Can ‘Survivor’ castaways steal Hidden Immunity Idols and advantages from one another?

As Survivor superfans know, the beloved competition series is filled with dozens of twists and turns, with advantages like the “Shot In The Dark,” “Knowledge Is Power,” “Beware Advantage,” and more being introduced within the New Era of Survivor.

Given that there are so many Hidden Immunity Idols and advantages in circulation as of late, it seems like pretty much every contestant has some sort of trick up their sleeve! Because of this, it’s not uncommon for castaways to sneakily look through the bags of their tribemates in an attempt to see what Hidden Immunity Idols and advantages they could be hiding.

We all remember Dee Valladares rummaging through the belongings of Sean Edwards during Survivor 45, almost instantaneously after the tribe swap occurred… right?

While contestants often search the bags of those they deem to be suspicious or untrustworthy, has anyone ever stolen a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage for themselves, or is that against the rules and regulations of Survivor as a whole?

Longtime host and showrunner Jeff Probst put the rumors to rest in an interview with PEOPLE, revealing that stealing a Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage from another player (or stealing anything from another player) is not allowed, however, sleuthing is fair game.

“It’s not something you might do in your ordinary life, but this is Survivor, where for the most part, anything goes. What is not allowed is stealing any kind of Hidden Immunity Idol or advantage, so if you discover something valuable in another player’s bag, you can use that information to your advantage, but you can’t take the item.”

The 62-year-old also reaffirmed the rule during the October 12 episode of On Fire: The Official Survivor Podcast:

“Nobody can take an advantage or an idol from any player, ever. Even if somebody looks into a player’s bag and they find this collection of advantages, and they know they have them, that’s fine. They can’t take them.”

Survivor superfans can stream all 45 seasons of the beloved competition series on Paramount Plus now.