Jeff Probst Spills 7 Behind-the-Scenes Survivor Secrets

Survivor loyalists were thrilled when host Jeff Probst revealed he'd be live-tweeting the show again this season. But during last week's premiere, Probst switched things up a bit. During commercials, he now addresses viewer questions in live, 15-second clips using a new video service called Tout. We tuned in Wednesday, and here's a list of his answers to our favorite burning questions. 

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1. Are there lights on Redemption Island? No. It's completely pitch black unless it's a full moon.
2. Do contestants get insect repellant? No bug repellant, but they do get sunscreen...and tampons.
3. How far in advance are voiceovers recorded? Voiceovers are recorded when the final cut is locked; about 10 days before each episode
4. What if there's a tie during a challenge? In the case of a tie, there is always a tie-breaker set up in order to guarantee a winner.
5. Does Probst ever try out the challenges? I've been known to try out a challenge or two — even though I'm contractually banned from doing so.
6. Where do the tribe names come from? The tribe names are always real, and depend on where the show is filming. Past tribes have been named after islands and animals.
7. How did they come up with this year's tribe names? This season the tribes "Upolu" and "Savaii" are the two largest islands in Samoa.

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Probst also gave us a cryptic tease for next week's episode: "Brandon's self-destruction. The battle for good versus evil. He's one of the most compelling people we've had on the show in a long time. Is it in the [Hantz] blood? That's the question."Survivor: South Pacific airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on CBS.