'Survivor' host Jeff Probst responds to allegations the show is biased against women

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Entertainment Weekly (EW) questioned long-time "Survivor" host and producer Jeff Probst about why women keep getting voted off first in the most recent seasons.

The article published Tuesday noted that while men and women have been evenly split among winners and final Tribal Council votes within the last four seasons, female contestants have still been far more likely to be voted off the show early.

"However, there is still a gender imbalance when it comes to who is getting voted out in the early stages. While four of the first five players to be voted out of Survivor 41 were men, the script since then has been flipped pretty dramatically. Of the first four folks voted out each season on seasons 42 through 44, 11 of those 12 contestants have been women," the article said, while noting that two men were also taken out during those times for medical reasons.

A theory posited by EW regarded the show favoring a "three-tribe format" with only six players per tribe as opposed to the original two-tribe format that featured nine or 10. This could potentially force tribes to prioritize stronger male players.

Jeff Probst has served as the host and producer of "Survivor" since 2000. (Getty Images)

Probst acknowledged that he’s heard discussions on the topic but concluded that four seasons "isn’t enough data" to confirm an alleged gender imbalance.

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"I've definitely heard the discussion and read people's thoughts about it. And this may be a frustrating answer, but you can't design the game out of fear, in the same way that you can't play the game from fear. And so that is factually a reality. The question is: What's the conclusion to draw from it? And I don't feel like four seasons is really enough data for me to make a conclusive decision," Probst said.

He continued, "The bigger question for us is trade-offs. We like tribes of six because there's nowhere to hide, so you have to start playing immediately. Three tribes make tribe switches and the merge much more complex, but also offers more opportunity for the smart player. And three tribes gives you more contrast between tribes in terms of watching how they live together and how they work as a unit while conspiring against each other."

"Survivor" is currently on its 45th season. (Getty Image)

Even if a pattern were confirmed, Probst admitted that it wouldn’t automatically lead to a format change.

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"There's a lot about three tribes that we really like, and while we'll still keep paying attention to who's voted out first and if there are any real patterns that we need to pay attention to, it doesn't necessarily mean that we would change our approach," Probst said.

CBS Communications did not respond for a comment.

The "Survivor" host also denied that female contestants are considered the weakest players on the show.

Entertainment Weekly reported that more women are being voted off earlier on "Survivor." (Getty Images)

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"My advice to anyone who applies to be on the show is figure out how that's an opportunity," Probst said. "Because it's a crazy assumption to say that it's always going to be a woman who is the weakest player in a game which has so many layers to it like Survivor."

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