Before Sunday’s finale of Survivor: Micronesia airs on CBS (8 p.m. ET), PEOPLE checked in with the show’s host — and resident torch-snuffer — Jeff Probst to get his take on the final four, the great streak of tribal council blindsides and his new MySpace page. –Cynthia Wang
There are four women in the final, Amanda, Cirie, Parvati and Natalie. What is your take and did you expect them to be in the running for the million-dollar prize?
I’m not surprised Amanda’s in it. Overall, she has a very good understanding of how to play Survivor. She’s played two times in a row and has gone deep in the game both times. Cirie — not surprised at all! She is so much cagier. You saw this season that Cirie is so much smarter than she let on her first season. She played that adorable, fish-out-of-water, laughing and giggling all the time when she was on Panama: Exile Island. But this season, when she had it out with [Jonathan] Penner and said, “Listen. You think I don’t know what’s going on. I know.” She’s proven she knows how to play. Parvati, I can’t say she’s surprised me but I’m impressed with how Parvati’s played, particularly with one huge move, bringing Alexis and Natalie into the fold of her, Amanda and Cirie. That move was great because Parvati put herself in a great place of having Alexis and Natalie on one side and Amanda and Cirie on the other side and therefore, for my money, Parvati would be the one I get rid of next because she might have more votes. Next on the block would have to be Cirie because she is so likable. The dark horse is definitely Natalie. I don’t think Natalie can win this game but that might make her a great person to sit next to because she has been so evil.
So the Black Widow Brigade has lived up to its name?
We might have to create some kind of acting or performance award because as a group, that’s probably the best ensemble performance of Survivors that we ever had. This is the first time that a women’s alliance has worked and this group of women have single-handedly destroyed the biggest threats in the game and now they are left to duke it out.
When all of the blindsides were happening, especially Erik’s from last week, did you leave tribal council and go back to production and just laugh?
We had four tribal councils in a row where, when tribal ended and the Survivors take their torches and leave, you can feel everybody — even cameramen who have seen several hundred tribal councils — thinking, “What just happened?” First it was Ozzy, then it was Jason, then it was Alexis, and then, the crème de la crème, Erik handing over the immunity necklace. I don’t think the reaction was laughter so much as a slight bruise on the chin from it hitting the ground.
In “Fans vs. Favorites,” clearly the favorites had the advantage?
Going into the finale with one fan still alive says a lot about the fans and it also points to the huge advantage that the favorites have. They are not worried about what tomorrow will bring because they know what tomorrow will bring, so they can concentrate on relationships. If any of these fans were to come back now and get a second chance, they would be much better. Erik would certainly not make that same mistake again. I think this is in the top three seasons we’ve ever done and it’s exciting to see that happen in our 16th season.
Now fans can get sneak peeks of the show and ask you questions on your new MySpace page. Why the leap to cyberspace?
The world of social networking is clearly the present and the future and I want to be current. I went and looked at some other sites and the one thing that appealed to me were the sites where you felt the person was actually sharing some personal side of who they were instead of some corporate promotional piece. It’s not there yet, we’re slowly building it, but we wanted to get it out there. It’s a big experiment for me. Survivor is show a little bit like The X Files. If you are a fan, you are a really big fan and you will look for the site where you can learn more and ask questions. I’m open to showing as much as we can and I am trying to gather those photos now that can show how big our crew is or what it might look like if you were on Survivor and what you might see looking into a bank. I am going to listen to what people say they like to see and do as much as I can to fulfill it. As Survivor has aged over the years and we still have a loyal fan base over 16 seasons, I think it’s a fair trade in return for that loyalty to let you to continue to learn a little more about the show.
Monty Brinton/CBS
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