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Survivor players are allowed to cheat, Jeff Probst explained why

Jeff Probst In Season 44
Jeff Probst plans to host Survivor for many more years. Pic credit: Robert Voets/CBS

Survivor fans were likely yelling at the television screen again on Wednesday night.

During the latest installment of the show (Season 44, Episode 3), blatant cheating took place during the Immunity Challenge.

All three tribes were trying to finish an intense puzzle at the end of the challenge, with safety on the line for everyone.

In the Sneaky Little Snake episode, the Ratu tribe finished their puzzle first and won an Immunity Idol for all their hard work.

This left the other two tribes scrambling to catch up and also complete their puzzles, which is where the cheating took place.

Tika and Soka looked at the completed puzzle from Ratu to help them finish their own puzzles. Tika was the best at copying, and they won the second Immunity Idol of the night. Soka then had to go to Tribal Council, where they lost a member.

Jeff Probst talks about cheating on Survivor

Due to how blatant it was that the other tribes were getting their solution from a tribe that had already finished, host Jeff Probst answered questions about it as a topic of conversation during his latest podcast episode.

For this season of the show, Jeff hosts a new podcast that debuts episodes each Wednesday after Survivor has aired. It’s a nice treat for the die-hard fans to enjoy.

In an earlier episode, Jeff announced that medically evacuated Bruce Perreault was invited to play Survivor again.

And on the second episode of On Fire, Jeff revealed a castaway threw away an advantage on a prior season without even knowing it.

This time around, he talked all about how cheating is allowed and why the producers don’t enforce stricter rules. Later, he also talked about casting for the show.

Survivor with ‘as few rules as possible’

“The big guiding philosophy is we try to have as few rules as possible on Survivor,” Jeff said on his podcast.

He also went on to explain what he meant by stating that if someone cheats and gets caught, there could be payback. It could also lead to a situation where someone might align with the cheater to keep them closer.

It appears that the producers are keeping an eye on the overall Survivor experience and that castaways who get upset about other tribes cheating, they can take it upon themselves to do something about it within the game.

A good example would be that Ratu could have knocked down their puzzle once Jeff confirmed that they had completed it. They opened the door for the other tribes to cheat by leaving it intact.

Around the four-minute mark of On Fire Episode 3, Jeff also noted that they do often put up blinders and/or dividers to dissuade cheating, but sometimes castaways will go around them to seek answers in the puzzles.

There are now just 14 people left competing for the $1 million prize on Survivor 44, and a new episode arrives on March 22.

Survivor 44 airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.

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