Jeff Probst doesn’t want Mike White to cast him on ‘The White Lotus’

Jeff Probst has no desire to check in to The White Lotus.

The Survivor host has declared that White Lotus creator Mike White — who returns for the upcoming 50th season of the CBS reality competition series — should never cast him on his HBO vacation satire.

“No, Mike should never put me on White Lotus,” Probst told The Hollywood Reporter.

White originally competed on Survivor: David vs. Goliath, and he has become known for bringing his fellow cast members in for cameos on each season of The White Lotus. And Probst loves how White keeps casting Survivor players in his Emmy-winning dramedy.

“I think that, too, speaks to Mike as a person,” Probst said. “He’s able to be one of the Hollywood elite, in terms of show creators, but he’s also able to do the show with people who are not from Hollywood, and then invite them into his world and say, ‘Why don’t you come experience what it’s like to be on the set of White Lotus for a day?’ and, ‘I’m going to put you in the seat.’ That’s incredible confidence and incredible generosity of spirit.”

While leveraging potential future White Lotus cameos for his tribe members would be a great bargaining chip for White on Survivor season 50, Probst wouldn’t confirm whether that helped or hurt his second chance in the game (White previously came in second place on his first season, which aired in 2018).

However, the host admitted he’s “so grateful” that White agreed to return for season 50, and that he was surprised at “how much attention” White’s return got when the cast was announced.

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“The thing that’s most interesting about Mike playing for the second time is there is no hiding that he is the biggest writer, director, show creator in the world right now, and he wanted to come back and play Survivor,” Probst said. “So I can understand why people had a reaction … He’s arguably the single best storyteller we’ve ever had on Survivor. Mike is one of the most peculiar and loving people I’ve ever met. He’s so authentic. He does exactly what he wants on his terms, and the results clearly speak for themselves. And honestly, I’m grateful to consider him a friend, because I learn from Mike every day. You’re talking [about] one of the best of all time, and the fact that he said yes to Survivor still brings a smile on my face.”

Survivor 50 will air in the spring of 2026, but Survivor 49 comes first, premiering Sept. 24.