‘Survivor’ 47 Premiere: ‘Shocked’ Jeff Probst Reacts to Jon Lovett’s Backfired Plan

The Tribe Has Spoken

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor Season 47 premiere.]

You have to make big moves in Survivor, but they don’t always pay off. When podcast host Jon Lovett found himself in trouble in the Survivor 47 premiere, he attempted a risky move to save himself from elimination on night one. Jeff Probst says in the Survivor On Fire podcast (embedded below) that he once believed Jon was capable of winning the entire game, but the one thing that could stop him came to pass in the first episode. So, did he really have what it takes to be the sole survivor?

Jon was part of the Gata tribe, which found itself in the first tribal council of the season in the premiere, titled “One Glorious and Perfect Episode.” That title turned out to be a line from Jon himself, said as he realized he was on the chopping block. The team clocked that he was a skilled strategist and politician early on. Their choices for elimination were Jon and Andy, the latter of whom didn’t put on the best performance during the challenges.

“Based on how things were after the challenge, I was shocked. I thought Andy was done,” Probst says in the Season 4 premiere of On Fire, the only official Survivor aftershow and podcast. His cohosts this season are Jay Wolff and Survivor 46 alum Charlie Davis, who will also provide commentary on each episode throughout the season.

The Gata tribe wanted Jon out early because of his political and social skills (he used to write speeches for President Barack Obama, so he is a skilled orator and storyteller, as Probst previously teased). Realizing that the ax was swinging his way post-immunity challenge, Jon tried to “go out swinging,” as he described it, by engineering a move against Anika that entailed working with Andy. It was a smart strategy, trying to work around the majority’s plan. But he couldn’t recruit enough people to his cause.

Probst believed Andy was a proven “liability” after he walked away from a challenge, but “in hindsight, Jon is obviously a very bright guy,” the host adds. “Andy could be more valuable because of what happened, and Jon could be a massive threat because of who he is. So maybe the move is to take out somebody we all believe could win this game. And I think that’s what they did.”

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Jeff Probst Says 'Survivor' 47 Is Defined by 'Constant Uncertainty' on Every Tribe

Jon became the first person voted out of Survivor 47. Probst implies that his strengths may have been his downfall as he reflects on his first impressions of the player in the casting process.

Probst reveals in On Fire that the notes he wrote about Jon’s Survivor audition were, “He’s amazing, very compelling, incredible storyteller.” That’s also the message Probst put out about Jon’s playing in previews for Season 47. But the host revealed his second impression that wasn’t as glowing.

“He does overthink things. This could cause decision-making issues,” Probst says. But his third round of notes before Jon was officially cast were, “He could and should go very deep. He’s so smart. What would stop him?”

Ultimately, the answer to that question, in Probst’s mind, was “something unexpected.” That’s how he makes sense of Jon’s immediate elimination.

“Andy has this collapse and starts to throw him under the bus, and that goes back to the very beginning of this episode which is the uncertainty that starts when you’re on that beach,” Probst shares, adding that “maybe Jon Lovett said something in those opening moments” that was a red flag to his teammates.

Probst thinks Jon had the makings to be a Survivor winner. But can that be true when he was eliminated in the very first episode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section. Listen to the full On Fire episode below.

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