Jeff Probst Competes in a “Survivor” Challenge for the First Time Ever, All Thanks to Jimmy Fallon

The host and showrunner found out what it really meant to "dig deep"

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the April 22 episode of Survivor's 50th season.

NEED TO KNOW

• Jeff Probst competed in his first Survivor challenge on the milestone 50th season
• The host and showrunner revealed that “this was Jimmy Fallon’s idea”
• Find out how Probst fared after calling the challenge “barbaric”

Jeff Probst just found out what it really means to "dig deep" on Survivor.

The host and showrunner had a surprise in store for the remaining 11 contestants as they arrived at their next immunity challenge. From the setup, the cast would tell it was a recurring individual immunity game based on endurance and grip strength dubbed "Wrist Assured," where castaways must hold on to a handle with a rope wrapped around it to prevent a bucket, which contains 25% of the contestant's pre-game body weight, from dropping. Whoever keeps their bucket up the longest is the winner.

Instead of negotiating for rice to feed the tribe, which has become a staple of Survivor in recent years, Probst, 64, revealed that he had another idea in mind for the milestone season: He wanted players to volunteer for a "side bet…" — Probst then pushed over a box to reveal his own spot to participate in the endurance challenge — "… with me. Because I'm running today's challenge."

"You want to earn your rice? You're gonna do it by outlasting me," he added.

Despite hosting the show throughout its entire 26-year run, Probst had never competed in a challenge before. Though he wasn't competing for immunity, there were high stakes on the line: If all five players who took the side bet outlasted Probst in the challenge, the tribe would get the rice. After negotiating the number of contestants taking the bet down to four, Ozzy, Joe, Tiffany and Jonathan took on Probst.

After getting into position, Probst announced, "This historic Survivor challenge is on — and I will admit, it is much heavier than I thought."

"I also need to admit one other thing: This was Jimmy Fallon's idea," he shared, explaining that the late-night host polled his audience and an overwhelming majority wanted to see Probst compete in a challenge. Turning to the camera, Probst said, "So thanks, Jimmy."

It didn't take long for the Emmy-winning host to start getting some ribbing from the contestants.

"I deserve all of this. Twenty-five years of trash talking," he said, before a montage rolled of some of Probst's most brutal takedowns through the years, from "My nephew could throw it further than that" to "You might as well sit down and watch."

While Rizo, Emily, Devens and Cirie dropped their buckets, Probst continued to hold strong — but confessed he was in quite a bit of pain.

"Who made this challenge? This is barbaric," he said.

As the contestants continued to pile on, Probst visibly struggled to keep the bucket from slipping. He let out a laugh and dropped after seven-and-a-half minutes, to cheers from the contestants, including all four who made the side bet.

"We're eating tonight, y'all!" Tiffany boasted, doing a little dance while continuing to hold her grip.

"I bow down," Probst said, making the gesture. "I will never talk the same kind of trash again … until next season."

Probst competing in a challenge comes after other memorable moments on the milestone 50th season, including him rapping a tribe swap reveal and doing impressions of three players at tribal council.

Speaking with PEOPLE, Probst says, "I'm willing to be the butt of the joke. I'm fully aware I'm usually the butt of the joke. I don't take myself seriously."

He adds that by putting himself out there, Probst wanted to show the cast that he also has "skin in the game."

At the time, Probst also teased that it "won't be the last time I make a fool of myself this season."

"There's another episode coming up that I'm sure fans will really enjoy because it will probably make everyone say, 'It's about time,' " he hinted, possibly referring to his challenge participation.

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After his challenge attempt, Probst jumped right back into hosting duties, narrating as Joe earned the immunity necklace. But before heading back to camp, Probst revealed that Joe would have to send one player on a journey. After asking for volunteers and a few quick games of "rock, paper, scissors," Christian won the right to head out on a solo journey.

Christian headed off on a boat ride that took him to a barge, where Fallon's name popped up again — turns out, The Tonight Show host was behind the "Jimmy Fallon One in the Urn" advantage, and if Christian completed a puzzle in time, he could cast a vote before tribal council without anyone else knowing.

Unfortunately for Christian, he didn't complete the puzzle in time and had to return to camp with a letter, which he called a "note of shame," to read in front of everyone.

He read, "Because you failed on your journey, you will make history at tonight's tribal council by being the first player to cast a vote against themselves. Rules: Tonight, you must write down your name on your parchment. Your vote cannot be stolen." Christian later noted that this also meant that he couldn't play his shot in the dark.

At tribal council, Christian wasn't the only person to write his name down. Though Ozzy and Devens also received votes, Christian had the majority and was voted off, becoming the fourth member of the jury.

Survivor airs Wednesdays on CBS.

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