'Survivor' host Jeff Probst talks with Kidsday
Kidsday reporters interviewed author and "Survivor" host Jeff Probst at the "Rachael Ray Show": Kayla Trounson, Ashley Scarlata, , Emily Marino and Mia McPartling, from Babylon and West Babylon on Sept. 17, 2014. Credit: Newsday / Pat Mullooly
We met "Survivor" TV host and author Jeff Probst backstage at "The Rachael Ray Show" recently. We love his latest book: "Stranded: Forbidden Passage."
What made you interested in starting to write books?
To tell you the truth, I got married to my wife, Lisa, and she had two kids -- they were 3 and 5 when we first got together. Now, they're 10 and 8. And we wanted to write a book about blended families. There's a lot of kids that grow up with that. So that was the idea.
Do you like being on "Survivor" or being an author more?
That's a hard question, because I really like them both. They're so different. On "Survivor," we get to take all these people and put them on this big adventure, and I get to watch it . . . but with "Stranded," I get to live the adventure because I'm creating it. So they're two really different experiences that kind of blend together.
If you were in a situation where you were stranded, what would you do?
Am I alone? I'm going to die -- it's just a matter of how many days because I would be a terrible survivor. This is what I've learned from "Survivor" and from writing this book -- I would learn . . . how to make fire. And everyone jokes about that . . . but you really have to figure out how to make fire, because you won't have any water if you can't boil water and you can't cook any food. So that would be the first thing I would try to do.
Which character do you like the most in the book?
The boy and the girl, Carter and Jane, were kind of based on our kids, Michael and Ava. So I obviously love both of them equally. But then, the other two characters were based on our cousins. And so all four of them are kids that I feel like I know because that's the best way.
If you could bring back one person from "Survivor," who would that be?
I'd bring back Parvati. She's a really pretty girl with dark hair like you, but she's so smart, really clever in how she manipulated people. So that's who I would bring back.
How do the people in the show react to all the cameras around them?
OK, let me ask you, how are you guys reacting right now having a camera? Have you already forgotten about it? Yeah, that's exactly what happens. . . . Because after awhile, it's kind of like having a booger in your nose. You just forget it's there.
