You’re gonna want tissues for this one, y’all!
In an incredibly powerful moment during Wednesday’s episode of Survivor 48, host Jeff Probst was brought to tears for the first time in the show’s history!! Yes, the interaction is THAT powerful!
After competing in a challenge, competitor Eva Erickson, the first openly autistic cast member, had what she called an “autism episode.” At that time castaway Joe Hunter was the only one who knew about her diagnosis. So in a rare moment going against show protocol, she had to rely on him for help!
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Speaking to People about the situation on Wednesday, the 24-year-old explained that she “kept failing over and over again” in the challenge, in which she was trying to win immunity for her tribe. And it all became overstimulating:
“My brain just got put in this big cycle, and I’m stuck in a loop of ‘I can’t do it. Why can’t I do it? What’s going on?’ The second that I finished all of this stress and pressure that was overstimulating me just took hold of me, and I became ungrounded, and everybody around me didn’t know what was happening.”
When this happens, she explained, “it looks like [she’s] screaming a bunch,” and that’s what she was doing as her team celebrated around her. She had informed Joe in the season premiere about her diagnosis and even explained how he could help her if this ever happened. However, he was now on a different tribe and restricted from comforting her. Oh, no! He was the only one who knew what was truly going on!
In the emotional scene, cameras cut to Joe looking worried and frustrated because he couldn’t step in. Thankfully, the host eventually asked if he wanted to give her a hug, and oh boy did he! He ran over and wrapped his arms around Eva in a tight embrace, saying:
“You’re good. Deep breath, remember?”
She asked him to hold her hand, which he did, and they placed their foreheads against each other as he continued to console her:
“Coming out of it? You want another round? Big hug around.”
He gave her another hug as she tearfully replied:
“Yeah, you’re amazing.”
The 45-year-old fire captain kept reassuring her:
“Come back down out of it. Easy does it now. Let me see your hands again. You’re in a safe place.”
Eva smiled and let him know:
“I’m good, I’m good, thank you, thank you.”
Such a beautiful moment!!!
Later, Jeff asked Joe why it was “important” to “comfort” Eva even though it might reveal his gameplay, to which the father of two explained:
“If it exposes, it exposes, but she was in need and I would want someone to treat my daughter that way if they were playing this game.”
Eva then decided to open up about her diagnosis with the rest of the cast, saying in part:
“Please let’s take a step away from the game and understand that this is what I deal with with my autism, and everyone who has autism should not be ashamed to ask for help and ashamed to receive it.”
Well said! Reflecting on the impactful scenario, Jeff went on to tell Eva:
“Eva, it takes so much courage to play Survivor for anybody, but for you to come out here knowing that something like this might happen and then be brave enough to share your story because there is a young girl or boy just like you watching right now going, ‘Hey, mom, hey, dad.'”
While starting to cry, he pressed on:
“Now you got me. I’m a parent too, and I do see it. Wow, this [crying] has never happened. But I see it too, and that’s why I love Survivor. I really do.”
See the incredible scene (below):
Amazing!!
Calling Joe her “superhero,” Eva further explained how his actions helped calm her down, telling People:
“This compression helps calm me down, helps bring me back, get grounded, and this just works wonders on me in a situation like that. And I was able to get my head out of that loop, like this loop that’s been spinning and spinning, now I’m able to break that and actually re-center myself and reset and rejoin the game.“
The Brown University PhD student shared a special message for the other contestant:
“I want to tell Joe that he’s my superhero. He is an amazing man, and I am so thankful I got to meet him through Survivor, and that this is someone who, regardless of what happens in the rest of the game, he will always have a place in my heart. He saw me in this hard situation — and he had the tools and knew what to do — and he acted on that.”
What a great guy!
Eva was also super struck by the reality TV host’s tears, expressing:
“It was crazy seeing Jeff cry — I’d never seen that. Seeing Jeff get so emotional about the situation and thinking about his own family and his kids, that was the moment when it hit me, that this is a moment that is going to be remembered. He’s seen so many people and been through so much through all of years of Survivor, and now seeing that this moment broke him, I was like, okay, this is bigger than I can imagine.”
We’ve never seen Jeff cry either! She added:
“It was a big thing for me, realizing, wow, I am actually representing so many people here, and seeing that reflected in how Jeff reacted to this, I was like, this is going to mean so much to so many.”
Many Survivor fans are already predicting this will go down as one of the most memorable scenes in the show’s long history. It’s so refreshing to see people be such good humans!
Reactions? Are you crying, too?? Tell us (below)!
