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Sophie Clarke won six of the Survivor South Pacific jury members’ votes and thus the $1 million prize, beating Benjamin “Coach” Wade and Albert Destrade, with Ozzy Lusth taking the $100,000 fan favorite prize in the largest margin in the show’s history. Despite her clear victory, however, Sophie was screwed over: by the editing and by host Jeff Probst. Also last night, next season’s awesome twist and name, Survivor One World, were confirmed. Sophie played a strong, strategic game, aligning with the right people and also playing slightly under the radar, though the typically bitter jury viewed that as her being standoffish rather than Rick. Though she did not appear to be responsible for any major strategic moves—she certainly didn’t Cochran, whose name I’m making into a verb for a game-changing move—she was usually in conversations with Coach, who the editing seemed to credit all season for having the game in his control. Besides the fact that she won individual immunity three times,...

The Survivor South Pacific jury’s votes have been revealed by its members, and all but three voted for winner Sophie Clarke. Meanwhile, Brandon Hantz has horrifying news about his return to the game, which is even more terrifying considering Jeff Probst’s ridiculous, franchise-killing plan to bring back Russell Hantz to face off against his nephew. Coach received votes from Cochran (which we saw on TV), Edna, and Rick. Everyone else voted for Sophie; Albert received zero votes. CBS usually puts the final votes online, but has not yet done so, continuing its frustrating trend of failing to reveal final vote totals during the finale. We saw three votes for Coach at the start of the live broadcast, and it’s safe to assume we would have seen more had there been any. Here’s how everyone voted: Edna tweeted , “I voted for Coach for his best game of manipulation, and I think Cochran and Rick did too.” Rick confirmed that vote in an interview with Rob Cesternino . Brandon told Zap2it he vote...

Among the 16 new cast members who will be on Survivor South Pacific with returning players Ben “Coach” Wade and Ozzy Lusth is someone with a very familiar last name: Brandon Hantz, three-time loser Russell Hantz’s nephew. Brandon, who’s 20 and married and works at his uncle’s company (Hantz Tankering Service), was identified as a cast member early this morning on Survivor Skills by DanieuBleau , who correctly identified this season’s location well before there was any concrete evidence. (There was a teaser posted a week ago.) The accurate information about the taping location followed by cast member information suggests a source such as a crew member, so while I hope this is a Kimbo Slice-like rumor , it may not be. Others report that Brandon had a casting video posted on his YouTube profile , but that, along with his Facebook profile, has apparently been deleted. His YouTube profile says, “hi my names Brandon im 18 i have a lovely wife and son that im very proud of its a long story...

By Reality TV World staff, 03/10/2011 Russell Hantz 's Survivor luck finally ran out. After making it to the final jury voting of both Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains but losing both votes, Russell had been hoping the third time would be the charm when he returned to compete on Survivor: Redemption Island.  However Russell ended up being voted out at his tribe's first Tribal Council and then blew his chance to earn the right to eventually return to the game when he lost his subsequent Redemption Island duel to Matt Elrod -- resulting in his permanent ouster from the game during Wednesday night's broadcast of Survivor: Redemption Island's fourth episode. On Thursday, the 38-year-old oil company owner from Dayton, TX talked to Reality TV World about his latest Survivor experience -- including why he really broke down crying after he lost his duel; what he believes makes someone a "true Survivor," if it's hypocritical for the Survivor s...

Russell Hantz’s elimination from Survivor Redemption Island has left him so mad that he’s threatening to sue his fellow contestants for violating the very contract that he explicitly violated on-camera, never mind accusations of spoiling the show. In a post-eviction interview, Russell told Entertainment Weekly , “I would have never thrown a challenge. Never. I should sue every single one of them because in the contract it says you can’t throw challenges!” This is so incredible I don’t know where to begin, and I wish someone would have called him on this bullshit. First, contestants’ contract is with CBS, not each other—although perhaps there’s some complicated legal argument that could be made about his chances being affected by their rule-breaking. But that would be laughed out of court, because, and second, is Russell seriously threatening to sue someone over violating the same contract that he violated in multiple ways, starting with the prohibition of “criminal damage” of private ...

And it is done: Russell Hantz is out of Survivor—forever, he says. After three seasons with nothing but Russell all the time, I don’t even want to think about the possibility that he’ll return someday, but instead will celebrate his loss, and his crying breakdown afterward, which made it all the more delicious. Before arriving at the challenge, Russell promised us that he’d beat Matt (“I’ll just take him out”) and then everyone else (“I’m going to pick them off, and I’m going to make them suffer”). I momentarily considered rooting for Russell when Matt said “I’m fighting to honor my god,” because I completely loathe reality contestants who act as if god is involved in helping them win challenges but not, say, in ending genocide or starvation. As with many of Russell’s promises, his promise to win failed to come true. Still, the Redemption Island challenge was quite dramatic: Matt and Russell had to assemble wood block dominoes, basically, along planks connected to rope that would caus...

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Survivor cast member Russell Hantz has responded to my report about the lawsuit against Jim Early , aka “missyae,” although he did not respond to my request for a comment for the piece itself. Russell wrote on his Facebook wall , “All I’m gonna say is this, everybody wants their 15 min of fame and never believe what you read because when it’s false and you believe it you’re just as bad as the jackass that wrote it.” He is clearly denying the charges leveled against him by Early in my Daily Beast story : that he leaked information about seasons 19 and 20, which would be a clear violation of his contract. Beyond that, I’m not sure if he means Early wants 15 minutes of fame and I’m a jackass; most amusing and/or instructive is the chorus of sycophants who comment on Russell’s status update. By the way, Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross, who still has access to Survivor cast, crew, and locations, wrote on Twitter that CBS “always kinda knew it was Russell anyway.” Meanwhile, in a video ...

Today in The Daily Beast, I report on a lawsuit quietly filed last August by DJB, Inc., a company run by executive producer Mark Burnett, against a John Doe who turned out to be Jim Early, the man who posted accurate Survivor spoilers on Survivor Sucks as “missyae.” The lawsuit was dismissed after Early gave lawyers information about his source(s), and he told me that he identified Russell Hantz as the person who gave him information about seasons 19 and 20. For all the details, read the story , and you can also read the actual lawsuit [PDF] . In the story, Early explains how he first came into contact with Russell, who originally appeared on Survivor Samoa and is about to appear on Survivor Redemption Island; why people thought “missyae” was Russell’s wife; why his information that Carrie Prejean and Kimbo Slice would be on season 22 was inaccurate; and why he identified Russell as his source, providing the lawyer who filed the lawsuit with e.mail as documentation to prove his cl...

The worst-kept secret in reality TV casting has finally been announced by CBS: Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz are cast members on Survivor Redemption Island, playing for a fourth and third time, respectively. It’s too bad CBS and the show’s producers couldn’t just trust that their big, smart, and interesting new twist wouldn’t be enough of a draw. Jeff Probst has been practically orgasmic at the possibility Rob and Russell would return , which served as further confirmation that it was, in fact, happening . In a press release—I mean, sorry, in Entertainment Weekly —he said, “I’m not concerned at all about any Russell fatigue — that people have had too much. If you’ve had too much of Russell, I dare say you’re not really a Survivor fan. He embodies Survivor. He’s polarizing. You hate him or you love him.” Probst says a version of the same thing in the video below. Why did the announcement come today? I have no idea. While I understand that not all of the show’s viewers follow news onli...

« Your OWN Show Contestant Chef Eric Warren Shares His Recipe Of The Week | Home | The Biggest Loser: Ashley Johnston Teams Up With Rite Aid To Promote Weight Loss » January 13, 2011 09:10:33 by Paula_Kosowski CBS announced today the remaining two castaways joining this season’s Survivor: Redemption Island are Russell Hantz and Rob “Boston” Mariano . Keep reading for more details… Survivor: Redemption Island will have two returning castmates joining the new 16 contestants this season and they’ll be “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains’” rivals Russell Hantz, season 19, and Rob “Boston” Mariano, season four. Mariano famously said to Hantz at the “Heroe’s vs. Villains” live finale: “given the opportunity I’d gladly go back and kick your ass all over the island.” Now he’s got a chance to prove it. Neither contestant has won the title of “Sole Survivor,” though Hantz was runner-up in season 19, but both will get another chance at redemption to prove they’ve got the survival skills it t...