A former “Survivor” castaway who is a fan-favorite is riled up about season 41. In a couple of recent YouTube videos, four-time player Russell Hantz (he played one season of Australian “Survivor” in addition to three seasons of U.S. “Survivor”) had harsh words for Jeff Probst and the show.
Russell Hantz Says Keep Politics Out Of His ‘Survivor’
Like his tweets about the premiere, Hantz has said that he will stop covering “Survivor” if it gets too political.
“I’m not gonna cover anything that’s dealing with any type of political issues. I do not want to watch that. When I watch my football, I wanna watch my football. When I watch ‘Survivor,’ I wanna watch ‘Survivor.’ If I want to watch anything political, I turn on CNN or FOX News ’cause I watch ’em both. So I want to watch ‘Survivor,'” said Hantz.
In a separate video, Hantz blasted the show for doing away with Probst’s signature phrase “come on in, guys” and wondering why that it was a big deal to use the gendered word “guys,” a situation Probst addressed during the season 41 premiere, deciding it would be better to simply say “come on in.”
“It’s a big deal when you take tradition out of things. That’s a huge deal,” said Hantz, wondering if “the Tribe has spoken” will be “canceled” next.
“The what has spoken? You better fix some things, Jeff. Who do you think you are, a tribe of Native Americans? Is that who you think you are? When are you gonna cancel that one?” said Hantz.
“They opened a can of worms. They going down a hill, rolling fast and now they aren’t gonna be able to top until it’s over. So my problem is they’re ruining the show by bringing political issues into the show that people love. We do not wanna see political talk in the shows that we watch in our free time,” said Hantz.
Hantz Also Criticized The Casting
“You’re casting due to what you think you need to cast by political views only,” said Hantz, slamming the season 41 castaways for being so bad at challenges and not being able to find hidden immunity idols. “They shouldn’t be out there.”
Hantz also said that these changes will ruin “Survivor” and then they’ll have to ask him to come back to boost the ratings.
“I guarantee you if that’s the direction they’re about to go in this will be the worst ‘Survivor’ in history and it will get the worst ratings, they’ll start losing number and then they’ll need me to come back and make ‘Survivor’ great again,” said Hantz.
Finally, Hantz said that he has “talked to dozens” of former “Survivor” players, and “not one of them” was OK with changing “come on in, guys.” He said someone even called it a “stab to the heart” and that “we created this game” and taking away iconic phases feels “like a slap in the face.”
Hantz also said that to the ones who are tweeting in support of the new show, he doesn’t “really believe that.” For his part, Hantz is not going to be watching the show. He said, “I don’t want to [watch]. If they gonna slap me in the face, I’m gonna slap ’em back.”
One of the castaways who has been supportive of the show is “Ghost Island” winner Wendell Holland, who praised the show for being “more inclusive.” Several other castaways have expressed similar sentiments.
“Survivor” airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on CBS. The 42nd season will air in the spring of 2022. Seasons 43 and 44 are casting now, so if you’ve always wanted to apply, now is your chance!
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