‘Survivor’ Host Jeff Probst Reveals How He Secretly Tallies the Votes

Survivor host Jeff Probst is revealing more behind-the-scenes secrets of the long-running reality competition series. If fans have ever wondered just how Probst is able to tally the votes from the players at Tribal Council since it’s mere seconds on TV but a few minutes IRL, wonder no more. Via Entertainment Weekly, the host answered a question by Survivor fan Sean on his On Fire With Jeff Probst podcast about the tallies, saying he will “walk you through this because I take this seriously. I really do.”

“I take the votes to a private area and go through them and put them in order,” Probst explained. “And the reason they have to be in order is not just for dramatic impact, but it’s also because we’re always going to read votes for every player that got a vote. The only votes I don’t read are when the only votes left are for the player who already has the most votes. So they already have the majority, so the rest are all theirs, and it’s not going to change anything. So you have to order them to make sure you accomplish this.”

After the tallies are done, things continue to be serious business for him when it comes to actually reading the votes, as Probst is “pretty focused.” He continued, “And honestly before I come back with the votes, I kind of center myself because I’m doing math. I know the stakes are big, and I don’t want to make a mistake.” Using co-hosts Jay Wolff and Charlie Davis as an example, Probst explained, “So when I’m saying, ‘Okay, that’s four votes Jay, two votes Charlie, two votes Jeff. Next vote: Charlie. Okay, that’s four votes, Jay, three votes, Charlie, two votes, Jeff.’ You can see how quickly in some of those Tribals you’re like, ‘Wait, it was four votes and three, then two, but now they get one.’”

As Jeff Probst is staying focused, all he’s really thinking about is not messing it up since he knows “the drama is there.” It actually seems like one of his least favorite parts each week. “I’ll tell you how superstitious I am about this,” Probst shared. “I don’t even like talking about it. We had a question the other week where somebody said, ‘Has anybody ever punched you?’ I’m like, I don’t want that even out there in the universe!”

Being host of Survivor may not be as stressful as competing on Survivor, but it sounds like it is still a tasking job at times. However, considering Probst has been doing this for over 20 years and nearly 50 seasons, everything is like second nature to him. That doesn’t mean he can’t still get nervous from time to time.