While Jeff Probst scolded Rachel LaMont for attempting to steal rice during a Survivor immunity challenge, he was ultimately impressed by her boldness.
“Rachel tried to steal rice in front of me,” Probst, 62, said on the Thursday, September 26, episode of his “On Fire” podcast. “In front of 20 camera operators, in front of the challenge department, all our judges, in front of standards and practices, in front of all of our producers. That’s a mob boss move! And I respected it.”
During the second episode of Survivor 47, the castaways were tasked with transporting a bag of rice from the ocean to the beach. Once the bag made it to land, the players had to cut up their tribe’s bag to retrieve a ball to use for a winding snake trap puzzle.
After the Gata tribe, who was the first group to visit tribal council, found their ball, LaMont, 34, sneakily placed handfuls of her rice in her pocket while her other tribemates worked on the next step of the challenge. The Gata and Lavo tribes ultimately won immunity and sent Tuku to tribal council.
While Gata and Lavo received their prizes at the end of the challenge, Probst cheekily asked LaMont about taking the rice. LaMont jokingly told Probst he “didn’t see anything,” which led to the longtime host asking the graphic designer to empty her pockets. She ultimately discarded the rice and returned to her camp sans food.
On Thursday, Probst explained he wasn’t upset by LaMont going for the rice since it wasn’t a major rule break.
“There’s a very fine line when it comes to having fun and messing with the integrity of the game. What Rachel did was fun. It was playful. It was in front of everyone,” he said. “She knew what she was doing. She knew it was almost certain that she’d be caught. And when she got caught, she had a very playful attitude about it.”
Probst shared that they went with rice in the challenge since it gets heavier when wet, and the crew wanted to add an extra level of difficulty. However, he acknowledged that involving rice in the challenge could be taunting to the players — especially when they have limited food in the game.
“I am going to take it back to the challenge team and say, ‘If we don’t need rice, maybe we should consider sand or something else,’” he said. “This is not a time when we want to taunt them, and maybe that’s what ended up happening with Rachel.”
While Probst doesn’t know the exact reason why LaMont decided to try to steal rice, he theorized maybe she wanted to make a statement in the game.
“Maybe it was just to get some rice, or maybe Rachel did it to show another part of her personality. Maybe she wanted people to know, ‘Hey, I’m not as quiet as you think.’ And maybe it’s who Rachel really is,” he reflected. “Maybe it’s not Rachel at all, and she just wants others to see that part of her because the game is always afoot.”
