Survivor 11 - Guatemala - The Maya Empire

Jeff Probst interview
They asked him how Guatemala was. He said it went great, but was very hot. Palau was like a picnic compared to Guatemala because Palau was hot, but at least they had an ocean to cool off in, and all the different fruit trees to get food. On this season, they are on a muddy lake that's full of crocodiles and it's so humid. He said it was a wake up call for the crew because Vanuatu and Palau were moderate, with hotels and very few bugs. This season, we're back to 115 degree heat and lots of humidity. There was nowhere for the crew to kick back and do stuff like surf in their down time. They asked him about where the kicked off people go, he said they send them off to travel like a journey to go fishing but the other place (i.e. Loser Lodge) was miserable this time. (laughs)

On Gary Hogeboom - said that Gary came and planned to go as Gary Hawkins and was not a pro athlete, but rather a landscaper or something like that. But Danni's a really sharp sports host and sports fan. Probst said she's a big time jock and thinks it's Gary Hogeboom. (Probst downplayed her pageant stuff, saying that she only did one pageant and she does not seem like a pageant girl at all). He said Danni was sharp and it was fun to see the cat and mouse thing (referring to Gary Hogeboom's identity). Then Probst makes reference to S3 - says that this guy named Chip came up to him right as the game was starting and told him to call him "Silas," he just created this new identity for himself. But Gary didn't do that - Probst said that a producer informed him that Gary was hiding his identity and wasn't going by Hogeboom. Gary said that even if people figure it out, he would say, "yeah, I get that all the time." Probst says that if the producer hadn't told him about the identity hiding that he could have mentioned Gary's past career at, say, a TC.

On the two players returning, Elliot said "please don't tell me it's Rob and Amber." Probst wouldn't come out and say no, but said he had had enough of Rob and Amber. JP said we will enjoy the dilemma this scenario (of returning players) proposes. They had talked about doing this for the past three seasons or so. the dilemma…the advantage that returning players have from playing the game before, in that they know the rhythm of the game and the pattern of how things play out (or something like that - it sounded a bit garbled). Said something else about is it fair that they had a shot before and now they're back? That remains to be seen. Probst said something about how he's in charge now and Elliot joked that he's the new Mark Burnett.

They talked briefly about how stupid Hatch is for getting busted for tax evasion. They talk about how Probst had an accountant even before he was doing Rock ?'n Roll Jeopardy. Probst says his original contract for Survivor was way less than any job he had done before(like Access Hollywood) - when pressed, he said it was a little less than $100K. But CBS said it was a potential star-making gig and if he didn't want it, they had plenty of people lined up that did. Said that it was between him and Phil Keoghan.

So, is Guatemala worth watching? Without a question, it is the hardest season that they've done. He mentioned that four males would be on their backs and throwing up from exhaustion in the beginning. But then again, he said he loved Africa, but the viewers didn't.

115 degree heat and lots of humidity

Family won't say if Hogeboom is on 'Survivor' (Grand Rapids Press 9.27.05)
"He's on a mission trip in Central America," was the most Hogeboom's son, Jake, would say. "He left in late June ... and he's expected back the first week of August."

Oh, what did Jim's wife say at the end? They didn't caption that part. That he's fine now, or something? (Sure hope it wasn't that he's died...!)

Thanks, RfromP!