Survivor Contestant Steps Up to Help Co-Competitor with Autism During Emotional Episode

An emotionally moving moment on a recent episode of Survivor brought host Jeff Probst to tears for the first time in 25 seasons of hosting the long-running television series.

Host of Survivor, Jeff Probst, was brought to tears on a recent episode of Survivor after an emotional moment between two contestants from rival tribes, Eva Erickson and Joe Hunter.

Typically, contestants from rival tribes aren’t allowed physical contact, but the long-running host broke protocol to allow Hunter to console his friend, Eva. The two contestants started in the same tribe but had been separated in episode four.

“Joe, you want to give her a hug?” Probst asked Hunter during the emotional episode.

Hunter then walked over and embraced Erickson, telling her, “You’re good. Deep breath, remember.”

Hunter took Erickson’s hand and continued to calm her down. She thanked him, and then he asked if she wanted another big hug. “Yeah, you’re amazing,” she replied.

“Ease yourself out of it,” Hunter said as he embraced her. “Come back down out of it. Easy, slow your breath.”

Earlier in the season, when the two were teammates, Erikson opened up to Hunter about her autism, but after the emotional scene, she opened up and shared it with the rest of the group. 

Later, host Jeff Probst opened up about why he had allowed the break from the rules, allowing the two from opposing tribes to hug.

“Normally, when a challenge ends, we keep the tribes separated, but I think everybody here saw that something really powerful was happening,” Probst said. “Eva was struggling, emotionally struggling. Clearly, there was a connection with a former tribe mate in Joe. I felt it was OK for me to suggest they hug, and I could see everybody agreed.”

Afterward, Probst asked Hunter why he would potentially risk losing the competition by helping someone from a rival tribe.

“I want my kids watching me,” Hunter, a fire captain from California, replied. “I’m going to be the man I want them to be and the people I want them to be, regardless of the game, and that’s what you do. That’s who I am. So, if it exposes me to risk, so be it, but she was in need, and I would want someone to treat my daughter that way if they were playing this game.”

Eva then spoke to the other competitors on the show and explained that she’s been diagnosed with autism at a young age.

“I’ve never viewed my autism as a roadblock to success,” she said. “It’s not something to work around. It’s just part of who I am. There’s nothing bad about it.”

Her fellow contestants clapped in the background as Erickson told her story.

“Please, let’s take a step away from the game and understand that this is something that I deal with, my autism, and everyone who has autism should not be ashamed to ask for help and ashamed to receive it,” she said.

After this, the Survivor host became emotional, summing up what had just happened to the contestants and the viewers at home.

“Eva, it takes so much courage to play Survivor for anybody, but for you to come out here knowing something like this might happen, and then be brave enough to share your story,” he said. “Because there is a young girl or boy just like you watching right now going, ‘Hey Mom, hey Dad…”

Probst had to pause momentarily as he struggled to fight back tears.

“Now you got me. I’m a parent, too, and I do see it. Wow, this has never happened. But I see it, too, and it’s why I love Survivor.”

You can view the emotional moment as it unfolded on YouTube here.

Later, during an interview with People, Erikson spoke about how intense it was to see host Jeff Probst cry. 

“Seeing Jeff get so emotional about the situation and thinking about his own family and his kids, that was the moment when it hit me, that this is a moment that is going to be remembered,” she said. “He’s seen so many people and been through so much through all of years of Survivor, and now seeing that this moment broke him, I was like, OK, this is bigger than I can imagine.”

She went on to explain that during her time on Survivor, she had experienced ‘episodes’ where she felt extremely overstimulated and found it difficult to ground herself, leading to her feeling like she was losing control. Erikson, a Ph.D. candidate from Brown University, said that during the specific challenge when she’d broken down, she’d kept falling and eventually become overwhelmed. She was grateful that Hunter had stepped up to help her calm down.

“I want to tell Joe he’s my superhero,” she said during the People interview. “He is an amazing man, and I am so thankful I got to meet him through Survivor and that this is someone who, regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, will always have a place in my heart. He saw me in this hard situation and had the tools and knew what to do — and he acted on that.”

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