Russell Hantz Had A Reality Show That One Time

Russell Hantz, Shawn Hantz, flipping houses and making cash: Flipped Off was reality show idea from a darker time in Survivor history.

Once upon a time, millions of Americans were tricked into thinking that Russell Hantz was an excellent Survivor player, capable of winning the game.

What can be dubbed as the undisputed champion of playing for third place, he drew the ire of players and fans alike for being so downright cutthroat, manipulative, and self-centered on Survivor Samoa and Survivor Heroes vs Villains. He also had a cup of tea in Redemption Island, but by that time, his fellow players had seen his “work” on television, and rightfully voted him out almost immediately.

Because one Hantz wasn’t enough, Brandon Hantz (Russell Hantz’s nephew) was brought on for Survivor South Pacific, serving as the first relative of a player to join another season and the only to do so outside of a Blood vs Water season. He played with an ecclesiastical heart, bartering with his religious views and the dirtiness needed to play the game. He got deep in his first season, but had the ugliest meltdown in Survivor history, with his tribe forfeiting immunity and voting him out at a challenge.

It’s clear that reality television is not fit for the wellbeing of the Hantz family. That didn’t stop Russell Hantz and his brother from getting their own reality show.

Flipped Off is a last-ditch effort to try to make Russell Hantz a household name once again. It follows Russell and his brother, Shawn Hantz, as they try to flip houses in the Houston area. Essentially, A&E wanted to take a camera crew and watch two horrible people be horrible to each other as “lovable” brothers getting into wacky predicaments.

It ticks off every reality show checkbox; loudmouth wannabe playboy puffing his chest, family members bickering with each other, time lapse footage of traffic, messing around like a child for the cameras, an educated woman to serve as a foil. The show, essentially, was “hey look, it’s Russell Hantz doing Russell Hantz stuff. Isn’t that wacky?”

Thankfully, television audiences weren’t subject to the shenanigans for too long, as Flipped Off got canceled after seven episodes. Russell, Shawn, Brandon, and the rest of the family were never to be shown on television again.

That is, until they tried to sell Holding Hantz.

If you thought two members of the Hantz family was two too many, then wait until you see more than a half dozen of them at once! Holding Hantz was supposed to look at a complex family that rag on each other come together in order to open a new family restaurant.

Survivor TBT: That Time Russell Hantz Had A Reality Show

By Daniel George | Feb 23, 2017

Russell Hantz, Shawn Hantz, flipping houses and making cash: Flipped Off was reality show idea from a darker time in Survivor history.