Survivor 46 was not a successful endeavor for Bhanu Gopal.

He was very emotional on the show, leading many fans to call Survivor 46 a soap opera.

But Bhanu also has a stanch supporter named Jeff Probst.

After Survivor 46, Episode 4 saw Bhanu eliminated at Tribal Council, a new episode of the On Fire podcast was released.

During his podcast, Jeff revealed that he would put Bhanu on the Survivor 46 cast, even if he could make that decision again.

It’s an interesting anecdote from the longtime face of Survivor, even as many fans have been complaining about Bhanu on social media.

Jeff Probst goes to bat for Bhanu from Survivor 46

The new On Fire podcast episode is called Jeff Don’t Lie and Bhanu was a main topic of conversation. They shared audio clips from Bhanu’s exit and spoke about his journey on the show.

Jeff then weighed in on the decision to add Bhanu to the Survivor 46 cast.

“There is probably a lot of people who watch Survivor that think ‘Oh my gosh. What a goofball.’ That’s okay. That comes with the territory. When you’re courageous enough to say ‘yes’ to this adventure you’re gonna take criticism,” Jeff stated.

“But for my two cents, if we had the chance to go back and do this again, I’d put Bhanu on the show instantly,” Jeff added. “Because that is the kind of authenticity that we are desperately seeking. And don’t be confused: I’m not saying you should be like Bhanu in the same way I am not saying you should try to be like Dee. I’m saying be yourself and trust. That’s the only play. Bhanu drove his tribe mates crazy. That was clear.”

“But it’s not because he was a compassionate, caring person. He drove them crazy because of his lack of gameplay abilities,” Jeff finished.

You can always count on Jeff to share his honest opinions, and he wants compassionate and caring people to keep applying to be on future Survivor casts.

More news from Survivor 46

A Survivor deleted scene reveals one tribe having a fishing accident. It also led to Tevin losing Soda’s shoes. He then had to apologize nervously.

Back home after her experiences in Fiji, Jess Chong called Survivor “torture” for her. She also noted how she didn’t feel respected.

For readers who want to jump ahead, here is a link to possible Survivor spoilers about the winner.

Previous episodes of Survivor are available to stream on Paramount+.

Survivor 46 airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.