Jeff Probst breaks down what led to him bungling ‘Survivor 50’ results on live TV

Jeff Probst survived to tell the tale.

The longtime host revealed what led to him spoiling the results of a pivotal challenge during the live “Survivor 50” finale Wednesday.

During the three-hour broadcast, Probst accidentally announced that contestant Rizo Velovic lost the fire-making challenge and was the final jury member — before the moment aired.

“What’s happening when you’re doing a ‘Survivor’ finale is you’re running the show — the episode — and then you’re doing these live hits where I come out, and I talk to one of these players. I’m not watching the show,” Probst detailed on “CBS Mornings” Thursday.

Probst, 64, said he was “backstage getting ready” to tease Velovic about his loss.

“‘If only he had practiced fire-making,’” he recounted to host Gayle King about the rib. “So I come out, we’re all set up on the stage, we’ve got an empty seat for Rizzo. I don’t think anything’s weird.”

The crowd’s dynamic immediately shifted once Probst spoke about Velovic’s loss and spot on the jury.

“It wasn’t until I started talking to Rizo about losing in fire — I’m telling you, we had 1,200 people here, I could collectively feel the energy go to an emoji like this [😱].”

But Probst didn’t catch on.

“I still don’t know,” he continued. “We have a big team, mistakes happen. We just got ahead of ourselves. And none of us saw it.”

“Rizo even told us later, ‘I was standing next to you going, I don’t know why he’s going to send me over to the jury, I haven’t even lost yet!’ But … live TV!” Probst quipped.

King, 71, praised her fellow television presenter, stating that he handled the situation “so brilliantly” and she was “taking notes.”

“If that happens to me, I’m going to do what he did,” King added.

After the snafu, the contestants who were onstage with him explained that “the fire hasn’t happened yet.”

The Emmy-winning host said, “I’m not even sure what’s happened,” before the show went to a commercial break.

Once the finale came back on air, Probst told the audience, “In case you’re confused, this is what happened. We were going to show you fire-making, and then have the loser of fire-making, Rizo, come out and talk about if he had practiced fire-making maybe he would’ve won.”

However, he spun the moment perfectly, calling it a “Survivor” twist.

“It’s the last twist of the season,” Probst, who has hosted the reality series since its inception in 2000, divulged. “We call it, ‘A peek into the future.’ So now we’re going to watch Rizo lose in a fire to Jonathan [Young].”

The pre-taped segment showed Velovic losing the final-four fire-making challenge to Young, 33.

On Thursday, Velovic spoke out about the viral moment.

“I was very confused,” he told People. “Jeff wanted to give me my moment, which was great, but I’m getting my moment before the travesty of losing fire back-to-back times.”

Velovic said that, while he was “trying to be a professional” in the moment, he hoped Probst “would pick up” on what was going wrong.

Afterwards, Probst thanked Velovic for “being a good sport.”

“Survivor 50” concluded with Aubry Bracco beating Young and Joe Hunter in a 8-3-0 jury vote.

The New Hampshire native won $2 million.

Bracco, 40, previously placed second on Season 32 in 2016. She then came back for Season 34 and Season 38.

“It was so special,” Bracco gushed to Entertainment Weekly about finally taking home the grand prize. “I felt the love. It was 10 years. It was quite the journey. I’ve been so blessed.”

“Survivor 51” debuts on CBS in September.