In an interview with an Australian entertainment podcast, Russell Hantz admits his being on Australian Survivor might mean not being on “Survivor Legends.”
Though it’s been more than a week since Russell Hantz was booted from Australian Survivor in 23rd place (a new low for the once considered great player), that hasn’t stopped the season from pushing through and providing a compelling story filled with villainous and virtuous archetypes. However, Russell Hantz risked a lot to come on the show, and he may have already paid dearly.
In an interview with WHO Magazine’s “Binge List” podcast, Russell Hantz alleges that by competing in an international version, he risks not being called upon for the next “Survivor Legends” season, which he says will be season 40.
“I know for a fact that I was going to get called for the next Legends season of 40,” Russell states. “I’m jeopardizing so much. I’m jeopardizing being on this (Australian) Survivor.” He later argues that the Heroes vs. Villains cast was jealous of his fame at the time, coming off a bus and having fans cheer for him, a player unknown to the rest of the all-star cast, hence why they didn’t like him from the start.
There’s a lot to unpack here, especially because it was such a short interview and Russell Hantz is not known to be the most reliable narrator. First, it seems like he has an inside track on the fact that Survivor season 40 in the US will be a “Legends” season, whether it’s the very best, an all-winners season, or both. This, despite the fact CBS probably hasn’t talked to him for many years.
Another thing is that Russell painting himself as a pariah of fame, and that is his undoing in front of the Heroes vs. Villains cast (and Survivor community at large) paints over his alleged leaking of results for season 20, his aggressively demeaning comments to certain cast members, his holier-than-thou approach to playing the game and his one style of gameplay that he continues to play after everyone knows the playbook.
That said, I wouldn’t mind a Russell Hantz jury member in an all-star Survivor season, only if it means seeing what kind of role he’d play on the jury. However, it would require him to adapt his strategy now that everyone has his game footage, and that’s something I don’t think we’d ever see in a hundred years.