Touched by an Angel star Roma Downey is responsible for Jeff Probst taking over Survivor (exclusive)

Jeff Probst is more than the face of the franchise when it comes to Survivor. The host also serves as the showrunner and creative visionary of the reality TV program, and signs off on every big decision.

It wasn’t always that way, however. Mark Burnett is the man who first brought Survivor to TV screens in the summer of 2000, and called all the behind-the scenes shots. But as Burnett’s television empire grew, other executive producers like Tom Shelly and Doug McCallie assumed the role of overseeing the day-to-day filming logistics, with Burnett still signing off on key creative elements.

However, as Burnett continued to focus more on Mark Burnett Productions and a new faith-based production company formed with his wife, actress Roma Downey, called Lightworkers Media, he needed someone he could really trust to take the reins on his signature show.

And that was when his wife sat him down and delivered a radical suggestion. “It was in Samoa around 15 years ago,” Burnett recalls to Entertainment Weekly. “Roma said, ‘You know, you've got a lot of shows, Mark, and you get more and more. You know what you gotta do. Have you thought about telling CBS that you want Jeff to take over? Not just on camera, but running everything.’”

Burnett’s response: “I said, ‘That's a great idea!’ And we did it.”

Starting with 2010’s Survivor: Nicaragua, Probst, who had already been elevated to producer by that point, was tapped by Burnett to completely run the show. And he has no plans to hang up his trademark Survivor baseball cap as either host or showrunner anytime soon.

“That was the best move I ever made in my career,” Burnett says of handing Probst the keys to the Survivor kingdom. “Roma suggested it, and I immediately got it.”

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While Burnett and Probst remain close, and the latter keeps the former informed on all things Survivor, the host has the freedom to fully implement his vision. And the man who gave him that freedom wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Here’s the thing,” says Burnett. “In life and business, always try and work with people who are better than you, and then encourage them. Overshadow is not a bad word. When people rise up around you on your teams and they get the attention, rather than trying to stem that in any sort of way, encourage it! So CEO to me isn't really Chief Executive Officer. It's Chief Encouragement Officer.”

Burnett sees his showrunner doing the exact same thing with the crew. “I can see that in Jeff every day. Look how many people are still working on that show under Jeff. That consistency is very important, which allows the nitty gritty of a very complicated foreign production, because there's this foundational support at the top.”

With Probst calling the shots on Survivor, how would Burnett describe his role now on the game-changing program he first made a cultural institution 26 years ago?

“There’s a great quote from Paul Getty,” Burnett notes. “He said something along the lines of, ‘You can take away all the oil wells and the factories, just give me my 50 best people and I'll build everything back double in five years.’ The skillset is to identify who's brilliant to work with, and that's what I have in Jeff.”

Burnett is clear that in this case, passing the torch — so to speak — means that his longtime host is the current keeper of the flame. “It's not my team anymore,” he says flatly. “I speak to Jeff literally if not every day, then every other day. Sometimes it’s Survivor, often not. If Jeff needs anything, he'd ask me. But it's like a big battleship that's running, operates properly, and doesn't need any help.”

That battleship will be fully operational for the upcoming skirmish when Survivor 50 premieres Feb. 25 on CBS.