Survivor 50’s Rizo Responds to Jeff Probst’s Finale Leak
Jeff Probst faced criticism for revealing a significant element of the season 50 finale of Survivor, prompting contestant Rizo Velovic to share his thoughts.
“Survivor history!” Velovic, 26, humorously remarked during an interview with Entertainment Weekly on Wednesday, May 20. “Jeff recently mentioned in a Variety interview that he wanted to edit Survivor by showing the person going home and how they leave. He did it the next day, and it was me! I made Survivor history.”
Velovic was unfazed by the on-air mistake, stating, “I’ve never been voted out of Survivor, despite playing twice, making me one of only four people to achieve this. Plus, it was the first finale mistake ever in 50 seasons, and the RizGod was part of it. So, that’s what happened.”
During the finale, Probst, 64, mistakenly called Velovic “the final member of our jury” in a live segment before the fire-making challenge had aired, inadvertently revealing that Velovic had lost.
Probst expressed his regret for the error after the show came back from a commercial break.
“I love doing live television. If you’re confused, here’s what happened,” he stated. “We were about to show the fire-making challenge, and then have Rizo, the loser, come out and discuss how charming he is and if he had practiced fire-making, maybe he would have won. Instead, we implemented a Survivor twist. It’s the last twist of the season! It’s called A Peak Into the Future.”
Meanwhile, Velovic realized something was off immediately after he took the stage.
“From what I gathered, they assumed the fire-making challenge had already been completed,” he shared with EW. “I was in the green room thinking, ‘Wait, I’m waiting for myself to lose here. What’s happening?’ And then Jeff said, ‘Bring out RizGod.’ They told me, ‘You’re up!’ I thought, ‘Alright, I’ll work with this.’ And of course, I tried to do my best as the RizGod at Tribal.”
Velovic recounted how he played off Probst’s lead. “I followed Jeff’s cues, and while he talked about the fire, I was careful not to reveal the outcome. I said, ‘Win or lose, I’m proud of how I played.’ Then Jeff replied, ‘Sit your ass on the bench.’ I thought, ‘Well, this is awkward.’
Despite the initial backlash, Velovic believed he and Probst handled the situation well, saying, “I made a little joke with Jeff live on stage. I thought it was fine.”
Tiffany Ervin, who finished fifth in the finale, was also present when the spoiler was mentioned.
“I was quite confused,” she said. “One thing I’ve learned is to avoid questioning Jeff because he usually knows what he’s doing 99.999 percent of the time. We were all shocked. None of us really understood what was happening. It was a human moment. It’s Survivor, and it illustrates the vulnerabilities we all experience in front of the world. We all make mistakes, and Jeff is no exception.”
