PHOTO Survivor’s Jeff Probst nearly naked with bacon for Two and a Half Men

Last month Survivor host Jeff Probst tweeted that he filmed a cameo for Two and a Half Men and that he wouldn’t be wearing his trademark blue shirt. What he failed to mention was that just about the only thing the 52-year-old would be wearing was a serving of bacon!

Probst spoke with TODAY about the revealing appearance including his impressive physique:

Q. How did you end up naked on ‘Two and a Half Men?’
Even though it sounds weird given that I’m on CBS, it was really straightforward. I got a call from the casting director. I happen to be friends with [Jon] Cryer and I texted him and he said, ‘I just read the script. It’s really funny. You should do it.’ That was it. And then they said, ‘Oh by the way, you’ll be naked.’ I mean, how can you turn down Two and a Half Men? — one of the greatest comedies of all time. I was really excited. I’ve done a lot of MAD TV and that kind of comedy but I’ve never done a situation comedy like this.

Did you tape in front of the live audience?
No. And probably just as well! I have to say — they move quickly. It’s pretty much, get undressed, let’s go, shoot you’re done. Let’s go, see you. It’s a small part but it’s very fun. Definitely a highlight. When I left that day, I did call my wife and say ‘Well, that’s one for the books.’ Getting to work with stars with the magnitude of Cryer and Ashton [Kutcher] on a show of this magnitude created by one of the biggest TV creators of all time—and be naked. That will go down in the scrapbook.

Don’t you think they’re going to require you to be naked on Survivor now?
That’s what I told myself in my trailer — I like this. I thought it would be a little bit more intimidating to walk onto the set. You’re wearing very tiny underwear. You are wearing something. It’s like being European. Or it’s just like being on a beach in Brazil. No big deal.

You’re going to have to answer a lot of questions about your fitness routine now.
That’s called I’m not 20 anymore. If you want to stay fit, you have to work at it. It’s definitely not a case of (I was born with) good genes and I eat McDonald’s every day. I definitely put effort into staying fit. You have to if you want to live a long time, why wouldn’t you? And if you’re in this industry, you better. And if you work on a show like Survivor. There’s lots of reasons that I work to stay in shape. And it’s a good thing because they don’t give you a lot of advance notice. It’s not like they called in June and said ‘Hey, in November, we’d like to use you.’ It was like 48 hours later we were shooting.

So there was no hesitation whatsoever?
I don’t hesitate when someone offers me something like that. And all jokes aside, being naked, couldn’t care less. That was fun. It was fun to put myself in that position. It’s also fun to make fun of yourself. Really, seriously, who is going to turn down a chance to be on that show? I’m all in. And if they call again and say we need you again, and we’d like you to get naked again? Let’s go. My slate is clean.

The Two and a Half Men episode featuring Jeff’s bacon-bits airs this Thursday night at 9:30/8:30c.

Probst photo: Cliff Lipson / CBS