Getty Host/executive producer Jeff Probst speaks at the "The Jeff Probst Show" discussion panel
All Survivor fans have their own (very strong) opinions about the best winners, the worst winners, who got robbed of a victory, who could have won if he or she wasn’t taken out so early, etc, etc.
But now host Jeff Probst has revealed his favorite winner. And it’s not the same person he thinks is the best winner. Read on to see if you agree with the Emmy-winning host’s assessment of the game.
Probst’s Pick For Favorite Winner Is…
In an interview with IMDB TV, Probst talked to former Survivor castaway Chelsea Walker about some of his favorite things from the game. One thing she asked him was his favorite winner and here’s what he had to say.
“I’m going to say Ben [Driebergen] and here’s why. There was something about Ben’s season and him being a war hero and having to fight from the bottom to stay in the game and the entire reason he was out there, other than earning money for his family, was to say to other vets ‘look, I went through it too and I’m OK,'” said Probst. “I love that Ben is, on some level, really a pure guy saying ‘It’s been hell to come back from war, and look at me. I’m on Survivor, I’m living, I’m having fun, and I won. So don’t give up.'”
He also said that his favorite season has to be “Winners at War.”
“‘Heroes vs. Villains’ was really good, ‘Fans vs. Favorites’ [too], but I think 40 will go down as the best season we’ve ever done,” said Probst.
His pick for the favorite winner was a bit of a surprise, but his reasoning is sound and certainly admirable. But Driebergen isn’t the person Probst thinks is the best winner.
Probst’s Pick For Best Winner Is…
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Probst was asked about who he thinks is the best winner and he did not choose Boston Rob Mariano or Sandra Diaz-Twine or Tony Vlachos. He said Parvati Shallow.
“I will answer it, and I’ll annoy everybody else. I’m going to give it to Parvati,” he said, adding that he felt like watching Shallow play on “Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites” was like watching a surgeon at work.
“I’m giving it to Parvati because just watching her play that season, I felt like we were watching a surgeon go inside a body with a really delicate operation and just move things and tighten up, and they did their own stitches at the end, they closed up or whatever they did,” said Probst.
He continued, “I mean, everybody who won this game has been a genius in how they’ve done it because they had to do it in their season. But watching Parvati, still when I go back and I see some of those episodes — tiny little adjustments, all of it about persuasion. She either charmed you or she made you feel the consequence. One or the other. Sometimes, both together. And step by step she’d laugh and smile and make it seem like, ‘Hey, if I go home, I go home. [Dramatic tone shift] I love this game. I’m never going home. Ever. I’ve got you. And you. [Makes several sword slicing motions] And you.’ That’s how I saw it.”
EW’s Dalton Ross thinks Shallow is a great choice. He wrote, “Parvati won in epic fashion in Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites. And I would actually argue her performance in ‘Heroes vs. Villains’ (in which she did not win) was even better, especially considering the massive target on her before the game even began — which is why Parvati is my pick for best overall player ever.”
What do you think, Survivor fans? Do you agree with Probst?
There is no word yet on when Survivor will be back on the air. There is talk about the production team filming three seasons this spring so that they can air one in the summer of 2021, one in the fall and then one in the spring of 2022.
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