Mark Burnett’s Ex-Wife Claims Role in Show’s Success

Survivor producer and creator of The Apprentice Mark Burnett is feeling the sting of his ex-wife’s new tell-all book. Diane Burnett penned a new memoir titled, “The Road to Reality: My Journey as a Real Life Survivor,” and in it she claims she had a significant role in the success of the hit CBS reality show, Survivor.

Burnett claims she not only came up with the show’s title and helped with it’s concept, but that she also had a hand  in choosing who the show’s host would be. Mark Burnett denies all her claims and says he believes she is simply trying to sell books.

Mark and Diane were married in 1992, before Mark had achieved success in the television industry. The couple split in 2003, and now, nine years later, Diane wants the world to know that Survivor wouldn’t be the show it is today if it weren’t for her.

Both Survivor producer Mike Sears and the show’s host Jeff Probst are backing up Mark and both have commented on the situation. Sears says Diane is delusional and is trying to take credit simply because she was there during the birth of the show. He likens it to her saying, “‘I was standing next to someone who was doing great things; ergo, I did great things.’”

Probst doesn’t remember much about Diane, but he does recall her helping behind the scenes with the food situation. ”I saw Diane over three seasons, maybe five times. Always in catering.”

The book is set to hit shelves on September 18th.