Survivor host Jeff Probst and contestant Kellee Kim addressed contestant Dan Spilo’s removal on the reunion show Wednesday night. Spilo and two other contestants, Jack Nichting and Elizabeth Beisel, were absent from the reunion. It was the first pretaped reunion in Survivor history. That extra precaution comes after a tumultuous season, where contestant Dan Spilo, a Hollywood agent and executive producer of Sunnyside, was removed from the island due to allegations of unwanted touching. “We intended to do the right thing,†Probst said on the reunion show, per People. “But in the months that have passed, we have learned so much about what we could have and should have done instead. And if this happened today we would handle it much differently.†Probst also apologized to Kellee Kim, who spoke out about his conduct on day one, but was sent home 14 days before Spilo was ejected. It was the first time in 39 seasons that a contestant had to be removed from the show.
Kim explained that she was nervous to speak about the subject and the fact that Spilo remained in the game long after she reported his behavior. “The reason why is not necessarily the injustice, it’s because I felt like I spoke up and I was not being supported or believed,†Kim said. “And when someone goes through something like this or even something remotely like it, to not be supported and not be believed is really the hardest thing.â€
“Ultimately, my biggest hope is that each one of us, each individual, each institution, each organization, especially CBS and Survivor, can take this, learn from it, and do better,†Kim said later. “I fundamentally believe that we can do better.â€