Surviving, Thriving

“Survivor” host Jeff Probst has survived being stung by a jellyfish in his “nether regions” in Borneo and being shocked by an electric fence in his “nether regions” in the Australian outback.

But surviving summer is a whole other animal for Mr. “The Tribe Has Spoken.”

“For the past two years, summer has meant a whole lot of work away from home,” Probst, 39, said as he relaxed recently outside at a Farmers Market cafe, just a stone’s throw away from CBS Television City, the local headquarters for “Survivor” and its participants.

Last summer, Probst--who says he has the “ultimate” dream job in hosting “Survivor”--was realizing another of his dreams: directing his first script, “Finders’ Fee,” an independent feature starring James Earl Jones and Matthew Lillard (“Scream,” “She’s All That”).

After finishing the film, he had just a little downtime before having to rush to the outback to get ready for the second edition of “Survivor.”

This summer, Probst has a little more downtime, but not much. He’s in town now, and next month will debut his movie at the Seattle Film Festival. He’s also squeezed in taping 26 episodes of his VH1 game show “Rock & Roll Jeopardy,” which will launch its fifth season later this year. In July, he’ll depart L.A. again for the third edition of “Survivor,” to be done in Kenya.

Don’t get Probst wrong. He’s not complaining about his lack of free time. Hosting the “Survivor” series has brought Probst a visibility and celebrity that constantly surprise him. And being on the show has been almost like a vacation--only with a lot of lights, cameras and rugged action that is shown on national television to an audience of millions.

“Yes, it’s going to an exotic land, leaving behind everything--cell phones, pagers. The focus is one thing: building a new society,” Probst said. “I have no illusions about it. I have the best job on television.”

Probst said, however, he has gained perspective by hosting “Survivor” that helps him deal with the sparse leisure summer downtime he has.

“Before ‘Survivor,’ I used to plan quite a bit, but now I truly live in the moment,” Probst said in another interview just a few weeks ago. “Take this last Saturday. I went with a friend to Will Rogers Park in Santa Monica, and we took a hike down to this little cove and just shot the breeze for three hours. It was a little dark and damp, but if it had been a nice day, we would have stayed there for hours. Then we watched a polo game on the grounds, saw dogs running around.

“On Sunday, I’ll go to Santa Monica and do a bit of rollerblading, work up a good sweat. Then I’ll have a beer and a hot dog. I used to live in New York, and it’s amazing how people here take summer for granted. In New York, it’s so hot and miserable, and the heat coming off the asphalt just kills you. Here, you can do anything. I could get in a pickup basketball game in 20 minutes. You can go diving, which I love to do. Or you could just sit outside at a restaurant and just eat all day.”

Probst also loves to play golf and is a “softball junkie.” He lives in West Hollywood, so close to the Laugh Factory that he can walk there if a favorite comedian is performing. More likely, he will go over to the House of Blues to take in some music. He leans toward the more offbeat acts such as Jill Scott and Sophie B. Hawkins rather than the bigger names that play at the Sunset Strip establishments.

On the Road With a Personal Soundtrack

Another activity that Probst loves when he is in town is to jump in his car with “about 20 CDs, and just drive and drive, with no set destination. I just get on the highway and go, without a compass or anything. When I find a place I like, I’ll stop. I like to get off the beaten path, go hiking and find all these nooks and crannies. I crave the solitude. I really do enjoy the nature and the exploration.”

One favorite location is Joshua Tree National Monument: “I love the desert and rugged terrain.”

The music is also extremely important on these journeys: “I always have Sinatra--gotta have ‘New York, New York’ and the killer version of ‘My Way’ that he did with Pavarotti. I have to have U2, their ‘Joshua Tree’ album. I love Soul Coughing, the first Indigo Girls album, the first Melissa Etheridge album. The Van Halen with David Lee Roth--I love the purity of that group. Sheryl Crow.”

Probst’s companion on most of these excursions is his beloved dog--a mix of Jack Russell and whippet. “It’s a great dog, and I share custody of it with my wife,” he said.

In fact, if there is anything that is casting a spell over Probst’s “Survivor” gig, it is the recent split with his wife, Shelley Wright, a psychotherapist whom he married in 1996. His voice grows softer, candidly expressing what is clearly a lingering affection for her.

“I respect my wife so much,” Probst said. “One thing I need to make perfectly clear is that she did everything she could to save the marriage, to make it work. But I was not participating, was not emotionally available. I did not treat her with the respect she deserved.”

Since the breakup, Probst has been linked to others--most notably Jerri Manthey, one of the castoffs from “Survivor: The Australian Outback.” Probst said there is no romance between the two.

“I’m OK with the rumors--there is no truth to them,” Probst said. “But it is a pretty fragile time. When you’re in the public eye, you take a lot of hits. I look at things differently now when people make jokes about celebrities. I know now there are always other people connected with those folks who might be hurt.”

For the moment, Probst is in pre-”Survivor III” mode, and is especially proud of his film.

“I find myself jumping back and forth now between my TV career and my writing career,” he said. “What a great problem to have, to have to deal with two fantastic things happening at the same time. Before TV, I always wanted to have a writing career, and now they’ve broken at the same time. I want to take advantage of it all. I feel this is the moment of my life.”

The Probst has spoken.