Survivor’s Jeff Probst Responds After Billie Eilish’s New Song References The Long-Running Reality Series
Billie Eilish has seven Grammys and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for No Time To Die, but does the acclaimed singer also want the title of Sole Survivor? You know, the CBS competition where contestants are stranded on a deserted island for weeks on end as they compete for $1 million? It would seem that’s the case if we’re going off Eilish’s reference to the long-running reality series in her newest song. Well, Survivor’s executive producer and host Jeff Probst has responded to the nod with a nod of his own.
Billie Eilish dropped her second EP, Guitar Songs, near the tail-end of July, and on it was a track aptly titled “TV.” For the most part, the 20-year-old is singing about being in love, being in denial and being alone – per usual. But she made two cheeky Survivor metaphors as well, saying, “I put on Survivor just to watch somebody suffer” and “Sinking in the sofa, while they all betray each other.” Jeff Probst reacted to the name-drop via an Instagram post that he captioned with one of his many iconic lines from the show. He quipped that “nothing is easy on Survivor,” but that it’s “easy to love” Billie’s new bop. See here:
So the 2022 Coachella headliner has the Survivor connect on lock – if she does, in fact, daydream about playing the game of “outwit, outplay, outlast” like the rest of the fanbase. There technically hasn’t been a celebrity-centered season, unlike its sister show Celebrity Big Brother, but we have indeed seen a famous face or two in the show’s 20-plus year history.
Namely, there’s been quite a few prominent sports figures, such as ex-NFL coach Jimmy Johnson, NBA’s Scot Pollard and retired NFL player Brad Culpepper. For film/TV celebs, Mike White of School of Rock fame/creator of HBO’s The White Lotus played all 39 days of Survivor: David vs. Goliath and almost won. (No biggie that he didn’t, because he later got to lend his creative talents to Jeff Probst as they brainstormed ideas for Season 41.) In addition, Billie Eilish’s musical contemporary Sia frequents the show, too, but as an award-giver instead of a player.
Truth be told, though, Jeff Probst’s followers were equally as excited about something besides Billie Eilish’s exposed fandom in the comments. Many were actually in total shock that it looked like Probst was using BeReal, a new social media app blowing up that bills itself as the “anti-Instagram,” to highlight the moment. (It’s almost like an impromptu game of sorts where the app will randomly alert you to take a snap of your present “real” situation in under two minutes.) As a result, the veteran TV personality got hit up with a lot of “add me on BeReal” requests and “add Billie Eilish to next year’s cast” alike.
The “Ocean Eyes” singer appearing on Survivor would certainly be quite a sight. She’s right about there being a lot of back-stabbing in the now-26-day game. And with the new twists in Seasons 41 and 42 making the “chaos spiral,” as one former contestant put it, it makes one wonder how Billie Eilish would fare in such a scenario. As fans know, winning demands a certain amount of social finesse, or caring what others think about you, in other words. Since Eilish is known to have some over-the-top responses to things, I imagine she’d be either voted out on Day 1 or go all the way to the end.
Regardless, the star wouldn’t be able to get a chance to play, even if she wanted to, for some time since Survivor 43 and 44 were filmed back to back earlier this year. What we know so far is that Jeff Probst says only some of the new twists are returning in those upcoming seasons. (Hopefully, just not the hourglass one, which was seen as the worst twist in the show’s history to some.) Fans, which apparently includes Billie Eilish, can check out the new season when it premieres on CBS on September 21 as part of the 2022 TV schedule.
I’m just saying, Billie, I’d also love to watch them suffer and betray each other while sitting on my sofa…
