Varner, 50, told ET at the weekend that he had since been fired from his job as a real estate agent in North Carolina after his former employee decided to distance the company from the furore that ensued.

"I wasn't even given the chance to explain or right the wrong," he said.

"It was an ugly day. My former boss told me that I was in a news story they wanted nothing to do with."

Varner became the target of widespread criticism that spanned well beyond the realm of the reality series' audience after he called out Smith as transgender in a bid to convince fellow contestants with who he was trying to form an alliance they were being deceived.

"It was a last minute emotional decision.

"I had not planned that at all, there's no way I could have planned that. I went to tribal [council] and I'm trying to show, 'You three are being deceived by these three so vote with me', and it was an argument I was making, that's what it was and that's where it went and it went on for an hour-and-a-half."

The former news anchor apologised for the incident again on ET, saying he was "profoundly sorry", however it was not the first time he had acknowledged the controversial comments.

"I offer my deepest, most heart-felt apologies to Zeke Smith, his friends and life allies, his family and to all those who my mistake hurt and offended," Varner wrote on Twitter.

"Outing someone is assault. It robs a strong, courageous person of their power and protection... Zeke is a wonderful man and I will forever be amazed and inspired by his forgiveness."

"We cannot control the hazards we face, we can only control how we respond. Love each other," Smith earlier tweeted.

Varner said at the time he believed "everyone" knew Smith was transgender.

"Is it starting to hit you, the gravity, that you didn't just tell six people, you told millions of people?" Jeff Probst, host of the show, asked.

Smith, who had competed as an openly gay man for two seasons on the show, said he was not prepared to disclose anything further because he did not want to be known as the "trans Survivor player".

"I wanted to be Zeke the Survivor player," he said.

Smith told The Talk that the confronting experience had put him on the spot.

"The lights got really bright and all sound faded away, and there was this primal instinct in me that just said, 'Run', but I knew I couldn't run, because I came to Survivor to confront great challenges," he said.

Smith worked with GLAAD, a US media agency that works with LGBT people in the media, in the months between when the show was taped and aired to ensure he was given an opportunity to platform his views.

"I was drawn to apply for Survivor because of the integrity of the storytelling. We started having conversations all the way back in Fiji nine months ago about the care with which this episode was going to be handled."

Varner has been undergoing therapy to address the "trauma" he experienced after filming the episode, and has been taking steps to gain re-employment in his industry.