Survivor star Rizo Velovic broke silence on host Jeff Probst's major TV blunder during Wednesday's live finale episode.
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Survivor Star Calls Out Probst’s Biggest Blunder
Survivor star Rizo Velovic broke silence on host Jeff Probst's major TV blunder during Wednesday's live finale episode.The 26-year-old contestant gave insight i...
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The 26-year-old contestant gave insight into his initial reaction when Probst before viewers had the chance to watch the pre-taped segment.
The host of the series later recalled the chaotic moment and admitted that 'mistakes happen' when it comes to live television.
'I was very confused,' Velovic shared to People on Wednesday. 'Jeff wanted to give me my moment, which was great, but I'm getting my moment before the travesty of losing fire back-to-back times.'
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The contestant, who is also known as the Riz God, explained that he tried to be 'professional' and 'funny' in order 'to see if Jeff would pick up what happened.'
While Probst didn't realize what occurred, Velovic and those around him had 'picked it up pretty well.'
Survivor star Rizo Velovic, 26, broke silence on host Jeff Probst's major TV blunder during Wednesday's live finale episode; seen on Wednesday in L.A.
The contestant, who is also known as the Riz God, explained that he tried to be 'professional' and 'funny' in order 'to see if Jeff would pick up what happened'
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After a commercial break following the blunder, Velovic said that 'we came back and lost, we played a little joke, so it was fine...'
He playfully joked that the moment would now be 'a part of history!'
In regards to what possibly should have happened, Velovic said he believed 'the goal was to see fire happen and then that segment happen, but I think they did the segment before fire was shown. That's my understanding, I don't know'
He started to speak again before suddenly halting mid-sentence, with fellow contestants quickly pointing out the gaffe, saying, 'The fire hasn't happened yet'
'Huh?' Probst replied, looking genuinely baffled, adding, 'I'm not even sure what's happened,' before CBS mercifully cut to commercial.
Following the brief break, Probst attempted to clarify the mess.
'Alright, so, I love doing live television,' he began, greeted by a cheering audience.
He then joked, '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.
'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 finale wrapped with Aubry Bracco claiming victory over Jonathan Young and Joe Hunter at the Final Tribal Council, taking home the $2 million prize.
Fans had jumped to social media to share their thoughts on the shocking moment.
One posted, 'As someone who missed the Will Smith slap live, this was the wildest live TV moment I've ever seen. RIP to whoever just lost their job.'
The finale wrapped with Aubry Bracco claiming victory over Jonathan Young and Joe Hunter at the Final Tribal Council, taking home the $2 million prize; Bracco seen on Wednesday in L.A.
Others were less forgiving. 'Well now they're definitely not going to have any more live finales,' one wrote.
Another seethed, 'Coming back on air and trying to laugh & make a joke out of the mistake instead of apologizing for ruining one of the biggest scenes of the season is just ugly and inexcusable.'
Some users opted for sarcastic farewell messages: 'Thank you for your years of service #JeffProbst!! Time to ride off into the sunset.'
During an appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King, Probst opened up about the live blunder.
'What's happening when you're doing a finale is you're running the show - the episode - and then you're doing these live hits where I come out, and I talk to one of these players. I'm not watching the show.'
The host had the intention to speak with Velovic on stage until he noticed the audience's reaction.
'I'm backstage getting ready for my funny question with Rizo about it, "If only he had practiced fire-making." So I come out, we're all set up on the stage, we got an empty seat for Rizzo. I don't think anything's weird.
During an appearance on CBS Mornings with Gayle King, Probst opened up about the live blunder; seen in 2019
'It wasn't until I started talking to Rizo about losing in fire... I'm telling you, we have 1,200 people here, I could collectively feel the energy go to an emoji like this.'
Probst then placed his hands on his face while holding a shocked expression.
He added that he was unaware about what was happening.
'And so what happened, I'm still not sure. We have a big team. Mistakes happen, but we just got ahead of ourselves and none of us saw it.'
The host added, 'Rizo even told me later, he goes, "I was standing next to you going, I don't know why he's going to send me over to the jury, I haven't even lost yet!" Live TV!'
The host added, 'Rizo even told me later, he goes, "I was standing next to you going, I don't know why he's going to send me over to the jury, I haven't even lost yet!" Live TV!'; Velovic seen above middle
King told Probst that he 'handled it so brilliantly.'
She continued, 'You just told the truth and we just moved on but you were so good in how you did it!'
Velovic not only competed on the latest season of the reality competition series, but also Survivor 49.
His run on both seasons came to end when he lost the fire-making challenges.
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