Jeff Probst Is the Ultimate ‘Survivor’

Despite many changes to the reality show over the last 21 years, he has been a constant.

Jeff Probst was halfway to Fiji when he got the call. It was mid-March 2020, days before “Survivor” was scheduled to begin filming, and he was on vacation with his family in Hawaii when he learned that months of work and preparation would have to be suspended immediately. The show’s crew — around 400 people — were suddenly out of work. Plans to shoot the show domestically were investigated and scrapped.

“We’ve shot 1,600 days and, until the pandemic, had never missed a day,” Mr. Probst, 59, said. He pondered the franchise’s next moves.

“Ironically, it was a lesson I’ve learned on ‘Survivor’ that helped me,” he said. “I always tell players, ‘You have to assess constantly and adapt accordingly.’ For me, it was, ‘OK, you can’t shoot “Survivor.” What can you do?’”