From Richard Hatch to Todd Herzog: Jeff Probst Looks Back

When Survivor: Samoa kicks off tonight on CBS, gay fans of the show won’t have one of our own to cheer on, as this cycle features no out contestants who could have possibly joined Richard Hatch and Todd Herzog as the last man standing at Tribal Council. That means we’ll have to settle just for the usual Survivor shenanigans, competitions, and backstabbing.

No doubt the show will provide the usual eye candy – at least until we get deeper into the season where contestants usually turn into such skinny, ragged versions of themselves that it becomes difficult to believe we ever found them hot.

AfterElton.com recently had an unexpected opportunity to chat with Survivor’s own Jeff Probst who told us which of the gay contestants he most admired, why gay folks often don’t last as long, and whether he’d ever put Richard Hatch on the show again.

AfterElton.com: We've interviewed Spencer Duhm and Todd Herzog and most everyone gay who's come off the show, so my question for you would be, which gay contestant did you most admire?
Jeff Probst: Who have we had? Spencer, Todd...

AE: Brad Virata, Richard Hatch, Rafe ... there's been a slew of them.
JP: They're all very different. Richard stands in a class by himself. I'm at a point now with Richard where I don't think he's making great decisions. I don't even trust his decision-making ability anymore, because I don't know why anybody would go to prison for five years knowing you still have to pay the same taxes when you get out. You can pay me now or you can be an idiot and say you're not going to pay it, but you're going to pay it.

Richard Hatch

Rafe is one of my favorites. Rafe had this beautiful heart. I liked Rafe. I felt like he was a good person the whole time he was out there, and he really loved Survivor and he wanted to play, but he was torn by a decision that he had to make that would betray somebody. It was hard for him.

Probst with Rafe Judkins