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WARNING: spoilers below for the Survivor 50 finale.
Oops. Jeff Probst definitely didn’t mean to say that.
The longtime Survivor host has just become the latest personality to land in the live-TV blunder hall of fame, making a colossal mistake during Wednesday night’s Survivor 50 finale.
The mistake? Prematurely announcing Rizo Velovic as the loser of the high-stakes fire-making challenge — which determines who moves on to the Final Three — before the pre-taped showdown even got a chance to air.
Here’s how the snafu unfolded.
After Aubry Bracco won the season’s final immunity challenge, she locked in her spot in the Final Three, leaving Rizo Velovic and Jonathan to battle it out in the fire-making challenge.
During a live segment, just before the challenge was about to go to air, Probst invited “RizGod” Velovic onstage to talk about his fire-making skills.
It was at that critical juncture, just as he was about to throw to commercial break, that Probst revealed Velovic would be the season’s last juror — accidentally revealing that he had lost the challenge and had been eliminated from the competition.
“So you’ve become the final member of our jury, take a spot over here,” Probst said, pointing to a visibly stunned Velovic in a clip later shared on X.
“This is it — these are the people, their games fell a little short, but this is the group, that is going to…” Probst continued, before abruptly stopping mid-sentence.
“What just happened?” he asked, which is when other contestants pointed out his mistake.
“The fire hasn’t happened yet.”
The realization triggered audible gasps and “ooos” from the live audience.
Did Jeff Probst spoil critical game moment during the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Survivor50?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Survivor50</a> live finale? 😵💫😬🫠 <a href=”https://t.co/U7tXbkm3si”>pic.twitter.com/U7tXbkm3si</a>
—DEADLINE
In another clip shared to X, when the show returned from commercial, Probst attempted to laugh off the blunder, framing it as a “Survivor twist.”
“I love doing live television,” said Probst, who also executive produces the series, as the audience erupted in cheers.
“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 how charming he is and if he had practised 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,” he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Jeff Probst acknowledges <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Survivor50?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Survivor50</a> blunder and plays it off as a “Survivor twist” 🫠🫠🫠 <a href=”https://t.co/ksKYf8ZhzT”>pic.twitter.com/ksKYf8ZhzT</a>
—DEADLINE
He then doubled down on the accidental spoiler, telling viewers that they would now “watch Rizo lose in a fire to Jonathan.”
No official statement has been released from the show’s broadcaster, CBS, on the apparent blunder.
Bracco was eventually crowned the winner of Survivor Season 50, defeating fellow finallists Jonathon Young and Joe Hunter in a 8-3-0 jury vote to claim the $2-million US prize.
