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Jeff Probst accidentally spoils outcome of ‘Survivor’ 50 finale fire-making challenge with major reveal

Aubry decided to have Rizo Velovic and Jonathan Young compete in the iconic fire-making challenge

The finale of ‘Survivor’ Season 50 delivered exactly the kind of drama fans expect from the long-running CBS competition. There was tension, difficult challenges, and one very awkward moment that nobody, including host Jeff Probst, saw coming. During the live finale broadcast, Probst accidentally revealed the outcome of the season’s iconic fire-making challenge before viewers at home even had the chance to watch it play out on screen. The mistake happened in front of a live audience in Los Angeles. This came after Aubry Bracco secured victory in the final immunity challenge. With a guaranteed spot in the last stage of the game, she got to choose who would sit beside her in the final three and who would have to battle it out with flint and fire. 

Aubry decided to have Rizo Velovic and Jonathan Young compete in the fire-making duel. After CBS screened footage of Aubry revealing her decision, the episode suddenly switched back to the live studio setup. Production apparently cued Probst to introduce Rizo to the stage before footage from the fire-making challenge had aired. In other words, the audience learned who lost before the competition even appeared on television. As Probst started speaking about Velovic being the last member of the Season 50 jury, people in the audience reacted with audible gasps. The longtime host quickly noticed something was wrong while he was talking. “This is it, these are the people. Their games fell a little short, but this is the group that is going to figure out — what just happened?" Probst said before stopping mid-thought.

Then, fellow contestant Cirie Fields jumped in as she voiced what everyone in the room was thinking. “Fire hasn't happened yet,” she responded while the audience buzzed with chatter. At that point, there was really no hiding the mistake anymore. The result had already been spoiled live on national television. Still, if there is one thing Probst has learned after hosting ‘Survivor’ for decades, it's how to roll with the punches. During the commercial break, Probst briefly stepped away from the stage while production regrouped. When the live broadcast resumed, the audience started chanting, “We love you, Jeff!” Smiling at the reaction, Probst joked, “I love live television.”

The host then addressed the situation, turning the production error into a running joke for the remainder of the segment. “In case you’re confused, this is what happened. We were going to show you fire-making and then have the loser of fire-making, Rizo, come out and talk about if he had practiced fire-making, maybe he would’ve won,” Probst explained. “Instead, we did a ‘Survivor’ twist, it’s the last twist of the season. We call it, ‘A peek into the future.’ So now, we’re going to watch Rizo lose in a fire to Jonathan.” The audience burst out laughing. Once the fire-making competition finally aired, viewers watched Jonathan Young defeat Velovic in the challenge despite already knowing the result.