jeff probst photo

‘Survivor’ Host Jeff Probst Opens Up About Decision to Air Gruesome Injury

Survivor 44 contestant Matthew Grinstead-Mayle suffered a severe injury as his foot slipped off a rocky area and he tumbled downward. A drone films his gruesome fall and it was replayed several times on TV. Why would Survivor continue to show this horrific incident week after week? Host Jeff Probst offers some insights into the constant airing of Grinstead-Mayle’s accident.

Try Paramount+ FREE for a week. Subscribe here to watch your favorite shows.

Probst says that footage might say more about the Survivor experience than any other in the franchise. “In many ways, that drone shot represents Survivor about as well as any shot could,” the host says. “You get a great feel for the adventure of Survivor when Matthew makes the decision to climb the rock. 

‘Survivor’ Host Jeff Probst Says We Get View Of Cinematic Beauty In Painful Film Clip

“You see the cinematic beauty of Survivor through our drone team’s quick reaction to get up in the air and capture the dramatic moment,” Probst said. “(And) You feel the realness of the risks that come with living in a Fijian jungle. And you are reminded that every decision you make on Survivor comes with a consequence. Sometimes the results favor you, and sometimes they do you in.”

Looking at a person fall in such a ghastly and gruesome matter — even if it only resulted in a shoulder injury and some cuts and bruises — is, in many ways, scarier than the far more explicit carnage you’ll see on scripted shows like The Walking Dead, House of The Dragon, and The Last of Us.

Probst Says Show Producers Weren’t Concerned About Airing Accident Footage

Did Survivor‘s producers and CBS ever think about not airing the footage due to its grisly content? “No, we were never concerned about airing it,” Probst says to Entertainment Weekly. “Injuries are not common on Survivor, but they do happen, and we owe it to the players to represent their experience as authentically as they lived the experience.”

Grinstead-Mayle’s injury caused him so much pain and agony that he walked away from the game this week. He did it after being medically evaluated once again by the Survivor medical team. Probst was asked about the circumstances surrounding Matthew’s departure.

“After the challenge, we sent the rest of the tribe back to camp so that Dr. Will could do a thorough examination of Matthew’s shoulder and talk with him in private,” Probst says. “Dr. Will spent quite a bit of time not only looking at the shoulder, but also discussing the long-term risks associated with this type of injury. It was clear to me that Matthew was torn on whether to stay or go.”