Jeff Probst got backlash for spoiling a significant part of the final 50 seasons A survivor – and now a contestant Rizo Velovic he speaks.
“History of the survivors!” Velovic, 26, joked during an interview with Entertainment Weekly Wednesday, May 20. “Jeff was on a variety show recently saying he wanted to edit Survivor with someone going home and show how they go home. And he did it the next day, and it was me! I’m doing Survivor history.”
Velovic wasn’t upset about the on-air flub, adding, “I’ve never been voted off Survivor, two times, only one of four people has ever been. And the first final flub ever in 50 seasons and RizGod was a part of it. So that’s what happened.”
During Wednesday’s finale, Probst, 64, mistakenly referred to Velovic as “the last member of our jury” in the live segment before the firework challenge went out, so it turned out Velovic lost.
Probst apologized for the mistake after the show returned from commercial break.
“So, I love doing live television, in case you’re confused, here’s what happened,” he explained. “We were going to show you how to light a fire, and then take out the key to light the fire, Rizo, and come out and talk about how lovely he is and if he had practiced lighting fire, maybe he would have won, instead we did a Survivor twist, the last twist of the season! It’s called Peak Into the future.”
Jeff Probst in the 50th season of “Survivor”.
Courtesy YouTube/CBSVelovic knew right from the start that something was wrong when he was on stage.
“So my understanding was that they were already under fire,” he told EW. “But I was in the green room and I said, ‘Wait, I’m waiting for myself to lose here, what are we doing?’ And Jeff’s like, ‘Bring out RizGod. And they said, ‘He has risen!’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, I’ll work with what we have here.’ And obviously I’m doing the best RizGod I’m doing at Tribal.’”
Velovic recalled just following Probst’s lead. “I’m playing Jeff, and Jeff is talking about fire and I was like: “Well, I’m not trying to expose you. So I’m like, ‘Win or lose, I’m proud of the way I played,” he continued. “And Jeff’s like, ‘Put your ass on the bench.’ And I say, ‘Well, this is wrong.’
Despite the initial criticism, Velovic thought he and Probst “healed pretty well,” saying, “I did a little joke with Jeff live on stage. I thought it was okay.”
Tiffany Ervinwho came fifth in the finals, was also on stage when the mobi was discussed.
“I was very confused,” he told the outlet. “One thing I’ve learned is not to question Jeff because he knows what he’s doing 99.999 percent of the time. I think we were all in shock. We didn’t really know what was going on. I think it was just a human moment. Survivor is also just about what we’re all doing. We’re at risk in front of the world. Jeff makes no mistakes.
