Warning: This story contains spoilers from the Wednesday, December 11, episode of Survivor.
The end of the line. At the very end of the latest episode of Survivor: Island of the Idols, Jeff Probst entered camp to deliver news to the remaining castaways: Dan Spilo had been removed from the game and would not be joining the jury.
The episode then went black and showed a title card which read, “Dan was removed from the game after a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player.”
Beginning in episode 1, contestant Kellee Kim complained to Dan, 48, and told her that his touching made her uncomfortable. Production stepped in on day 22 and CBS issued a warning to him about his behavior. However, he remained in the game. On 36, he was removed.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly following the episode, Probst could not reveal any more details about the situation but did share Dan’s reaction.
“When we first told Dan we were pulling him from the game, he was not happy,” the host, 58, said. “We talked through everything for quite a while, and by the time he got on the boat to leave he had calmed down and was actually very respectful as he departed.”
As for how other castaways reacted to the news, Probst said that it was “a very complicated situation” for everyone. “They’re on day 35 of 39. They’re very close to the end. They’re also in a state of ‘eyes on the prize,'” he shared. “And because they did not receive more information for privacy reasons, they seemed to accept the news and moved on with the game.”
Ahead of the episode, EW also reported that for the first time in the show’s nearly 20-year history, the live reunion special will no longer be live. Instead, the season-ender will reportedly go “live-to-tape” four hours before it’s broadcast due to many sensitive topics that were approached during the season.
Survivor airs on CBS Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
