The Emmy-winning host has overseen the Tribal Council since the reality show debuted in 2000.

Jeff Probst sang ‘Lose Yourself’ by Eminem, Survivor contestant says

The Emmy-winning host has overseen the Tribal Council since the reality show debuted in 2000.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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December 23, 2025 3:44 p.m. ET

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Jeff Probst; Eminem. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS; Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty

*Survivor* alum Andrea Boehlke has never let it go.

She remembers precisely when host Jeff Probst performed the rap song "Lose Yourself" by Eminem to pump up contestants.

"Is this real? Or did I make this up, because it seems fake," Boehlke, a contestant on several seasons of the reality competition show, recalled thinking on a recent episode of Chris Johnson's *Passion Pod* podcast. "Before we played *Redemption Island*, we all went to this clearing, and Jeff came out with a boom box."

That's not all.

"Now we're not allowed to talk [at the time]. And he has us all go in a big circle around him," said Boehlke, who was also part of a *Survivor* season in Caramoan and *Survivor: Game-Changers*. "So he wanted to pump us up because the season before, two people had quit the show. So they were very much like, 'You need this. You want this. No quitters.' So he has us all in this circle, and he turns the boom box in, and he starts rapping 'Lose Yourself' from Eminem. He sings the whole song and is encouraging people to dance along."

The contestants didn't exactly know how to respond, but the gesture seemed to have served its purpose.

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"We were all like, 'This is Jeff Probst. We're about to play *Survivor*. Let's go!' And so some people are dancing, some people are really uncomfortable, and then, shortly after that, we are on the beach, ready to play."

*Survivor: Redemption Island* aired in 2011, almost a decade after the artist's song, 2002's "Lose Yourself," was released as part of his soundtrack to the biographical movie *8 Mile*.

By then, Probst was already a big reality TV star, known for keeping his cool during what can be tense moments on the long-running CBS staple. He has hosted since it debuted in 2000.

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The veteran host has noted before that his other tactics on the hit show have included teasing false information.

"On occasion, I would have fun," Probst said, "and at some point in the interview, I would pretend that I just said something I shouldn't have." he revealed on the *On Fire With Jeff Probst* podcast when asked if it was difficult to keep information on the intense series secret.

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Along the way, he's picked up four consecutive Emmys (2008-2011) in the category of Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program.

Probst will get another go at a trophy in *Survivor*'s upcoming 50th season, which debuts Feb. 25 on CBS.**

- Survivor Fandom

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Source: “EW Survivor”