Jeff Probst Reveals the ‘Hardest Challenge’ While Filming Survivor Since Season 1 in 2000
Jeff Probst has hosted Survivor since the show’s inaugural season in 2000, and he exclusively tells In Touch what the “hardest challenge” has been in his role.
“Leaving. Leaving home. And that is not a woe is me that’s just the truth,” the CBS star, 62, admits. “I love my family, I love my life at home, the comfort of a cup of coffee and my routine and every time I have to leave I remind myself, that’s the reason you get to get up and have a cup of coffee is this amazing show you get to do."
When he’s not hosting the beloved reality television game show, Jeff spends quality time with wife Lisa Ann Russell, whom he married in 2011. The model, 52, was previously married to Saved by the Bell star Mark-Paul Gosselaar and the pair separated in 2010. They share kids Michael and Ava.
“I always thought I would have this family and this great family unit, because that’s what I came from. And then, one day, I met this woman, and it happened. And she had two kids,” Jeff told Larry King in 2012. “[Lisa and Mark] raised these kids with the kind of love that they just see ... us as two more parents,” Probst said of Mark’s second wife, Catriona McGinn.
Which Reality TV Show Would You Want to Join?
As for Jeff’s career, Survivor season 47 is set to premiere at the end of 2024 and fans already have concerns about the future of the show. The biggest question is if Jeff will continue hosting the show after season 50.
“I still love Survivor very much. I think that's pretty clear,” he said during a December 2023 episode of the “On Fire” podcast. “Survivor 50 is definitely our next big target in terms of a milestone, but you’ve got to remember: We've got to get there. So you have to do 45 and 46, then you have to do 47 and 48, then you have to do 49, then you get to 50. So it is one at a time.”
One year prior, Jeff made it clear that he still “love[s]” and “need[s]” to be a part of the Survivor family.
“It goes beyond creative expression or professional recognition. It's much deeper. It's right in line with the ideas I try to impress on our players,” the TV host told Entertainment Weekly in 2022. “It's about pushing myself further than I think I can go, about trying to stay in the moment and adapt to my surroundings, about being a good 'tribe member,' about being open to new ideas and new people. The same opportunities Survivor offers the players, it offers me.”
