Brandon Hantz, the former Survivor player, has been arrested on multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit racketeering and arson in connection with a biker gang in the Houston area, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly.
Hantz faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the charges if convicted. He was arrested along with 13 other alleged members of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, according to the report. EW is also reporting that the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas announced the charges and arrests on Thursday, Feb. 20.
It's been a while since Hantz played Survivor, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the more recent fans were unaware of who he is. Overall, he didn't have a huge impact in terms of gameplay on either of his seasons, but his choices did lead to two of the most surprising and intense moments in the history of the show.
Hantz is best known in the Survivor community for his two appearances: Survivor: South Pacific in 2011 and ending in Survivor: Caramoan in 2013. He's also the nephew of one of the biggest villains in Survivor history, Russell Hantz, who many fans believe could return in Survivor 50. Hantz's two seasons on Survivor are both great seasons, but there was definitely some questionable decision-making on Brandon's part throughout South Pacific and Caramoan.
During Survivor: South Pacific, which was an iconic season, Brandon was in one of the strongest alliances of the season, but he made one of the biggest mistakes in Survivor history when he gave up immunity at the Final Five in order to protect his alliance member, Albert Destrade. After giving up immunity, the vote turned his way, and Brandon was voted out. He had a chance to reenter the game, but Ozzy Lusth bested Brandon and the other players who had been voted out previously in the challenge to return to the game. Sophie Clarke, who beat Ozzy in the next immunity challenge, went on to win the season.
Things played out much worse for Brandon in Survivor: Caramoan, which aired two years after South Pacific. During the season, Brandon and Phillip Sheppard's relationship led to several altercations early in the game. It came to a head when Brandon disposed of his tribe's food, and they intentionally lost the next challenge to vote him out. After that, Jeff Probst had to diffuse the situation to ensure that it didn't boil over into a physical altercation, as Brandon was removed from the game without having to go to the Tribal Council.
I believe that is one of the only non-medical exits of its kind in Survivor history. I can't remember another case where a player left the game by a tribe forfeiting the challenge and pushing a player out of the game. At the time, it was clearly the correct choice based on how things were going. We obviously didn't get to see how everything played out, but there were signs of the situation escalating.
Survivor returns on Wednesday, Feb. 26, for the two-hour Survivor 48 premiere. Watch the new season on CBS and Paramount+.