‘Survivor’s Jeff Probst Says Mike White ‘Should Never’ Put Him on ‘White Lotus’

Mike White loves to cast Survivor alums on The White Lotus. Natalie Cole, Carl Boudreaux, Christian Hubicki, Angelina Keeley, Alec Merlino, and Kara Kay have all appeared in guest star and cameo roles in the show’s three-season run on HBO. But Survivor host Jeff Probst doesn’t think he should be recruited for the next cameo from his reality competition show.

Probst shared his thoughts on why now two-time Survivor contestant White loves the show so much, and why he would come back to the play the game after the success of The White Lotus, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter. Probst argues that Survivor and The White Lotus are both studies of human behavior, theorizing that White learned a lot about that from watching and playing Survivor.

“I’m surprised people aren’t asking, ‘Why is one of the greatest writers in the history of Hollywood so interested in Survivor?’” Probst said. “What is it that Mike is learning about humans and behavior and situational ethics that he applies to his craft? Because I think that’s part of why he does it — he’s out there in a real incubator of human behavior where you never know what’s going to happen, but what you do know is that if you show up to play Survivor, you can study it.”

“And when you watch White Lotus, what are you watching? You’re watching human behavior all day,” he continued. “I think that’s part of the reason Mike is back, and if you don’t understand that, maybe you’re asking the wrong question.”

You’d think that after featuring Survivor alums in every season of The White Lotus so far that a cameo from Probst would have at least crossed White’s mind while making each season. But Probst doesn’t seem interested.

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“No, Mike should never put me on White Lotus,” the Emmy-winning host said flat-out without explaining why. Perhaps Probst feels that he would be too distracting of a cameo for The White Lotus and wants to continue to let his Survivor contestants shine. While he didn’t reveal why he doesn’t think appearing on the HBO drama is a good idea, he did share his feelings about those cameos.

“I really love the cameos and how he uses people. And I think that, too, speaks to Mike as a person,” Probst explained. “He’s able to be one of the Hollywood elite, in terms of show creators, but he’s also able to do the show with people who are not from Hollywood, and then invite them into his world and say, ‘Why don’t you come experience what it’s like to be on the set of White Lotus for a day?’ and, ‘I’m going to put you in the seat.’ That’s incredible confidence and incredible generosity of spirit.”

White first competed in Survivor: David vs. Goliath (Season 37) alongside Hubicki and Keeley. All three of them will be seen in Survivor 50 when it premieres in 2026. They are three of the 24 returning players, including two players from the upcoming Season 49 who have yet to be revealed. White wanted to return to Survivor before Season 50 (there hasn’t been a returning players season since Season 40), and Probst finally said yes for this milestone season. The host said they’re both interested in seeing how White’s increased star power changes his odds in the game this time around (he finished in second place in Season 37, so he’s clearly good at the game).

“What’s really going to be fun is to watch Mike integrate with these people that he knows in his study,” Probst said. “He wanted to come back and step away from his Hollywood career for a moment and play this game that he loves to see how it will go. ‘Now that everybody is more aware of me now that I’m a little more successful, how will I fare?’”

Both Survivor and The White Lotus are up for top awards at this year’s Emmy Awards. See the full list of nominations here.