Now that he has the benefit of looking back on the pre-Survivor era of his life, Jon Lovett shared what it’s like to know that “there’s going to be a night where people are going to make fun of you.”

After the season 47 premiere on Wednesday, he told his “Lovett or Leave It” audience: “Do you know what it’s like when you put it on your calendar in May or June that there’s going to be a night in September where people are going to make fun of you?” Lovett asked. “You’ve never done anything like that before. I want you all to open your calendars right now and put it in February, ‘Everyone I know is going to text you, ‘Ohhh, buddy.'”

Lovett was recently joined by comedian Guy Branum and actress Uzo Aduba at a live taping. The trio discussed reality TV and Lovett admitted that one day he wondered what it would be like to be on “Survivor” and “the next thing you know, you’re pushing a rowboat across the sand of a beach filled with incredibly heavy objects, you’re out of breath, you’re exhausted, you’ve lost, and then the person you’re playing with implodes in front of everyone, and you’ve literally watched practically the entire episode of ‘Survivor.’ You’ve never seen anything like it. You’ve seen it. I can’t remember a moment like that.”

Branum asked if the reality series was essentially a “well-constructed game,” to which Lovett replied in the affirmative. “I think I paid the price for what makes the modern seasons more interesting: They’re shot in the dark, wary of advantages, small tribes. You never feel comfortable and never safe.”

He also explained the thought process that comes with potentially playing a “shot in the dark” – a last-ditch option that gives players a one-time 1 in 6 chance to be sure of their vote instead. “That means that people used to just say, ‘Boy, we’re sorry, but we’re voting you the hell out of here.’ And you said, ‘Damn.'”

“Now they look at you and say we’re voting for Uzo, but they’re not voting. And so everyone tells me they’re voting for Andy. Oh, and that was a circumstance… I really hadn’t thought of that. I really hadn’t,” Lovett added.

You can watch the conversation in the video above. Season 47 of Survivor airs Wednesdays on CBS.