Does Jeff Probst Have Kids? Meet His Stepchildren

Survivor host Jeff Probst is a pro at balancing intense Tribal Councils and being a devoted father to his wife Lisa Ann Russell’s two children. Lisa shares daughter Ava and son Michael with ex-husband Mark-Paul Gosselaar. Even though the children are not biologically Jeff’s, they still view him as a second father figure. He considers them to be his own.

“They call me dad. And you know when it locked in? When we were together before we got married, they were playing with it,” Jeff shared in a 2012 interview with Larry King. “Sometimes it would be dad, sometimes it would be Jeff Dad 2, sometimes it would be D2.”

Jeff and Lisa got married in a backyard ceremony officiated by his friends in 2011. Both Ava and Michael were in attendance. Once the ring went on Jeff’s finger, Michael looked up at him and called him “dad.”

“I could tell he knew now this big thing was official and it was real,” Jeff told King, reflecting back on the wedding.

Jeff and Lisa have been coparenting with Mark and his second wife, Catriona McGinn, for over a decade. Mark shot to fame in his teens on the show Saved by the Bell. He and Lisa welcomed Michael in 2004, and Ava in 2006. The pair were married from 1996 to 2010. Michael and Ava have two stepsiblings from Mark’s second marriage: Dekker and Lachlyn.

“They were together almost 20 years. They had a long marriage and they raised these two young kids,” Jeff shared. “They raised them with the kind of love that the kids they see me — and [Mark’s] now remarried, his wife…they just see us as two more parents.”

In 2013, Jeff announced that he would be leading his own talk show, The Jeff Probst Show, inspired by his two stepchildren. The show only aired for one season, but it was obvious how much he prides being a father and gained a new outlook on life.

“It really started to shift when I got married and Lisa, my wife, brought in these two amazing kids who started calling me dad,” Jeff said in a 2012 interview. “All of a sudden, my world opened so much wider and my world became so much more immense, and that combined with technology and the fact that we are living in a bona fide cultural revolution, that the globe is transforming, is what made me decide I want to be a part of the conversation.”

Scroll down below to meet Jeff’s two stepchildren.

Michael Charles Gosselaar

Michael Charles Gosselaar is only a teenager, but already has his sights set on a successful entertainment career just like Mark and Jeff. During a 2016 interview, Mark shared that Michael has big showbiz dreams.

“He has athletic ability, but doesn’t want to be an athlete,” the actor said. “He wants to do something in this business, so I will support that.”

Mark has opened up several times about how he wished he pursued higher education when he was thrust into the spotlight in the role of Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell. Mark went on to say that he will “be more supportive when he turns 18.” Jeff has yet to speak out on his stepchildren’s career aspirations.

“If there’s one regret that I have – there’s many regrets – but if there’s one regret from being on a show at such a young age, it’s that I didn’t get a further education other than high school and I’d love for my kids to do that,” Mark told Fox News.

Ava Lorenn Gosselaar

Ava Lorenn Gosselaar has accompanied Mark to several events in the past, including the All Star Hockey Game and an event for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Just like Michael, Ava is well on her way to becoming a star on stage.

“They have the talent,” Mark said while promoting the show Mixed-ish. “My daughter does a lot of theater and a lot of dance. They’ve talked about aspirations. I’ve just said, ‘Hey look, you know you have school. There are other things you can do to quell those desires – go do those and then we’ll talk afterward.'”

Though Mark-Paul encourages his children to follow their passions, he was very adamant about not wanting them to become child stars, based on his own experiences. In a March 2021 interview with People, he recalled what it was like filming a comedy series when he was a kid.

“The director was saying, ‘The minute you walk through these double doors leading onto the stage, you’re no longer a child anymore, you’re an adult. You have to act like an adult,'” the Pitch actor shared.

He went on to say, “That’s one of the reasons I don’t want my children in it is because I don’t feel it’s a place for children.”

When it comes to looking after their younger step-siblings, Ava and Michael always step up to the plate.

“Michael will take Lachlyn, Ava will take Dekker. Everyone is helping! It’s free babysitting!” Mark told People in December 2020.