‘It’s lived in many different places’

You’ve seen it countless times before. A Survivor player ventures out into the jungle and finds a hidden immunity idol or advantage. It comes in a cute little package complete with a parchment explaining what it is, and when and how it can be used. The player is ecstatic, yet has to now return to their camp without somehow alerting the others to their discovery. So they do what so many players before them have done: they stuff it down their pants.

Crotch idols and advantages are a way of life out on Survivor — we’ve already seen one this season on Survivor 49 courtesy of Sophi Balerdi — and the topic of these less-than-sanitary items somehow found its way into a discussion on the latest episode of the On Fire with Jeff Probst podcast.

The impetus for the chat was a fan question asking what kind of material the parchments for idols and advantages were made of, and the “durability for when it’s pouring down rain from the Fijian skies, or when players are out in the ocean and they have notes in their pocket.”

Jeff Probst then launches into an explanation on the podcast as to proper Survivor parchment production. “It’s pretty thick paper that comes in sheets, big sheets, and then it’s individually cut into the right size for whether it’s a note or a vote,” the host says. “And then it’s aged by our art department, which includes all kinds of very subtle treatments, including the work around the edges and the aging process that makes it look old and stained. So no two parchments have ever been the same.”

As to the resilience of the parchment, “It is surprisingly durable,” Probst notes. “I can sometimes tell when, say, a vote is used and it’s been an extra vote, and you can tell that it’s been in a player’s bag or shorts or shoved in their shoes for many days because it’s just got all these little wrinkles, but it doesn’t ever really tear.”

The host probably thought (and hoped) the discussion would end right then and there, but three-time Survivor player Jeremy Collins (who cohosts On Fire this season) then had to weigh in.

“I can vouch for that, Jeff,” says Jeremy. “I’ve stuck parchment in my pants numerous times, and it’s where the sun don’t shine.”

Probst’s reaction? A clearly horrified “Oh, God.”

“It holds up, man,” says Jeremy, now in hysterics. “It holds up.”

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Of course, Probst is all too aware when someone hands him something at Tribal Council that it has most likely at some point acted as Survivor underwear for the person playing it, and the host just has to stand there and take it… literally.

“I will say every time somebody hands me an idol, I’m very aware that this has had its own journey for many days, and it’s lived in many different places.”

Which then leads to this brilliant exchange:
Jeremy: “I’ve handed you one!”
Probst: “Oh, thanks.”
Jeremy: “Go wash your hands after this one.”
Probst: “Oh, I do.”

All part of the job when it comes to Survivor.

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