All About Michael and Ava

Survivor host Jeff Probst has a knack for snuffing contestants’ torches on the show, but the flame he carries for his two kids, Michael and Ava, will never go out.

Probst met his wife, former model Lisa Ann Russell, at a holiday party hosted by Survivor executive producer Mark Burnett, and the two got married in December 2011. Russell had previously welcomed two children with her ex-husband, Saved by the Bell actor Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

“I always thought I would have … this great family unit, because that’s what I came from. And then, one day, I met this woman, and it happened. And she had two kids,” Probst shared on Larry King Now in December 2012. “They raised these kids with the kind of love that they just see me and [Gosselaar’s wife, Catriona McGinn] as two more parents.”

The reality TV icon absolutely feels “like a dad,” he told Huffington Post in February 2013.

“It doesn’t feel weird when they call me Dad, and it doesn’t take away from the fact that they have another dad — their biological dad,” he said. “It doesn’t lessen the impact I feel as a dad.”

Here’s everything to know about Jeff Probst’s kids, Michael and Ava.

Michael Charles Gosselaar, 21

Russell and Gosselaar welcomed their older child, son Michael Charles Gosselaar, on Jan. 31, 2004. He was 7 years old when his mom married Probst, whom he quickly bonded with.

“When [Russell and I] were together before we got married, they were playing with [what to call me],” Probst told King. “Sometimes it’d be Dad, sometimes it’d be Jeff Dad 2, sometimes it’d be D-2.”

However, that all changed for Michael at the wedding.

“When we got married, when this ring went on my finger, Michael looked up and said, ‘Dad,’ ” Probst remembered. “I could tell that he knew now that this big thing was official and it was real.”

Michael grew up in Los Angeles, but had the opportunity to spend time overseas while Probst was filming Survivor.

“I think if they had a favorite location, it would be the Philippines, because we’ve spent so much time with local kids in this really small village,” the iconic host told Rachael Ray in a February 2016 interview.

As he’s gotten older, he’s even had the chance to work on set with his dad.

“[Michael] is a general leader,” Probst continued. “He ended up becoming part of our AD team and he’s got the walkie and the things.”

That experience may even have inspired Michael to go into showbiz. In an August 2016 interview with Entertainment Tonight, Gosselaar shared that his son has taken an interest in the entertainment industry.

“He wants to do something in this business, so I will support that,” he shared, though he added that he’d prefer if Michael waits until he’s an adult if he wants to act. “I wouldn’t want him to go through it as a child, but when he becomes 18, he can do whatever he wants.”

Ava Lorenn Gosselaar, 19

Russell and Gosselaar welcomed their younger child, daughter Ava Lorenn Gosselaar, on May 7, 2006.

Probst was thrilled to become a father later in life, telling the Kids in the House podcast in 2014, “There are lots of guys that would be happy to marry into a family just like I did … I’m amazed that I don’t [have biological children] but I’m more amazed that I’m satisfied, completely engulfed with love, for these two kids that I cannot separate anymore whether they were mine biologically or not.”

Like her brother, Ava has also spent time on the Survivor set, even enjoying a summer job in the Philippines. “Ava … is an artist,” he told Ray. “She ended up in the art department.”

Despite working on the show, Probst admits his daughter couldn’t be less interested in watching it.

“If you had children you would know this fact: No child cares what their parents do at all,” he told GQ in February 2018. “I could be around 20 kids and 18 of them are Survivor addicts. But the two who don’t care? Mine.”

Ava’s attended a number of public events with her family over the years, including a family outing with her mom, brother and Probst to the Annual Milk + Bookies Story Time Celebration in 2011 and the Monster Energy AMA Supercross race with her dad in 2012.