Jeff Probst breaks silence over *that* huge Survivor 50 finale spoiler following backlash
He explained how he managed to mess up so badly
Jeff Probst has broke his silence over his truly monumental screw up during the Survivor 50 finale, where he accidentally gave away a huge spoiler.
During the live season finale, Jeff accidentally announced that Rizo had lost the fire-making challenge and would be joining the jury… before the actual moment had aired. It was awkward to say the least.
After the spoiler, several contestants who were seated on stage told Jeff that “the fire hasn’t happened yet”, with Jeff admitting that he wasn’t “even sure what’s happened.”
As someone who missed the Will Smith slap live, this was the wildest live TV moment I’ve ever seen. RIP to whoever just lost their job #Survivor50 pic.twitter.com/Qyi6nwJXNL
— Wyatt (@wyattmetzger99) May 21, 2026
Following the break for commercials, Jeff explained the situation, saying: “In case you’re confused, this is what happened. We were going to show you fire-making, and then have the loser of fire-making, Rizo, come out and talk about if he had practiced fire-making maybe he would’ve won.
“Instead, we did a Survivor twist, it’s the last twist of the season. We call it, ‘a peek into the future.’ So now we’re going to watch Rizo lose in a fire to Jonathan.”
Following the epic Survivor 50 spoiler, Jeff appeared on CBS Mornings to explain himself. “What’s happening when you’re doing a Survivor finale is you’re running the show, the episode, and then you’re doing these live hits where I come out, and I talk to one of these players. I’m not watching the show,” Jeff explained.
The chaos during the commercial break after Jeff Probst spoiled that Rizo lost fire making and is the final member of the jury #survivor50 pic.twitter.com/LkguzGx95f
— Big Brother Tea (@TheBigBroTea) May 21, 2026
He continued: “I’m backstage getting ready for my funny question with Rizo about it. ‘If only he had practiced fire-making.’ So I come out, we’re all set up on the stage, we’ve got an empty seat for Rizzo. I don’t think anything’s weird.
“It wasn’t until I started talking to Rizo about losing in fire — I’m telling you, we had 1,200 people here, I could collectively feel the energy go to an emoji like this [😱].”
Despite the change in energy, Jeff admitted he still didn’t “know what was happening” and that he still doesn’t know. He added: “We have a big team, mistakes happen. We just got ahead of ourselves. And none of us saw it.”
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