Jeff Probst says “Survivor 48” is all about partnerships

Survivor has had its share of dynamic duos over the years. Sometimes that takes the form of a showmance (Boston Rob Mariano and Amber Brkich), and other times it’s a bromance (JT Thomas and Stephen Fishbach.) There have also been plenty of pairings that seem unlikely on the surface (Malcolm Freberg and Denise Stapley) but work wonders in the game.

Well, according to host Jeff Probst, we’re about to see some more key twosomes in play when Survivor 48 premieres Feb. 26 on CBS. “One thing that I think is a little unique about this season is the number of partnerships that form pretty early and how different they are,” the host tells Entertainment Weekly. "There are partnerships that are very public, and there are partnerships that are very private. There are partnerships you could almost assume might happen, and then there are partnerships that nobody would ever predict people would be together.”

Of course, not all partnerships end up working out so well, and Probst hints that we will see plenty of that as well as things unfold on Survivor 48. “That's going to drive a lot of the story, is how do these partnerships work, and do they serve each other in the same way, and is the definition of loyalty seen the same way by both people in the relationship? And within that, it goes even deeper and then it gets into: How are we going to play as a partnership? What is our value system? Is it going to be honor, integrity, or is it going to be trust as much as you think you can?”

Related: Survivor 48 cast reveal the players they want to work with and against

The host says we could see both ends of the partnership spectrum on display this season, and uses past examples to illustrate the polar opposites. “It drives a lot of story,” says Probst, “and it's really fun to watch, because if you look at the history of partnerships on Survivor, you have examples like Dom and Wendell who were so loyal. They stayed together until the end and had a tie vote. And then you look recently at like Charlie and Maria, they were loyal until they decided not to be, and you could argue that that breakup of their partnership is why Charlie didn't win.”

He goes even further back than that. “You can go all the way back to Parvati and Russell — a partnership nobody would've ever predicted happened, and Parvati got the best of Russell. But was it her relationship with Russell that actually cost her the win in the end? So partnerships are key because you make those decisions usually in the first few days and if you're right, it can be a great move and if you're wrong, now you're in a hole you got to get out of.”

Probst is equally enthused about the players themselves, who may or may not be entering in into those partnerships, starting with the Civa tribe. “You have somebody like Kamilla,” he points out as one example, “who lacks so much confidence that she shares that ‘Even my parents told me I will be first out, and they might not be wrong.’ That's how she entered this game, is not believing in herself at all. Then you have a guy like David, who's one of the five biggest guys we've ever had on the show. He has so much confidence it's oozing out of everywhere. He can't wait to tell you about all his greatness. But you dig just a little deeper and he quickly reveals his vulnerabilities that, ‘I am not all this, I have a lot of insecurities and that's part of the reason I'm out here is to sort of work on that.’”

Related: Survivor 48 cast members reveal bold predictions for the season

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Probst then moves over to a few folks to keep an eye out on the Lagi tribe. “One of the players that I'm so happy is on the show is this young woman, Eva, who has autism. And her parents were told when she was born, ‘Really, the best you can hope for is for your daughter to marry somebody else with autism, because that's what her life will be about.’ And her parents said, ‘We're not satisfied with that, so we're going to keep digging.’ Well, cut to Eva now — she’s a PhD candidate, played men's hockey in college, and is now taking on Survivor. It's a pretty inspirational story already.”

Eva may not even be the most physical person on her tribe, as she will be sharing the Lagi beach with a former UCLA football star, Joe Hunter. “Joe kind of looks like the Rock,” says Probst. “He's a single dad, a firefighter, and all he wants to do is be a good example for his daughters. And that is the first thing he says, is ‘I'm here to make my daughters proud,’ and that's going to be the story that carries him as far as he goes.

The host points out that those are merely four out of 18 stories waiting to be told. “I think there's going to be a lot of people to root for or to be curious about and watch them play this game.” Whether they are in a partnership or not.

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