Survivor’s Jeff Probst Reveals the Key to Winning: ‘Heart’

For the past 23 years, ‘Survivor’ host and producer Jeff Probst has been a mainstay on our televisions, and year after year he continues to be amazed by the game. “I am constantly inspired—and then five minutes later deliciously entertained—by some incredible blind side,” Probst told Newsweek’s H. Alan Scott. Now entering its 45th season (September 27), Probst says “what makes this job so fun is that we get to redesign the game every season and then turn it over to a new group of humans to see what they do with it.” And it’s those humans that make the game so unpredictable. “We have no say on who stays or who goes, we have no say in who finds an idol or what they do with it. We have no say on who’s going to win a challenge. All we’re doing is watching.” To Probst, it’s in how players connect that resonates so much with viewers, because “we often see ourselves in the players.” But in the end, it really is a game of strategy, sure, but mostly heart. “If you give your heart to it, it can change your entire life and how you see the world and how the world sees you.” Listen to H. Alan’s chat with Carson Garrett from ‘Survivor’ 44: https://art19.com/shows/the-parting-shot/episodes/8de7d5e6-3414-431d-b396-95a3225132c0 Visit Newsweek.com to learn more about the podcasts we offer and to catch up on the latest news. While you’re there, subscribe to Newsweek’s ‘For the Culture newsletter. Follow H. Alan Scott on everything at @HAlanScott.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.