Survivor host Jeff Probst has reacted to Rob Antonson's bizarre attempt to vote himself out of the game to save tribemate Eric Macksoud, a move that forced production to intervene during Tribal Council.

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"What was he thinking?" Jeff wrote in his "Field Notes" posted on Survivor's Instagram account.

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Jeff added, "This is actually the first time I can remember a player actively choosing to vote for himself and us having to tell him, 'You can't.'"

Jeff called the Tribal Council session "insane" and weird because of the two Rhode Islanders' antics.

During Survivor's Season 51 episode that aired Wednesday, September 30 on CBS, Rob, a 40-year-old airline agent, attempted to sacrifice his own game in order to save tribemate Eric from elimination -- only to discover that his plan violated one of the show's rules.

Prior to the vote at Tribal Council, Rob pulled the 34-year-old mental health counselor aside and told him he had a plan to try to keep him in the game.

Rob had already admitted he was struggling with the harsh conditions and had underestimated how much he would miss his wife and three children back home.

Rob's plan involved Eric's "Shot in the Dark" and Rob attempting to cast a vote against himself, although even Jeff admitted he had no clue what Rob was trying to accomplish.

"I rarely comment on player moves but I still don't fully understand what plan Rob was trying to pull off by having Eric give him his Shot In The Dark and then hoping he could vote for himself?" Jeff wrote in his notes.

When Rob entered the voting booth, he explained that he wanted to give Eric "a second chance" because he believed Eric was in danger of being voted out.

"I've always been about winning-losing, but I feel like today, I want to give someone a second chance," Rob explained to the cameras. "I feel like Eric is in the flames right now, he might not know that."

Rob said he hoped Eric would "do as I say" in order to remain in the game.

"Sometimes the greatest players have made a sacrifice for the better good," Rob noted, adding that Eric deserved to stay in the game and continue competing for the prize money.

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Rob then wrote his own name on the parchment and attempted to cast a vote against himself.

"You can't write your own name," a Survivor producer could be heard telling him from off-camera.

"Oh no! That screws up everything," Rob responded.

Since Survivor castaways aren't allowed to vote for themselves, Rob ultimately cast his vote for Eric instead.

Rob's attempted sacrifice turned out to be unnecessary, however, because Eric survived Tribal Council and Ana Sani received the majority of the votes and was eliminated from the game.

Jeff admitted that even he couldn't understand exactly what Rob had been trying to accomplish.

"I respect complex strategy, I just couldn't track this one, other than Rob was trying to vote himself out of the game, which makes no sense," Jeff admitted in his field notes.

Jeff did, however, praise Rob for stopping Tribal Council before the vote to check in with Eric when he apparently wasn't confident about where the votes were headed.

"Loved Rob asking permission to 'speak to Eric.' I always remind players -- THIS IS YOUR TRIBAL," Jeff wrote.

"If something doesn't feel right then you should take action to try and ensure you know where the vote is going and that it's not going on you."

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As for why Survivor broke the fourth wall and aired the producer's intervention, Jeff shared, "We felt we had to because we had to explain what was happening with Rob trying to vote for himself. So mark this down as another Survivor first!"


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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