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“Survivor” host Jeff Probst has been known to break the fourth wall from time to time, especially in recent seasons. However, it is not often that he takes to social media to share some behind-the-scenes secrets with fans. Now, however, he has decided to document some of his journey in Fiji with the public.
Here’s what you need to know:
‘Survivor’ Host Shares What It’s Like Setting up Challenges
It turns out that, as “Survivor 42” was shot during the summer of 2021, Probst was also shooting his own videos to share with fans as the season would be released. On Thursday, CBS released one of those videos on their official Twitter account.
The tweet, which says, “Just some BTS action of what it takes to layout a #Survivor challenge!” shows Probst with some challenge supervisors at the scene of a challenge. The challenge, known as “Get Barreled,” served as the reward challenge on episode 10, and consisted of a number of obstacles contestants had to maneuver through on the beach before landing several sandbags on on top of barrels.
In the behind-the-scenes clip, Probst shows the viewers part of the preparation that goes into making such a complex and intricate challenge like this. Probst explained that, a few years ago, due to the sheer physical size of challenges like this, a producer, who Probst calls A.B., started making what were essentially animated blueprints of the challenge, in order to facilitate set up and coordination.
“Before, [the challenge layout] was just scratched on a piece of paper,” another supervisor said. This led to A.B. starting to make proportional, to-scale designs, which were accurate “down to the millimeter.” Figuring out where to place everything relative to the numerous camera operators and crew members are vital. As a “Survivor” cameraman said in a 2011 AMA, “there are about 80 crew [members] from various departments out of frame” at any given challenge.
“Just trying to remind you how much time and effort goes into laying something like this out,” Probst said in the video, “to make sure you can shoot it, make sure it works. And then if we want to do it again, we can go back to these schematics.”
Probst Explains What Goes On Behind-The-Scenes at Challenges
On Wednesday, Probst also posted another video on his personal Twitter account in which he said that he will try to answer popular fan questions over the coming weeks. On Wednesday, shortly before episode 10 aired, Probst responded to a popular question: “What’s something that we don’t see during a challenge?”
“The truth is,” Probst revealed, “if it’s interesting, or dramatic, or funny, it’s there.” However, what viewers don’t see mostly happens before they run the challenge. After a very basic explanation of how the challenge works to the contestants (mostly what we see on camera during episodes), Probst and production walks them through the entire challenge “so that they have a chance to see every single element, and anticipate what they want to do with it.”
Probst went on to reveal his favorite part, which viewers never get to see. “Before we run,” the host said, “I always say something to the effect of, ‘Good luck!’ Or a fist bump with everybody, because I am their biggest fan, even though I’m seen as an adversary sometimes. I am always rooting for them to do their best.”
He concluded: “So think about that next time you watch a challenge!”
“Survivor 42” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS. The three-hour finale airs Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
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