Why Survivor Host Jeff Probst Is Willing to Risk “Parasites” by Eating Contestants’ Food
Jeff Probst isn’t afraid to dig in.
On the Nov. 6 episode of Survivor, the host made this clear when he sampled some peanut butter that contestants used their germ-filled hands to eat.
And when he later broke down the eyebrow-raising moment, the 63-year-old admitted he will do anything for the game.
"Was that the actual peanut butter that the players who had not showered or washed their hands in two weeks had been eating?” his On Fire With Jeff Probst co-host Jay Wolff asked during the Nov. 6 episode, to which Jeff exclaimed, “Yes it was.”
In fact, he sees it as further proof of his commitment to the long-running CBS series, now in its 47th season.
“I just want it be noted," he continued through laughter, "I give everything for this show! I'm willing to risk bacterial infections, viral infections, parasites, or just general illness just to encourage future players to apply to be on Survivor!"
During the show’s coveted auction—where contestants race to find hidden gems, bid on items they need during the competition and eat food not found in the wilderness—challengers Sierra Wright, Caroline Vidmar, and Gabe Ortis were presented with large vats of peanut butter and chocolate.
The three players didn’t hold back as they ate the peanut butter with their hands—before going back for seconds.
After watching the three contestants dig in, Jeff called to the audience to apply for the show. Quietly looking into the camera he said, "Okay, the players are still walking off, but if the auction looks fun, apply to be on Survivor."
And then Jeff then put his pinky finger into the germ riddled peanut butter—and then into his mouth.
It wasn’t lost on the host just how gross the moment was, as he was reminded just how dirty the player’s hands can get.
"I don't even want to hear it!" Jeff admitted on his podcast. "I don't even want to be reminded.”
Jeff isn’t only committed to the series in the most disgusting ways. The longtime host shared that he keeps himself in shape to keep up with the contestants.
“I’ve been showing up,” Jeff told Variety in August about maintaining his intense workouts . “I mean, I’m on a show called Survivor. I don’t want to be voted off because I suddenly don’t look like I belong!”
Keep reading for more star confessions...
"What kind of weirdo washes their feet…." Jason Kelce tweeted in June 2024 after a fan noted the athlete "looks like he doesn't wash his legs or feet."
The retired Philadelphia Eagles player later doubled down on his comments.
"What kind of psychopath washes your feet?" he deadpanned on an episode of his and brother Travis Kelce's New Heights podcast, adding, "If there's visible dirt on them, I'll scrub the dirt off."
Grandma knows best.
Kim Kardashian got candid about how her grandma Mary Jo "MJ" Campbell influenced one intimate moment between her and then-boyfriend Pete Davidson, during an October 2022 episode of The Kardashians.
"Pete and I were staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel last weekend, and we were sitting in front of the fireplace, just talking for hours," the SKIMS founder recounted to MJ, mom Kris Jenner and sister Khloe Kardashian. "And I was like, 'My grandma told me that you really live life when you have sex in front of the fireplace. And so, we had sex in front of the fireplace in honor of you."
Grandma's reaction? A nod of approval.
"How creepy to think about your grandma before you have sex?" Kim said, to which MJ replied, "I know, but I was younger once."
The love shared in Mila Kunis and husband Ashton Kutcher's tight-knit family—which includes 8-year-old daughter Wyatt and 6-year-old son Dimitri—knows no boundaries.
So much so, that the Black Swan actress revealed they keep an open-door policy at home.
"That includes the bathroom," she told E! News in September 2022. "It's just one of those where, for better or for worse, as a family and the kids have all kind of embodied bodily function as a very standard norm."
Mila said she arrived at the decision after her family kept knocking on the door and asking to come in, which prompted her to oblige: "I was like, ‘Oh, forget it. Just keep the door open.'"
Pre-kids, she might not have imagined she'd flush that particular boundary away.
She added, "I'd never thought that I would be the person that was able to go to the bathroom with the door open."
Ghouls just want to have fun.
As The View panelists were reviewing footage about a woman who alleged she had "sexual ghosts" in her home, Sara Haines asked the group an important question during an October 2022 episode: "If you have sex with a ghost, can you get pregnant?"
Fortunately for her, co-host Joy Behar had an answer, adding, "I've had sex with a few ghosts and never got pregnant."
"I'm just gonna let that ride," Whoopi Goldberg said in response. "I don't know how many of you just heard what Joy just said, but I'm going to let it ride."
Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotab are a thick as thieves, though there is one thing Hoda didn't know about her Today co-host. When the pair were getting ready for an episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna, Hoda discovered Jenna perpetually goes commando.
"We both had to change before the show and we were like, 'Oh we have to go back into the changing room,'" Hoda said during a November 2022 episode of Today with Hoda and Jenna. "But then I noticed, Jenna never wears underwear."
Jenna's rationale? Well, no underwear might just be more convenient to her.
"I think it makes a more pretty silhouette," she said. "I also think you don't have to pack as much. There are a lot of pros to it!"
Looks like someone hasn't been keeping up.
Britney Spears found herself embracing Keke Palmer's viral saying "he could be walking down the street, I wouldn't know a thing," when she admitted she didn't know who Pete Davidson and Scott Disick were.
Reposting a humorous March video of Pete—who was then dating Kim Kardashian—and Kourtney Kardashian's ex Scott enjoying a "boyz night," to her Instagram, Britney said the two of them had her cracking up.
"Sorry had to repost this," Britney wrote in the since-deleted post. "no idea who these people in the video are but it made me laugh so hard !!!!"
Back before the world knew Chris Evans as Captain America and People's Sexiest Man Alive of 2022, Jana Kramer knew him as the "heartthrob, cutie" she went on a few dates with.
It happened more than a decade ago, the singer revealed on her Whine Down with Jana Kramer podcast in November, and though she can't remember "how many dates it was," she does recall their last encounter.
Jana, then about 26 years old, said Chris invited her over to his house while he had friends in town from Boston.
"The last interaction that I remember is him going into the bathroom after I just went with asparagus pee," Jana remembered, referencing the veggie's tendency to give urine a very distinct scent. "We didn't hook up that night. He stayed up late with his friends and then [in] the morning I did the asparagus walk of shame out of his house."
She added, "I never heard from him again."
Not all of these confessions are amusing.
Eight years after sharing in an ELLE article that she had been battling a rare type of bone cancer—her fake diagnosis even inspiring a storyline on Grey's Anatomy—show writer Elisabeth Finch admitted in December it was all a ruse.
"I told a lie when I was 34 years old and it was the biggest mistake of my life. It just got bigger and bigger and bigger and got buried deeper and deeper inside me," Elisabeth told The Ankler newsletter Dec. 7, adding, "I've never had any form of cancer."
Summed up Finch, who was placed on administrative leave from the ABC medical drama before eventually resigning, said, "What I did was wrong. Not okay. F--ked up. All the words."
Beauty is pain, but Kim Kardashian might be able to stomach it.
Telling The New York Times the lengths she would go to for a more youthful appearance, the reality star cracked that she was willing to try just about anything.
"If you told me that I literally had to eat poop every single day and I would look younger, I might," she said in June. "I just might."
In a July 2022 interview with Allure, Kim said she was "kind of joking" about the comment, though the idea didn't seem too terrible.
"But now that I think about it," Kim added, "I would probably eat s--t if someone told me, ‘If you eat this bowl of poop every single day, you'll look younger.'"
How much could she make room for? "Maybe just a bite," she told the outlet. "I don't think I can do a whole bowl."
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