Thread:Fedora Kid/@comment-2091662-20150222173813/@comment-1734566-20150227200013

I think it's because it was originally the opposite - Probst repeatedly said at the beginning that Spencer had "zero chance" of winning, and that he'd be out early. So for Spencer to make it to the Final 4 despite a terrible tribe and reduced post-merge numbers, and becoming a fan favorite to boot, basically proved Jeff wrong more so than on anything else before. So he has a great respect for Spencer, on top of the fact that he's just a personally likable guy. He's so popular because he's easily one of the greatest underdog players in Survivor history. All the odds were stacked against him from the beginning, but he managed to nearly pull it off, even as a clear threat.