‘Survivor’: Jeff Probst Reacts to Joe Hunter’s Powerful Message to Late Sister

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 48 Episode 12, “Icarus Time.” It also contains discussions of domestic violence.]

Survivor contestant Joe Hunter has been involved in two of the most emotionally powerful moments of Season 48. Connecting with Eva Erickson in a moment of overwhelm in Episode 5 brought host Jeff Probst to tears on-camera for the first time in the show’s history. And in Season 48 Episode 12, Joe’s letter from home led to a compelling moment of private reflection for the competitor, who signed up for Survivor to honor his late sister.

Joe wears a domestic violence awareness bracelet on the show in honor of his sister, Joanna, who died a couple of years ago due to domestic violence. Joe has said throughout the season that he’s playing Survivor in her honor, as she was an avid watcher since Season 1 and she dreamed of competing on the show with her brother. After reading a letter from his son calling him courageous in the May 14 episode, Joe decided it was finally time to say sorry to his sister for something he said the night before she died — something he’s long been avoiding. The Survivor experience compelled him to take this private moment to grieve.

“I needed some closure to try to hopefully help start some healing,” Joe said in confessional before his scene on the beach began. Facing the ocean at sunset, Joe started speaking to his sister, opening up about their last interaction.

“Final six, Joanna. The night before you passed, I said some things I didn’t mean, and I never spoke to you again past that morning. I feel closer out here to you, so from the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry for the things I said,” he tearfully said. “I know you didn’t mean the things you said either, and I never got the chance to say I love you. So, I love you. Always will. Most of all, I know I had one job as a brother. So, I need you to know that I’m sorry that I couldn’t protect you from that monster. I’m sorry. I’m gonna keep fighting out here. You take care of Dad up there. Make sure he’s not cheating at Uno. I love you. I miss you so much… I’ve been waiting to say that to you for a long time.”

Jeff Probst and his On Fire cohosts reacted to this compelling moment in the Survivor aftershow podcast released on May 14. Probst was moved by this moment but wasn’t surprised to see it happen. He said that “one of the lesser talked-about aspects of Survivor is all the time you have for your thoughts.”

“Those thoughts that you’ve been holding space for, or maybe ignoring — maybe you’ve shelved them away so neatly, you forgot where you put them. They can all come bubbling to the surface saying, ‘All right, now we’re going to deal with this,'” Probst told Season 47 winner Rachel LaMont and their cohost, Jay Wolff. Probst went on to say that this moment will go on to define the rest of Joe’s game this season because there’s no way that something so profound as this doesn’t change you.

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“That’s what I mean when I say the game is the lure, but the experience is the prize,” Probst explained. “Because it’s the design of Survivor that brings you to your knees and provides these opportunities for reflection. And it’s what happens within that moment of reflection, in this case, Joe, that will shape the entire experience for him. And this has been, as we witnessed, quite the emotional experience and journey for Joe.”

“This episode is really a big push-pull between this, ‘It’s just a game!’ and then this other side of, ‘This is a completely life-altering, shattering experience that will affect the way you experience the rest of your life,'” Wolff reflected before asking LaMont, “Is it one or the other, or is it both?”

“It is both,” she said. “The pendulum swing between Survivor game and Survivor journey varies player to player based on our background and our personal histories. Some people are able to compartmentalize the emotional part of the experience to stay sharper strategically, while for others the personal journey weighs more heavily, making it harder to make cold game moves, but maybe they’re more social as a result. Neither is wrong. We’ve certainly seen both types succeed. They’re just different. And the beauty of Survivor is that it forces you to manage that balance, and how you do reveals a lot about who you are.”

Joe was tricked into betraying one of his top allies, Shauhin, later on in this episode in a scheme concocted by Kyle and Kamilla. The final five of Season 48 is now Joe, Eva, Kamilla, Kyle, and Mitch. Find out who wins the $1 million in the Season 48 finale next week.

Survivor, Season 48 Finale, Wednesday, May 21, 8/7c, CBS

If you or someone you know is the victim of domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.