Did you know Jeff Probst, host of CBS’s
Survivor, found true love on the show? He’s been dating
Survivor: Vanuatu contestant
Julie Berry since 2004. Yes, they’re still together. The two spent last Christmas together in her hometown in Maine.
Berry, who moved to California after the show to be near Probst, is a student at California State University-Northridge, getting her master’s in counseling.
Voted out 14th (of 18), Berry was memorable on
Survivor: Vanuatu (also known as “Islands of Fire”) for her nude sunbathing as well as her hand-drawn “tattoo” of a heart with “Jeff” written in it, which turned out to mean more than the audience first suspected. Both Berry and Probst initially denied the affair, until shortly after the finale of
Survivor: Vanuatu aired in the fall of 2004. Probst claims that despite what viewers thought they saw on the show, nothing actually went on until after filming had finished.
“The funny thing was there was this perception we were flirting on the show, and that was actually just fun stuff on the show. I didn't really talk to Julie until long after the show was over.” he told People magazine.
Probst, who’s 45, says that Berry, 26, has changed his life, and that he’s more in love with her than he ever thought he could be.
“Nobody is more surprised than me that I could find my love affair on a show that I host. But the truth is when something like this gets dropped in your lap, you don't look at how it's wrapped, you don't look at how it's being delivered. You just put your arms around it and you hold on because this is my love affair and there's no question in my mind about it,” he said.
“She’s challenged me more than anybody in my life, including my parents. I feel like I'm coming into a new version of me -- a little better, a little wiser.”
-Mel Harris, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: Reality TV World, Globe & Mail, People
Photo courtesy of Reality TV World