Jeff Probst explains why 2 “Survivor 49” players were replaced by alternates

The Survivor 49 cast has been revealed — but two of the 18 faces seen were not originally supposed to be there. That’s because Jason Treul and Michelle “MC” Chukwujekwu were brought to Fiji as alternates. But then, for the first time ever, two players were sent home before the start of the game, which led to the alternates becoming actual contestants just hours before filming began.

What caused the early dismissal of one male and one female contestant the day before the marooning? It seems they may have started playing Survivor before Survivor actually started. The biggest rule for contestants on location before the game begins is to not engage in any communication whatsoever — no talking, no gestures, no verbal or physical contact of any kind between competitors. And it appears that rule may have been broken.

Survivor producers take their rules regarding fairness very seriously, which is why a network standards and practices representative is on location for the duration of the season to make sure everything is on the up and up. And now we know what happens if you don’t follow those guidelines.

Host and showrunner Jeff Probst discussed the surprising decision to replace the two players with alternates. “What I can say about the reason we made the move is this,” he tells Entertainment Weekly. “Survivor has rules and standards, and if a player crosses that line, we act. It’s one of the reasons we bring alternates, is to have our own insurance.”

Of course, this is usually not the insurance they are guarding against. “Typically, we bring alternates in case somebody gets sick or has a panic attack and can’t begin the game. That’s very, very, very rare there. But regardless why we brought them there initially, they are also there to serve as a reminder that we do put a lot of importance on the integrity of the game, and we won’t let anything or any person put that in jeopardy.”

It’s also a reminder to anyone applying to be on Survivor that you are never truly on the show until you are on the show.

“Casting on Survivor is never static,” Probst notes. ”It’s always alive. It’s always in motion right up until the game begins. And typically, we bring 18 players to Fiji and we bring two alternates just in case something unexpected happens. And this season, something unexpected happened and we removed two players from the game and our two alternates — who thought they were there just as insurance knowing that most likely they would be invited back next year to play — were suddenly thrust into the game. It was a shock, for sure.”

That also means that Jason and MC came into the game in a very different headspace than the others who knew they were playing from the moment they landed in Fiji.

“For Jason and MC to be told 12 hours before the game starts, the big question is, will that be an advantage or a disadvantage?” wonders Probst. “I tend to think it’s an advantage, because you’ve spent a week observing, but without the pressure of thinking you were going to have to play and put it into motion.”

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But then rather then gradually ramping up over a few days, the alternates had to go from zero to 60 immediately. “Jason and MC find themselves in this marooning challenge that 12 hours ago they were dreaming might happen one day and suddenly it’s right in front of them,” Probst says. “This is a completely unique situation, and it is a cool layer to this experiment. Maybe there’s something in there about how we do the pre-game with players. When the season’s over, we will definitely evaluate if we thought it had an impact. And, if so, what kind of impact.”

And the impact from alternates is not just from Jason and MC. That’s because Sage Ahrens-Nichols was an alternate on Survivor 47, and Sophie Segreti was an alternate on Survivor 48, making this the most alternate-heavy season ever.

“We have four alternates playing,” Probst says. “When we tell you you’re an alternate, we tell you what that means. It means we want you on the show. We just don’t have a spot for you this season. And we really mean it. When you make the call to a player, you say ‘Good news, bad news. The bad news is we don’t have a spot for you this season. The good news is we’d like you to be an alternate.’ There’s obviously disappointment, but what I hope comes from this is a reminder that we’re usually very good with our word. And if we tell you we want you on the show, it’s just a matter of when.”

But even if they tell you the when, you’re still at risk of not hearing those magic words of “Welcome to Survivor” if you don’t follow all the rules along the way. “The word should spread,” Probst notes of what happened to the two removed players. “Just because we tell you you’re on the show — until the game begins, you’re not on the show.”

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly