‘Survivor’ 47: Jeff Probst Reacts to Eliminated Player’s ‘Emotional Outburst’

The Tribe Has Spoken

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Survivor Season 47 Episode 2.]

A Survivor player put their team on blast in front of the other tribes after losing a challenge in the second episode of Survivor 47, and that proved to be a big mistake.

The episode, which aired on Wednesday, September 25 at 8/7c on CBS, featured a new group maze puzzle that tested everyone’s patience. TK from the Tuku tribe shouted directions to his teammates throughout the challenge’s last tricky leg, but they came up short in the end. Host Jeff Probst noted that there were some smiles among the losing team afterwards. No one was happy they lost. Rather, their grins were more looks of disbelief and frustration. TK couldn’t see those faces while standing in the back of the group, but that didn’t stop him from reacting critically.

“I mean honestly, I’m genuinely pissed off right now, so it’s hard for me to even think that far right now. We got way too many smiles over here for us to lose,” he said. “I’m just not used to losing. I don’t hang with people who are cool with losing. I don’t even associate myself with that. If I lose, I’m not going to be happy about it and I just want to make sure that I have a tribe that has the same mindset. And if we don’t, then that’s a problem.”

Tiyana took the comment personally, assuming it was made in reference to her. But it rubbed the entire tribe the wrong way. When TK overheard Tiyana venting about the outburst later on, it led to them having to reconcile. TK encouraged Tiyana to bring issues up with him directly in the future, and Tiyana privately decided not to let her annoyance with TK stop her from a strategic alliance. But TK’s harsh criticism also made a blindside attractive when Sue suggested voting him out.

The argument to keep TK around was that he’s a strong physical player who could help secure supplies in the group challenges pre-merge. But they ultimately chose to make the bold move of getting the strong physical threat out early, and their plan succeeded.

Probst reacted to this moment in the On Fire podcast, the official Survivor aftershow. The host said he wasn’t surprised by TK’s outburst in the slightest, as Survivor players often make the mistake of thinking their emotions won’t get the best of them.

TK Foster on Survivor 47 (Robert Voets / CBS)

“You can’t separate parts of your personality. Everything is interconnected. That competitive part of you that allows you to achieve and excel is the same part of you that gets frustrated when you don’t,” Probst said. “Emotions are often two sides of the same coin. So you’re not special if you get frustrated when you lose or celebrate a bit too much. If you win, you’re just you.”

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Probst doesn’t think TK or Tiyana were necessarily wrong to react the way they did.

“In the case of TK, he believes that his passion is a correct response to the situation and he’s not wrong,” he said. “It is the correct response for him and that might be the right move because if others agree, then he’ll get his way and he can push his agenda. But Tiyana hears it and now she takes it personally and says, is he talking about me? And now her nap sack of life experiences come into play and she gets defensive.”

“She’s not wrong either,” Probst went on. “That’s the correct response for her and in her case, it did turn out to be right to say something about it because others did agree. That’s why the great Survivor players excel at emotional intelligence, that ability to understand that we can all be our own worst enemy because everything about us is linked. That awareness can be a massive advantage in Survivor.”

Cohost and Season 46 alum Charlie Davis said TK is “clearly super competitive,” a trait that brings a lot of people onto the show, but letting that competitive nature show can sometimes be a mistake.

“Survivor isn’t a sports team. You don’t go back to the locker room and hug it out,” Davis said. “Instead, you have to plan on who you’re going to vote out as soon as you lose. So instead of having time to make amends after comments said in the heat of a loss, you go straight to tribal.”

Probst also made fun of himself for predicting that TK could win during the casting process. He also thought Jon Lovett, the first player eliminated from this season, had what it took to win as well. He’s 0-2 on his predictions so far for Season 47.

“After meeting him in person, I wrote [in his casting notes], ‘In-person, an absolute star. I love him. Maybe my favorite player of everyone we’ve seen so far. He could win,’” Probst revealed. “And yet, TK was the second person voted out of Survivor 47, which just goes to show you I know absolutely nothing.”

In the full On Fire episode below, Davis gives advice on how to win maze puzzles, the hosts (including Jay Wolff) answer fans questions, and Probst reveals that there may be changes made to idols moving forward because of Davis’ take on the advantages.

Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS