Jeff Probst‘s take on Survivor having mostly male winners wasn’t very well received by viewers or former contestant Parvati Shallow.
The host, 63, was recently asked about Survivor‘s previous winners on The Elvis Duran Show, to which he replied, “When you list all of the greatest ‘characters’ of Survivor, a majority of them are men.” Probst’s quote was shared on a Survivor fan account, which received backlash from fans of the hit CBS series and Shallow, 42.
“Dude. This guy,” she wrote in the comments section. “I wonder if some kind of editing bias (among other things) could be preventing the women from becoming bigger characters … hmmm.”
Shallow elaborated via her Instagram Story on Sunday, March 2, adding, “Grrrr … When your team is primarily made of men and your bias shows that … wonder why women don’t become bigger characters??”
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Probst has not yet responded to the online backlash. He has been the host — and executive producer — of Survivor since its inception in 2000. Throughout the show’s 48 season run, Probst has won four Primetime Emmy Awards as the host.
The hit reality competition places a group of people in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. They are also competing in challenges that offer them immunity from elimination by their fellow contestants.
Survivor has inspired various spinoffs including variations from other countries and seasons that include returning players. Throughout the flagship show’s 25-year run, there have been nearly 20 winners who have been women and almost 30 male winners.
Shallow specifically has competed five times on Survivor and won Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites. She reflected on her reality TV past while speaking recently to Us Weekly about her appearance on Deal or No Deal Island.
“I unretired double time because I did Deal or No Deal Island and I did Australian Survivor vs. the World in one summer, back-to-back,” she shared with Us in January. “There’s something that gets in my blood about these reality competition games — they’re peak experiences, they’re life-changing experiences and who gets the opportunity to play them more than once? It feels like a blessing and a curse.”
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While reflecting on Deal or No Deal Island, Shallow admitted the accommodations were significantly better than on Survivor.
“Girl, put me on an island any day of my life. I love an exotic, beautiful beach. Deal or No Deal Island was a glamping experience that I would’ve paid for,” she quipped. “But the glamp experience was so nice. And then the pavilion that they had us in the dock, the hammocks, the swing — loved it there.”
She added, “The castle in Scotland [for Traitors] is nice, but it’s cold — and it’s probably haunted by the ghosts of the first murdered.”
