Russell Hantz missing from Australian Survivor reunion show

There was no sight of Russell Hantz at the Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders reunion show this past Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean no one talked about him.

The three-time US Survivor super-villain tried his luck on this year’s season of Australian Survivor. There’s no doubt that he made the first two episodes entertaining, but he was voted out with an idol around his neck. Russell was quick to voice his displeasure for production on Australian Survivor, stating in one of his podcasts that he won’t watch the rest of the season.

Needless to say, no one was surprised when one castaway was missing from the Australian Survivor reunion show. The host; Jonathan LaPaglia, spoke about Russell “deciding not to be here.” Then, we saw clips of his confident confessionals, and let’s just say it didn’t paint a pretty picture of the villain!

Some of the quotes included in his montage were: “I’m going to show you Aussies how to play the game.” and; “There’s no damn way they’re putting my name down!”. Then they cut to scenes of the girls conspiring to vote Russell out, resulting in his torch getting snuffed with an idol around his neck. Although Russell Hantz wasn’t present, production decided to put one of his signature fedoras on a stool beside the cast as seen in the tweet below.

Jonathan then asked a few members of the Champions tribe for thoughts about Russell, which were all negative. When Steve; an alpha male on the Champions tribe, was asked to describe Russell in one word, he said, “Idiot.” Later on in the reunion show, Benji; who was the most strategic player of the season, picked up Russell’s hat and dropped it next to the fire.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Russell Hantz was completely roasted during the reunion show. Was this humiliation deserving? I would say so, especially since he didn’t show up. It revealed how his personality within the game is similar to his attitude outside of the game.

So do we still want to see Russell play again? Absolutely! He is the first US Survivor contestant to participate in another version, which just goes to show how obsessed he is with this game. And let’s not forget, he made back to back Final Tribal Councils, executed some of the craziest blindsides in Survivor history and used Hidden Immunity Idols in ways that no one else has before.

Yes, Russell Hantz may be rusty and unable to adjust his gameplay, but it would be thrilling to see him rock the fedora one more time in an upcoming returnee season.