‘Survivor’ host Jeff Probst cries after contestant opens up about her autism diagnosis
A powerful moment between two “Survivor” contestants on rival tribes brought Jeff Probst to tears, which he said has “never happened” in his 25 years of hosting the show.
Eva Erickson, 24, who has autism, was “extremely overwhelmed” during the March 26 episode of Season 48, which led to her crying uncontrollably as her four tribe mates tried to console her.
Probst noticed a competitor from a rival tribe, Joe Hunter, 45, showing concern for Erickson in the emotional moment. Hunter and Erickson started the game on the same tribe but were separated in Episode 4. Usually contestants from competing tribes are not allowed to physically interact, but Probst broke with protocol.
“Joe, you want to give her a hug?” he asked Hunter in the episode.
Hunter walked over and embraced Erickson, telling her, “You’re good. Deep breath, remember.”
He took Erickson’s hand and continued to calm her. She thanked him, and then he asked if she wanted another “big hug.”
“Yeah, you’re amazing,” she replied.
“Ease you out of it,” he said as he embraced her. “Come back down out of it. Easy, slow your breath.”
He then clasped her hands as she stopped crying and once again thanked him.
Erickson had only told Hunter early in the competition that she had autism, but then shared it with the group after their moment together. Probst spoke about why he allowed Hunter to break with the usual rules of no contact with an opposing tribe.
“Normally, when a challenge ends, we keep the tribes separated, but I think everybody here saw that something really powerful was happening,” Probst said. “Eva was struggling, emotionally struggling. Clearly there was a connection with a former tribe mate in Joe. I felt it was OK for me to suggest they hug, and I could see everybody agreed.”
Probst then asked Hunter why he would risk potentially losing the “Survivor” competition by helping someone from a rival tribe.
“I want my kids watching me,” the fire captain from California said. “I’m going to be the man I want them to be and the people I want them to be, regardless of the game, and that’s what you do. That’s who I am. So if it exposes, it exposes, but she was in need, and I would want someone to treat my daughter that way if they were playing this game.”
Erickson then told the other competitors that she was diagnosed with autism when she was very young.
“I’ve never viewed my autism as a roadblock to success,” she said. “It’s not something to work around, it’s just part of who I am. It’s nothing bad about it.”
Her fellow “Survivor” players clapped in the background as Erickson told her story.
“Please let’s take a step away from the game and understand that this is something that I deal with with my autism, and everyone who has autism should not be ashamed to ask for help and ashamed to receive it,” she said.
Probst then became emotional as he summed up the moment.
“Eva, it takes so much courage to play ‘Survivor’ for anybody, but for you to come out here knowing something like this might happen, and then be brave enough to share your story,” he said.
“Because there is a young girl or boy just like you watching right now going, ‘Hey Mom, hey Dad…”
Probst paused as he fought back tears.
“Now you got me. I’m a parent, too, and I do see it. Wow, this has never happened. But I see it, too, and it’s why I love ‘Survivor.’”
Erickson told People in an interview that it was “crazy seeing Jeff cry.”
“Seeing Jeff get so emotional about the situation and thinking about his own family and his kids, that was the moment when it hit me, that this is a moment that is going to be remembered,” she said. “He’s seen so many people and been through so much through all of years of ‘Survivor,’ and now seeing that this moment broke him, I was like, OK, this is bigger than I can imagine.”
On the show, Erickson described experiencing “episodes” where she gets extremely overstimulated and “ungrounded,” which causes her to “lose control” of herself.
The Ph.D. candidate from Brown University told People she kept falling during a challenge, which caused her to become overwhelmed. She was grateful for Hunter stepping in to help calm her.
“I want to tell Joe that he’s my superhero,” she told People. “He is an amazing man, and I am so thankful I got to meet him through ‘Survivor,’ and that this is someone who, regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, he will always have a place in my heart. He saw me in this hard situation — and he had the tools and knew what to do — and he acted on that.”
