‘Survivor’ host Jeff Probst says player wasn’t trying to quit

Here we go again…

This week’s episode of Survivor 46 was thrown into chaos when Q Burdette shocked everyone by asking the tribe to vote him out at Tribal Council. Only this time, the tribe did not honor his wish and instead sent another contestant, Tevin Davis, to the jury.

Q’s reasoning for asking to be voted out was super vague and confusing, as he told the tribe and host Jeff Probst, “It’s not me giving up. Trust me, I wanna play and I’ve been playing since day 1. But again, when something don’t sit right with me and I feel partially responsible for it, I’ve got to own up to it and say, ‘You know what? I’m not going to steal somebody else’s joy and dream, especially in this game where you only get the opportunity to play once.’”

It remained unclear what did not sit right with Q, what he felt responsible for, and whose joy and dream he was stealing, but it also fit the pattern from what we have seen from Q this season. He and partner David Jelinsky quit the Yanu Sweat task on day 1, a quit that Jelinsky said in his exit interview Q first brought up.

Then, on day 10, after Kenzie Petty tried to buoy Q’s spirits after an epic Yanu losing streak by saying, “We’ve fought so hard and I don’t see either one of us stopping anytime soon,” Q responded, “I might. It’s not giving up. It’s accepting it.” He later claimed this was a ruse to make Kenzie feel comfortable so she did not play her Shot in the Dark if they lost again — a claim that seems about as believable as his other assertion that he threw a challenge in which he fell off a platform in the ocean… after saying before the season began that he would never throw a challenge. Q also previously asked the tribe to vote him out after he did not perform well in a challenge, before being talked out of it.

Still, even with all that evidence, and the clear and obvious frustration Q felt this week for losing power and control over a tribe for the first time all season, Probst does not think Q’s attempt to leave the game qualifies as another example of a Survivor quit or reaches the level of what happened last season when Hannah Rose and Sean Edwards both asked to be voted out at Tribal Council.

“I absolutely do not think Q was attempting to quit in the same way Sean and Hannah quit last season,” the host and showrunner tells Entertainment Weekly. But Probst is also careful to note, “any speculation about Q has to begin with this caveat: Q is an enigma. Therefore, one can only hazard a guess as to his motives for any move he makes in the game! We’ve never had anyone like him before.”

Still, Probst believes the player is not the type to give up and throw in the proverbial towel. “I think Q could and would stay out in the jungle and survive for months if he thought it would benefit him in some way. Q is very determined and not afraid of hard work.”

So what, then, does Probst think led to Q offering to fall on his sword? “My take on Q is that on some level he feels that if he is the one most responsible for a situation, then he should be the one to pay the price. So, in this case, he steps up and says, ‘It’s all my fault. Vote me out.’”

However, that does not mean it was just for pure nobility’s sake. “I also think Q likes to cause chaos,” says Probst. “In fact, I think he revels in it! And volunteering to go home on Survivor is a great way to cause chaos because your decision impacts a lot of other people. There are a variety of reasons that other players may not want you to go home. Q knows this and uses it strategically. And when you are playing to win, and therefore not afraid of being voted out, it gives you tremendous power in the game.”

While Q’s motives remain murky at best, there is no debate that the guy has made great television with his… shall we say… unique approach to the game. “People ask me all the time, ‘How do I get on Survivor?,’” Probst says. “Q is a great example from the standpoint of being true to who you are all the time. This is Q. I’m sure all of Q’s friends back home are not the least bit surprised by his behavior. He’s fascinating to watch and complicated to play with and against.”

As for how the host handles players like Q and moments like that when they pop up at Tribal Council, Probst notes, “there is no predicting what Q will say or do in any given moment, so going into Tribal Council is always exciting. I take my spot on my stool and start asking questions with absolutely no idea where it all will lead.”

And this time, it led to complete chaos, but Q still firmly in the game. Read our full Survivor 46 episode recap for more.

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