.”
Contestants Relieved After Unruly Two Get Replaced
After a “level of concern” had been reached, Probst received a call. Despite the “stern warning” they were given by handlers, they continued to chat.
Probst reported to the executive team, but before he could finish explaining, he received a second call. “The level of disrespect had reached an even more blatant level.”
“That was all it took. Candidly, the decision was made in that moment to immediately remove those two players from the game and replace them with our alternates.”
In came Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu to the relief of the others.
“What really happened was the players, once they were able to talk, they thanked our producers,” he remembered. “Because they said, ‘We were all aware that this was happening. And it felt like cheating. Like there was an advantage being had.’ And now they’re in the situation of — should I do that as well?”
It’s taken 49 seasons, but Survivor finally had to replace contestants before the game began.
“It should be clear to future players, although I doubt this will ever happen again, to just know we will not hesitate to pull you from the game,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how much time or money we’ve invested in you.”
“We value the integrity of the game more than anything.”