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Russell Dennis Hantz (born October 10, 1972) [2] is an American television personality, best known for his appearances on the U.S. reality show, Survivor. [3] He was the runner-up on Survivor: Samoa, [4] [5] and the second runner-up on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
Apr 3, 2021 · A popular 'Survivor' castaway says being on the show is what led to his divorce. Father of four Russell Hantz says his villainous persona bled into real life.
- Andrea Reiher
- Overview
- Survivor
- Post-Survivor
Russell Dennis Hantz is a contestant from Survivor: Samoa, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, Survivor: Redemption Island, and Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders (2018).
Regarded by many as the series' most notorious villain, Russell is infamous for his brash and callous gameplay, deliberately causing chaos at camp, finding several Hidden Immunity Idols unaided by clues, and eliminating his competition as ruthlessly as possible. Despite his considerable strategic prowess, his general unpleasant personality and his ineptitude at jury management have contributed to two losses at the Final Tribal Council. His notoriety finally caught up with him in subsequent seasons where he has been voted out at the first opportunity.
Russell's goals from the start of Samoa were to manipulate and control his peers. He started off by sabotaging his tribe in order to weaken them, which would allow him to control them. He then took control of his tribe by forming alliances with everyone and taking out anyone that challenged him or caught onto his plans. He found three Hidden Immunity Idols, which would be crucial during the post merge phase. Despite his minority Foa Foa Four alliance coming into the merge at an 8-4 deficit, he used an idol and his ability to flip two members from the rival alliance, to his alliance to overcome the deficit and take control. He reached the Final Tribal Council, but his deceitful tactics and arrogance caused him to finish second to Natalie White in a 7-2-0 vote.
Returning in Heroes vs. Villains as an unknown player to his fellow competitors, Russell repeated his game in Samoa. He made two bold moves, giving his idol to Parvati Shallow which resulted in Tyson Apostol's blindside, and tricking JT Thomas into believing that he was on the outs on his tribe which caused JT to give his idol to Russell. He reached the end of the game again, making him the second player in Survivor history to reach Day 39 on back-to-back seasons. However, his poor social game and mistreatment of the Heroes tribe caused him to finish third place with zero jury votes.
When he played for a third time in Redemption Island, all the castaways in this season were completely aware of his gameplay as they watched him play during the airings of Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains. Although he tried to trick the others by saying he would play differently, Russell quickly reverted to his old tricks, prompting many members on his tribe to throw the third challenge and vote him out for the first time in his Survivor career. He lost his the subsequent Redemption Island duel to Matt Elrod, eliminating him for the first time in his Survivor career.
Russell became the first contestant from Survivor (U.S.) to return for an international season when he appeared on Champions vs. Contenders, where he attempted to replicate his former style of gameplay. However, after showing his idol to strongarm his tribe, his tribemate Moana Hope managed to turn the majority of the tribe against him, and orchestrate his elimination.
Samoa
Russell was placed on the Foa Foa tribe. He originally had a plan to dictate the entire tribe's voting politics, in which he was successful. In the first challenge, he was chosen for the leg of the race that required strength by tribal leader Mick Trimming. Foa Foa won the Reward Challenge. Right from the beginning, Russell demonstrated his preference to play through lies and deceit, creating conflicting alliances with every tribemate (mostly women) he came into contact with. He even lied about his personal life, claiming that he was a Hurricane Katrina victim. Still not contented, he became fond of wreaking psychological havoc whenever possible, even sabotaging his own tribe, as seen on Foa Foa's first night, where Hantz dumped all the water containers and burned Jaison Robinson's socks. This plan took its toll on Foa Foa, whose subsequent failure in eight out of ten tribal challenges forced them to sacrifice six of their ten members. Marisa Calihan, Betsy Bolan, and Ashley Trainer were systematically eliminated after they caught on to Russell's dirty tactics. The only boot on Foa Foa that Russell had no authority over was Ben Browning, who he didn't want to vote out but reluctantly sided with the rest of the tribe. After Galu lost Russell Swan before a supposed Double Tribal Council twist on Day 15 because of a severe medical condition (which Hantz claimed was a partial victory for Foa Foa, since the rival tribe still lost a member), another loss sent Foa Foa back to Tribal Council, where Liz Kim was voted out when Hantz felt she was no longer needed. With only twelve people remaining, this prompted an early merger, and the two rival tribes were merged into a new tribe called Aiga. At the merge, the former Galu members outnumbered Foa Foa 2 to 1 (giving them an 8-4 majority) which created a grim outlook towards any chance of survival by the remaining (former) Foa Foa members. His craftiness scaled new heights when he made an unthinkable Survivor first, finding several Hidden Immunity Idols without using the provided clues. With these idols at his disposal, he became nearly invincible at Tribal Council. With the tribes merged, Russell gradually rallied the Foa Foa Four (consisting of tribe leader Mick, Jaison Robinson, Natalie White, and himself) to victory when they concocted a "divide and conquer" scheme, designed to make the former Galu tribe members turn on each other. This proved effective when Natalie turned the Galu women against cocky Erik Cardona, who was blindsided at Aiga's first Tribal Council (unknown to everyone at the time, they effectively flushed Erik's own Hidden Immunity Idol in the process). Russell, on the other hand, used his idol, though no votes were cast against him. Russell again surprised everyone when he revealed another idol at the following Tribal Council. This time, however, the effects devastated the former Galus, because it was revealed that they had voted for him. With all seven of the votes against Russell cancelled out by the idol, only the four remaining votes cast by the former Foa Foa tribe were counted, sending an unsuspecting Kelly Sharbaugh to the jury in a 4-0 vote. After two subsequent blindsides of former members of the Galu tribe, Russell convinced Shambo Waters to shift allegiances to the former Foa Foa tribe members, as she felt unhappy with her own tribe and had a fierce hatred towards Laura Morett. This gave the former Foa Foa tribe the edge they needed, resulted in the remaining Galu members (eventually including Shambo herself) to be picked off one by one, starting with Laura. Just when they thought that their victory was imminent, the remaining Foa Foa member's aspirations of making it to the final four were thwarted when Brett Clouser, the last remaining Galu member, went on to win a crucial Immunity Challenge, forcing the former Foa Foa members to eliminate one of their own, a task they had not faced in eighteen days. After Brett's win, Russell's closest ally Natalie became the next intended target, but Russell had plans of his own, and secretly plotted to take her to the end, assuming that he would get more jury votes. He turned the tables on Jaison, who was eliminated instead. After a close Final Immunity Challenge, Russell won immunity over Brett. In a last-ditch effort to stay alive, Brett tried to convince Russell to eliminate Mick instead of himself. Though Russell considered Brett's idea, the remaining Foa Foas prevailed as the last Galu member took his fall in a 3-1 vote. At the Final Tribal Council, Russell was chastised for being arrogant and overly two-faced. Despite garnering votes from Shambo and John Fincher for his aggressive gameplay, he eventually lost when the other jurors voted for Natalie instead. At the Reunion Show, Russell attempted to bribe Natalie into surrendering the Sole Survivor title to himself for $10,000, and eventually $100,000, arguing that he was more deserving than she was, but Natalie politely declined. His newfound infamy, however, did earn him the Sprint Player of the Season title, which included a $100,000 award. Jeff Probst polled the jury on who would have voted for Russell if he had taken Shambo and Jaison to the Final Three instead, and four people raised their hands which would be enough to guarantee him the win due to two people saying that they would vote for Shambo and one person saying that they would vote for Jaison. •Challenge History •Voting History
Heroes vs. Villains
Russell's actions in Samoa gave him a place in the show's 10-year anniversary season as one of the series' most notorious villains, albeit with none of the other contestants having seen him play. Assigned to the Villains tribe, Russell stated that he very much looked forward to playing the game with people who respect what it is. On the first day, he repeated his original strategy of aligning with the women, Danielle DiLorenzo and Parvati Shallow, since the latter was marked as a serious threat to the seven other tribemates. However, Russell's strategies were put on hold as the Villains won two consecutive Immunity Challenges. While not shunned by the other seven members yet, Russell join the rest of the tribe in voting Randy Bailey out after losing the Day 8 Reward/Immunity Challenge. After Randy's elimination, the Villains won a Reward Challenge on Day 9, earning them additional tools to set up camp. While unpacking the items, Russell found a note sticking out from a knife's scabbard. Rob Mariano, who also saw the note, compelled Russell to share its contents. The note turned out to be a clue to the whereabouts of a Hidden Immunity Idol buried somewhere at camp. Sandra Diaz-Twine, a member of Rob's alliance, made an ultimatum, saying that whoever tries to look for the idol will be targeted immediately. Despite the warning, Russell searched for the idol anyway and eventually found it, but he was caught by Sandra. The incident revealed the two opposing alliances in the tribe: Russell, Parvati, and Danielle on one side, and Rob, Sandra, Tyson Apostol, Courtney Yates, Coach Wade, and Jerri Manthey on the other. The tribe, however, remained dominant, winning five consecutive challenges. On Day 15, a Double Tribal Council twist sent the Villains to their second Tribal Council. That afternoon, Rob proposed a simple solution to eliminate the threat of Russell's idol: split their six votes between Russell and Parvati (Rob, Sandra, and Tyson would vote Russell, while Courtney, Jerri, and Coach would vote Parvati), eliminating one of them, assuming if either person plays the idol. That way, it would enforce a tie between whoever Russell, Parvati, and Danielle voted, and whoever between Russell or Parvati remained vulnerable; and with the majority of Rob's alliance eligible for the re-vote, it would be clear that whoever did not play the idol will be sent home. Aware of Rob's plan, he tricked Tyson into voting for Parvati to save himself. At Tribal Council, Russell drew the idol as expected; but pulled a double-cross by handing his idol to Parvati. But in a stunning turn of events, Tyson fell for Russell's trickery by casting a fourth vote against Parvati, eliminating himself after a 3-2-0 vote. Despite his successful blindside of Tyson, Russell's alliance was still outnumbered 5-3. That is, until he made moves on faltering members Jerri and Coach, promising to take them to the end. Jerri accepted, with Coach still conflicted. After the Villains lost the next Immunity Challenge, Russell was ready to take down Rob with Jerri's support. Coach ultimately decided to not go with either alliance and vote off Courtney. Rob only had three members now and despite his efforts, Boston Rob was voted out by Russell's alliance in a 4-3-1 vote. This would send the Villains to a downward spiral. Before the Day 19 Reward Challenge, the Villains mistook the Tree Mail for a cryptic message for the upcoming merge. The tribe showed up to the challenge bringing all their belongings, including their dismantled shelter and supplies. The Heroes tribe noticed that only the male Villains were eliminated. Deducing that Parvati ran a women's alliance, J.T. Thomas whispered to Russell to "hang in there," implying his intention to align with him. The Villains lost the challenge, forcing them to return to camp empty-handed and re-establish their shelter. Knowing Russell's aggressive nature to those who tried to target him, Sandra seized the opportunity to save Courtney by tricking Russell into voting the floater Coach. After losing the Day 21 Immunity Challenge, Russell had arguments with Danielle on which between Coach and Courtney should go home. With the alliance unsettled on who to vote for, Russell and Jerri joined Coach and voted for Courtney, while Danielle and Parvati joined Sandra and Courtney, voting Coach out 4-3. On the Day 22 Reward Challenge, Coach's elimination made the Heroes set in believing that the women were running the tribe. Seeing that the Heroes were making a mistake in believing such, Russell acted vulnerable to them, pretending that he needed help. The Villains won the challenge, winning themselves an all-you-can-eat buffet from Outback Steakhouse. While the Villains enjoyed their lunch, Parvati saw a clue to the Villains' re-hidden idol tucked in her table napkin. To ensure her own fate in the game, Parvati left Russell uninformed and only disclosed the clue to Danielle. Over at the Heroes tribe, the tribe decided to give Russell their own Hidden Immunity Idol should the Villains lose the next Immunity Challenge. J.T. even wrote a letter to Russell, telling him to use the idol and vote Parvati out. The Villains indeed lost the Immunity Challenge in Day 24; and while shaking hands with the enemy, Russell accepted the Heroes' idol through Colby Donaldson. Russell showed the idol and read J.T.'s letter aloud to Parvati and Danielle, mocking his reputation as a former Sole Survivor. Though Courtney begged Parvati for her survival, Parvati was not able to convince Russell to keep her, and Courtney was voted out, 5-1. On Day 25, the tribes merged with five members each. The Heroes were surprised that Parvati was still in the game. Russell fabricated an elaborate story about him and Parvati playing conflicting idols that night. Sandra, the last remaining member of her alliance, warned the Heroes that there was no all-female alliance, and Russell was the mastermind behind all that has happened in the Villains tribe. Wanting to test his true loyalties, the Heroes openly told Russell they would vote for Parvati. In order to save Parvati for a second time, Russell handed the Heroes' idol to her. Unknown to Russell, Parvati already possessed the Villains' idol. Sensing that she might not be the Heroes' target after all, Parvati, now having two idols, gave both to Sandra and Jerri, much to Russell's surprise. Russell fumed over not knowing that Parvati had her own idol after giving one to her, saying that leaving him uninformed was unnecessary. Russell felt Sandra would flip to the Heroes, and convinced Candice Woodcock to betray her former tribe and vote off Amanda Kimmel. This was successful, and Sandra did not flip to the Heroes, and Amanda was voted off in a 6-3 vote. That night, Russell found another Hidden Immunity Idol, thanks to Danielle, who obtained a clue to its whereabouts after winning the Reward Challenge. He used the idol at Tribal Council, but for naught, as nobody voted for him. The next day, Russell was confronted by Rupert Boneham for his deceptions, where Russell derisively called him "the second coming of Christ" before giving him a middle finger. Russell then declared that whoever threatens him will go home. At the Immunity Challenge, where Russell's ally Parvati won individual immunity, a twist was revealed to the castaways, revealing that there was another Hidden Immunity Idol buried at camp. Returning from the challenge, Russell and the rest of the tribe searched for the idol. That afternoon, Russell saw Rupert tucking something in his pocket, suspecting that it was the idol. Unknown to the tribe, Sandra found it and kept her possession a secret to everyone, and Rupert had merely placed a rock in his pocket as a decoy, to force the Villains to split the vote between him and Candice. This prompted Jerri, Danielle, and Parvati to rethink their voting options. At Tribal Council, Russell, Sandra, and Jerri joined Rupert and Colby by voting Candice out after a 5-3 vote. After winning individual immunity the next day, Russell worried that Parvati was more loyal to Danielle than she was to him, and decided to pit them against each other. Russell discussed Parvati's blindside to Danielle, and told Parvati that Danielle was gunning for her. Russell decided to vote out Danielle, and although her and Parvati learned the truth, Jerri sided with Russell to vote out Danielle after Danielle unintentionally revealed Jerri was fourth in their alliance. To gain the majority, Russell told the two remaining Heroes, Colby and Rupert, that he would keep them if they voted Danielle out with him. They agreed, and Danielle was voted out 4-3. A loved ones Reward Challenge took place On Day 34, where Jerri won and invited Parvati and Sandra, and their respective loved ones, to join her. Russell, angry that Jerri did not pick him, decided to turn on Parvati by making a new alliance with Colby and Rupert. They agreed and Russell felt that Jerri could join his new alliance. Russell's plans were foiled when Parvati won individual immunity. Unknown to Russell, Sandra had found the idol; and while she did not need to use it, the Villains again prevailed, voting Rupert out, 4-0. Russell and the Villains would then finish off the Heroes by voting Colby out 4-1 on Day 37. On Day 38, in a closely-contested Final Immunity Challenge between Jerri, Parvati, and Russell, Russell prevailed, securing his spot at the Final Tribal Council. That afternoon, Russell felt that they should eliminate Jerri. Under the premise that Jerri might win, Russell covered up his true intention in voting Jerri out: He assumed that Jerri would vote for him at Final Tribal Council, and taking Sandra to the end would be an easy win for him. Parvati, on the other hand, believed that Sandra should go, as the Heroes, who had five seats in the jury, would favor her. In the end, Russell sent Jerri to the jury anyway, after a 3-1 vote. On Day 39, Sandra wanted to get even to Russell for eliminating her alliance and all the other atrocities he had done. She secretly burned his hat, to her and Parvati's entertainment. Russell tried to look for his hat, not knowing it was already in ashes. At the Final Tribal Council, Russell faced heavy criticism from the jury, mostly from the Heroes; as he was castigated for not only for his numerous betrayals, but for his mistreatment of the Heroes, and his sense of self-entitlement. The Villains also praised Parvati and Sandra's gameplay more than Russell's. In the end, Russell received no jury votes, Parvati got three, and Sandra was crowned Sole Survivor for the second time, with six, much to Russell's disgust. At the live Reunion Show, Russell launched a tirade after his loss, calling Sandra "undeserving," and the game "flawed." Russell then revealed that he had kept and laminated the letter written to him by J.T. when he gave up his Hidden Immunity Idol to him. In response, J.T. grabbed the letter and attempted to burn it in a fire set up in front of the castaways and the audience which erupted laughter, but Russell managed to retrieve it before it got burned. Russell's notoriety gave him his second consecutive Fan Favorite Award, winning him an extra $100,000. •Challenge History •Voting History
Redemption Island
Russell returned to compete for a third time along with Heroes vs. Villains archrival Rob Mariano to settle their iconic rivalry. After a draw of buffs, Russell went to the purple Zapatera tribe, who visibly resented his inclusion to the tribe because of their complete familiarity and knowledge of his previous gameplay as they watched him play during the airings of Samoa and Heroes vs. Villains. When the tribe arrived at camp, Russell stated he would be playing differently than his previous seasons and he would not do the things he was notorious for in the past, though his tribemates remained suspicious. Russell however led his tribe to win the first two Immunity Challenges. During this winning streak Russell recruited Stephanie Valencia and Krista Klumpp, the only two who were open to work with him. The three found the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and began searching, not knowing their attempts were futile because Ralph Kiser already found the idol. Russell was then called out by Ralph for stealing the clue which angered the former. With no idol to protect him, Russell feigned possessing one, telling Stephanie to hold on her bag suspiciously the whole day so it would look like she was "protecting" the idol. Hungry for Russell's downfall, the six other tribe members formed their own alliance and planned to throw the Day 8 Immunity Challenge to eliminate Russell. They informed Russell that Francesca Hogi won the first duel (which in truth Matt Elrod won) to throw Russell off-guard, only to split the votes between him and Stephanie. Zapatera did lose the Immunity Challenge with Russell surmising that he was set up. Russell got wind of the plan and attempted to coerce Julie Wolfe to vote with them with Russell reiterating he was a changed man. At Tribal Council however, Russell's plea to Julie was to no avail as she remained with the majority, forcing the game's first three-way tie. In the revote, the majority alliance unanimously voted Russell out, 5-1. Furious, Russell headed for Redemption Island, swearing to come back. Russell further realized his tribe's treachery upon learning that Matt had won the last duel and not Francesca. Russell vowed to defeat Matt. However, in a surprise turn of events, the supervillain finally fell from grace after being defeated in the following duel on Day 10, which officially eliminated Russell. Much to the spectators' surprise, Russell started crying after losing, stating he had really changed and was not given the opportunity to show it. Russell congratulated Matt for defeating him and left the Redemption Island Arena. During his final words statement, Russell stated that he would never play again because he felt he had nothing else to prove to himself and his family. However, at the Reunion Show, he told Jeff Probst to "keep his number" for a future season. •Challenge History •Voting History
•On January 9, 2010, Russell attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Heroes vs. Villains cast mates.
•In February 2010, Russell appeared on Late Show with David Letterman as Top Ten List Presenter #9 along with nine of his Heroes vs. Villains castmates.
•Russell's infamy earned him a spot in Xfinity's Survivor Hall of Fame in 2010, being one of its first five inductees.
•Also in 2010, Russell was arrested for battery charges after engaging in a fight with a woman in his bar. He was released the same day without bail but received misdemeanor summons.
•In 2012, Russell and his older brother Shawn (Brandon Hantz's father) hosted their own reality show called Flipped Off that aired on A&E. It ran for seven episodes from April 28 to June 16, 2012. During one of the episodes, Russell was handcuffed after pushing a police officer over a dispute of how long it took for them to arrive after Russell called them to report that his lumber was stolen from a garage of one of the houses he was working on.
•Russell made a cameo appearance on Big Brother 14 on the first episode after his brother, Willie Hantz, got invited to be a contestant at the Big Brother House. He was also mentioned frequently during that season by Willie and several other contestants. Willie was expelled on Day 14 for headbutting a fellow contestant in the nose and for throwing pork rinds at another contestant.
Aug 28, 2022 · “Survivor” alum Russell Hantz is opening up about what really happens at Ponderosa. The 49-year-old shared a few behind-the-scenes secrets in a July 8 YouTube video.
- 18 min
- 118
- Nora Donnellan
Apr 25, 2020 · Russell Hantz. The name is synonymous with Survivor, as he is one of the series' most infamous and divisive players. Hantz made his first appearance on Samoa before immediately transitioning to Heroes vs. Villains. On both occasions he made the final three.
Russell Hantz is an American reality television personality and entrepreneur who is best known for his appearances on three seasons of the American reality show, 'Survivor', and one season of its Australian edition.
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Russell Hantz is the only player in Survivor history to play the game three times in just two years. He first played Survivor in 19th edition of Survivor: Survivor Samoa in 2009. He placed 2nd. Next he would play Survivor in it's 20th edition: Survivor Heroes vs Villains in 2010.
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