Jeff Probst: Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s Kids Are ‘Not Step-Kids’

When Jeff Probst married Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s ex-wife Lisa Ann Russell, Probst inherited a whole new family. The Survivor host, who has been married to Lisa Russell for a year now, says that Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s kids aren’t just his step-kids — they’re more than that.

In an interview on Larry King Now, Probst went on to explain the family dynamic he gained when he started dating Lisa Ann Russell:

“Well, [Mark and Lisa] were together almost 20 years. They had a long marriage and they raised these two young kids. They raised them with the kind of love that the kids see me as another parent.”

When Larry had decided the kids don’t consider Jeff as a step-father type, the Survivor host responds, “They’re not step-kids. They call me dad.”

Probst when on to explain more of that family dynamic he gained when he said ‘I do’ back in 2011:

“When we were together before we got married, they were playing with it. Sometimes it’d be dad, sometimes it’d be Jeff, dad two, sometimes it’d be D-2. But when we got married, when this ring went on my finger, Michael looked up and said, ‘dad,’ and I could tell that he knew now that this big thing was official and it was real.”

Mark-Paul Gosselaar also remarried earlier to Catriona McGinn in June. He has two children with Lisa Ann Russell, Michael Gosselaar, 8, and Ava, 6. As for Probst, he was previously married to Shelley Wright but the couple divorced in 2001.