“The chickens are back, Jeff. It’s the first hens in the new era. Can you tell us why give them live chickens? And what about this reward is just so uniquely Survivor?” co-host Jay Wolff asks Probst in the podcast, which drops new installments after every new episode of Survivor (aka 9:30/8:30c on Wednesdays).
“I know what you mean. Chickens do feel very Survivor-y,” Probst replies. “I think it’s because of the moral dilemma that the chickens pose. That’s the why behind giving the tribe chickens. It forces at least a conversation and ultimately a decision of what you’re going to do with them.”
The players are allowed to kill the chickens for food if they so choose. Or they can just eat the eggs they produce. Probst adds that they “haven’t had chickens in the new era because we’re very committed to the idea of very little food.”
“But one thing we do is we do like to experiment within our ideas to make sure they are working, to make sure they don’t go stale, and to keep the players off balance,” Probst notes. “What’s interesting about the chickens is, they really have quite a history on our show.”
He brings up a Survivor memory that led to the creation of the Sia prize, which was retired after Season 45 (Katurah Topps was the last person to win it). Chickens prompted the first Sia prize. Now that prize is over, and the Sia prize is back. It’s a full-circle moment.
Probst recalls: “There have been a lot of very fun and funny moments, some tense moments. One of the most memorable was when Ty [in Season 33], there was a chicken and he was not going to let anybody kill the chicken. He named the chicken Mark after Mark Burnett [Survivor executive producer]. That led to the live finale where Sia, who happened to be in the audience, was so moved by Ty’s compassion for Mark the chicken that she pops up out of the audience to give Ty money for being such a cool soul. And with that, the Sia prize was birthed.”
He then explains why they retired the Sia prize after eight seasons and over $1 million of awards from the singer.
“I just want to say that moment was authentically birthed from her compassion and that’s her money. We just retired the Sia prize last year because I started feeling pressure for Sia,” Probst reveals. “This has to end at some point because she gave over $1 million dollars. That’s her money. I want to be clear. It’s not CBS gives her the money and we call it ‘the Sia prize.’ CBS had nothing to do with it. That was just our friendship and Sia wanting to give back to a show that she said brought her so much joy.”
Some of the players in Season 47 are split on what to do with the chickens. Some want them protected, others want them as food. Wolff asks Probst, “When you’re in casting is one of the questions on the list, what’s your stance towards chickens?”
“No, no, we really don’t ask questions like that,” Probst answers. “I think in the early days we would definitely know, oh, this person doesn’t eat meat and so they’re going to get some chickens and that’ll make for a dilemma. But today’s casting is really about the essence of a person. If we have a dilemma like that, then that’s great. And if we don’t, that’s also OK. The game in and of itself is enough.”
Lavo ended up at the tribal council in the episode after Rome failed to get even one puzzle piece on the board in the last leg of the immunity/reward challenge. But it was Kishan who ended up getting voted out.
Hear Probst, Wolff, and Charlie Davis’ in-depth reactions to the episode below.
Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS