'Survivor: Kaoh Rong' News, Spoilers: Jeff Probst on Medical Evacuation
Another contestant had to be evacuated on "Survivor: Kaoh Rong."
The incident follows an earlier episode where three survivors succumbed to the heat and one, Caleb Reynolds of the "Beauty" tribe, had to be taken by helicopter to a hospital, effectively eliminating him from the game.
On Wednesday's episode, it was Neal Gottlieb of the "Brains" tribe who had to be removed from the island. Unlike Caleb, who was in a life-or-death situation at the time of his medical evacuation, Neal was pulled from the game after the show's resident physician found that a cut on his knee had been infected and could become more serious if not treated. Though Neal protested, saying that he "felt fine" and that the infection would resolve in a matter of days, host and executive producer Jeff Probst put his foot down and Neal was removed from the competition.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Probst explained what happened and why being booted from the game because of a medical reason is tough to swallow.
According to Probst, after what happened to Caleb, Debbie, and Cydney during the show's ninth day, the production had added "another layer of monitoring" for the contestants' safety. Following the heatstroke incident, the survivors received daily check ups to make sure that they were all recovering.
"Pulling someone from the game for a medical reason is never easy because it's not on their terms," Probst told EW. "People leave families and jobs to come play this game and to have it cut short is tough to take. And in the case of Neal, he leaves with an idol, which had to be even more frustrating."
Probst also dropped some hints about the next episode of the reality competition, saying, "Sometimes one event can change everything and Neal's evacuation is definitely a turning point."
He added, "You're going to see moves start to be made from here on out. And a great immunity challenge!"
"Survivor" airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.
