Viewers of the 40th season finale of Survivor, Winners at War, saw host Jeff Probst admitting to his own gender bias on one of CBS’s longest running reality television shows.
Probst, 58, admitted to the bias saying, “men have not had to deal with a lot of the labels that come with playing aggressively or lying or cheating,” after contestant, Sarah Lacina, 35, spoke up during tribal council, stating that if a woman “lies or cheats or steals, she’s fake and phony and a b**ch” but if a guy does the same it’s considered “good game play.”
“It’s a gender bias, it holds me back. It holds other women back from playing the game the way we should be playing the game,” said Lacina.
Probst also spoke to Entertainment Tonight via email where he expanded on the gender bias that he and other contestants claimed was rampant on the show and in society.
LOS ANGELES – DECEMBER 17: Host Jeff Probst (on monitor) speaks to contestants during the “Survivor: Cook Islands” Finale at CBS Television City on December 17, 2006 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
“When Sarah brought up gender bias it was a beautiful opportunity for me to acknowledge my own history of unintended bias,” Probst told ET, “I want to be a source of inspiration to young girls and young women who watch Survivor.”
Probst and Lacina were followed up by several other contestants, male and female, expressing the same beliefs.
Rumors that the finale, typically filmed in front of a live studio audience, might have to be postponed due to the coronavirus worried avid watchers. The audience, however, joined Probst and all three finalists over Zoom video conferencing, including winner Tony Vlachos, a New Jersey city cop, who took home a record $2 million prize. (RELATED: New Jersey Cop Wins $2 Million Prize On ‘Survivor: Winners At War’)