Are ‘Survivor’ castaways able to converse with the camera crew?

To create a show as stunning as Survivor, there is quite a large camera crew that helps the beloved competition series come to life, from the gripping shots we see at Immunity/Reward Challenges, to the picturesque shots we see as the tribe walks to tribal council, to the detailed shots we see during the introduction, and beyond.

Following around the castaways for every single conversation, bathroom break, Hidden Immunity Idol hunt, and more, contestants on Survivor are almost always face-to-face with a member of the camera crew, but viewers have just one burning question — can they actually speak to them, or is that against the rules?

Keep scrolling to see what longtime host Jeff Probst had to say about the relationship between contestants and the camera crew in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. These rules and regulations might just surprise you…

According to Probst, castaways are instructed to not communicate with anyone on the crew (unless they are speaking to a producer during a confessional), all in an attempt to make sure that their experience on the hit competition show is as authentic as can be.

“The less involvement from production, the better,” the 62-year-old dished, prior to diving into the details.

He continued, “It’s hard on our crew, because they’re human and they want to be polite to the players, but we’ve done it this way since day one of season one and it works, so we stick with it… If a player asked a question to one of our crew, they would most likely be met with an awkward silence!”

While the contestants are told to not speak to the camera crew whatsoever, it is hard to control whether or not they actually follow this rule (especially after a few cocktails).

According to an exclusive interview with Business Insider, Lauren-Ashley Beck from Survivor: Island Of The Idols shared that “the fourth wall was sort of broken” when her and some of her tribemates snuck alcohol from a reward back to camp, causing the camera crew to intervene — how wild is that?

“We got so drunk, and we were all talking and saying which camera guys we thought were cute,” she gushed. “They were like, ‘Oh, can we have your water bottle?’ because they realized we were hammered.”

Survivor superfans can stream all 45 seasons of the beloved competition series, including Survivor: Island Of The Idols, on Paramount Plus now.