When "Survivor" host Jeff Probst decided to bring back contestant Mike White for the reality competition's 50th season, he knew White would be showing his hand.
White, a one-time participant on the show, has since become the famed mastermind behind "White Lotus," the popular resort-based drama on HBO.
"The thing that’s most interesting about Mike playing for the second time is there is no hiding that he is the biggest writer, director, show creator in the world right now, and he wanted to come back and play 'Survivor,'" Probst told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview published Aug. 7. "So I can understand why people had a reaction."
'White Lotus' creator Mike White's next tropical island is return to 'Survivor'
The long-running competition show features a group of "castaways" facing off in challenges on a remote island for the chance to take home $1 million. Among the first crop of reality shows to make it big when the format burst onto the scene in the early 2000s, it requires a mix of physical strength and personal cunning to forge alliances and read other contestants.
