Survivor 46 has been a difficult season for some of the contestants – notably Ben Katzman, who was shown suffering panic attacks on the 12th episode.

Following that penultimate episode of Survivor 46, host Jeff Probst spoke about the difficulty of the season with co-host Jay Wolff and Survivor 45 winner Dee Valladares.

The conversation was a major part of his new On Fire podcast episode, Play or Get Played.

It began as a discussion about the change from 39 days to 26-day seasons, and how Jeff feels about the game possibly getting more difficult for New Era players.

The New Era of Survivor is every season that has taken place following Survivor 40: Winners At War.

It was during Survivor 41 that the reality competition show shifted from being 39 days long to its current form of 26 days.

Jeff Probst discusses the difficulty for players on Survivor New Era seasons

Jeff first spoke about the goals of achieving challenging 26-day seasons and ensuring that there were still enough stories to make entertaining episodes.

“We have 26 days. So how can we make this different, but every bit as fun and challenging in all the ways you want from Survivor,” Jeff stated during his podcast.

“I think we achieved that. And as for difficulty, to your point, Jay, I think it’s pretty clear, even just from this season, if anything, the New Era — brace yourself old-time players — is more difficult,” Jeff added to some laughter from his co-hosts.

“Yeah,” Jay agreed.

“Because the physical demands of surviving with very, very little, or for some players, no food, is extremely punishing. And it begins to break you down mentally. You can’t think; you can’t sleep; you can’t trust. That leads to the emotional breakdown, which can be brutal,” Jeff further explained.

Is the New Era of Survivor more difficult?

No matter what Jeff says about the topic, he may never convince every Survivor fan to agree with the sentiment that shorter seasons of his hit show are more difficult than longer seasons.

But his point about the lack of food making everything harder seems accurate. And the mental aspect of it all has shifted how people play the game.

Could that lack of food be why the Survivor 46 cast broke that embarrassing record? It’s certainly a good question.

It certainly played a huge part in Liz Wilcox’s blowup after she missed the Applebee’s reward.

Beneath it all, Jeff certainly set up the possibility of a future season having the theme of New Era vs Old Era players.

More news from the Survivor world

Kenzie Petty revealed that she is pregnant. The Survivor 46 castaway shared that she is expecting a baby with her husband.

Looking ahead, here’s when fans can expect Survivor 50. That momentous season is something Jeff has already begun teasing, even as the current season has been playing out on CBS.

Previous episodes of Survivor are available for streaming on Paramount+.

Survivor airs Wednesday at 8/7c on CBS.