Survivor host Jeff Probst has revealed how long he plans to stick with the franchise and continue hosting the show.

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Jeff has served as the host of Survivor since its inaugural season premiered over two decades ago in 2000, and now Survivor is about to wrap its 43rd season on Wednesday, December 14 at 8PM ET/PT on CBS.

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Season 44 of Survivor already filmed this past spring, but according to Jeff, he'll be back for the foreseeable future.

"It's impossible to describe what Survivor represents to me. Impossible," Jeff, 61, told Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview.

"It goes beyond creative expression or professional recognition. It's much deeper. It's right in line with the ideas I try to impress on our players. It's about pushing myself further than I think I can go, about trying to stay in the moment and adapt to my surroundings, about being a good 'tribe member,' about being open to new ideas and new people."

Jeff essentially suggested it's hard to envision himself not being a part of Survivor.

"The same opportunities Survivor offers the players, it offers me. I love Survivor and I still need Survivor," Jeff admitted.

Season 45 and Season 46 of Survivor -- which will air in Fall 2023 and Spring 2024, respectively -- are scheduled to start filming next Spring, and it appears Jeff will reprise his role for both editions.

EW reported that Jeff actually considered quitting Survivor back in 2005 during the filming of Season 12, Survivor: Panama.

Jeff apparently had other projects in the works, such as a suspenseful film he wrote and directed titled Finder's Fee starring Ryan Reynolds and James Earl Jones. Jeff also reportedly considered himself to be massively underpaid when comparing salaries with other reality TV hosts.

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But CBS was able to convince Jeff to stay, and then Jeff assumed more control and responsibility behind the scenes of Survivor as the years progressed.

Jeff reportedly got promoted from just a host to producer, to executive producer, to co-showrunner, and finally to showrunner -- which made him increasingly more invested in the reality TV franchise.

Jeff also said he got the break he needed during the coronavirus pandemic, which began in early 2020.

"The Covid break was a great Survivor reset for me," Jeff explained.

"Coming on the heels of Winners at War, which I loved, I was more tired than I realized. When we had to postpone our shoot, it gave me a chance to step back and once again reflect on all the things I absolutely love about this show."

CBS first announced in March 2020 during the onset of COVID-19 that Survivor would be postponing the back-to-back production of its 41st and 42nd seasons that were originally scheduled to air in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021.

Season 41 of Survivor was supposed to begin filming on March 24, 2020 in the Mamanuca Islands in Fiji, however Jeff informed crew members at the time cameras would not start rolling until at least May 2020 due to COVID-19, according to EW.

Season 42 of Survivor was reportedly set to begin filming on May 24, 2020, a few weeks after Season 41 was scheduled to wrap production.

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When May 2020 rolled around, CBS announced that Season 41 of Survivor was slated to air that fall; however, Jeff admitted in July 2020 that producers still didn't have a plan in place.

But since Survivor's crew is comprised of people from all over the world, closed borders and travel bans amid COVID-19 prevented the show from being able to commence filming in Fiji, which has served as Survivor's filming location since Season 33 in 2016.

The start of production was therefore pushed back again until at least September 2020, and Survivor was ultimately pulled from the network's Fall 2020 schedule.

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Survivor finally resumed production in March 2021 following a year-long delay.


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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