Russell Hantz

Russell Hantz was a contestant in Survivor: Samoa, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains and Survivor: Redemption Island.

He is regarded as one of the series' most notorious villains, being able to locate several Hidden Immunity Idols unaided by clues and eliminating his competition as ruthless as possible. His brash demeanor nevertheless brought him to the Final Tribal Council on two separate occasions, but it caused him receiving the ire of the Jury, denying him of the title of Sole Survivor.

Profile
Russell Hantz (38) Current Residence: Dayton, Texas Previous Seasons: Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Russell Hantz was a first time castaway only two years ago, but has quickly become one of the most notorious villains to ever play Survivor. He returns to SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND more prepared than ever before. "I'm ready for this. I'm more ready for this than I ever have been."

As a self-made millionaire who built his business by hard work, speaking his mind and stepping on anyone who got in his way, Russell will do anything to win the game of Survivor. He is known for back-stabbing his allies, lying and cheating, but he is proud of his title as a villain. "The image that I have as a villain, that’s fine with me because this is how I play the game." Only time will tell if this strategy will pay off or if once again he will come up short.

What does he think of SURVIVOR: REDEMPTION ISLAND? "It's gonna be history. Survivor history!"

Survivor: Samoa
Russell was placed on the Foa Foa tribe. In the first challenge, he was chosen for the leg of the race that required strength by tribal leader Mick. 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 females) 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. After Galu lost Russell Swan before a supposed double-boot 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 together into a new tribe called Aiga. At the merge, the former Galu members outnumbered Foa Foa 2 to 1 (giving them an 8-4 supermajority) which created a grim outlook towards any chance of survival by the remaining (former) Foa Foa members. "foafoa"

- ... When I'm done with them, I'll just throw them in the trash

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, Hantz gradually rallied the Foa Foa foursome (consisting of tribe leader Mick Trimming, Jaison Robinson, Natalie White and himself) to victory when they concocted a "divide and conquer" scheme, designed to make the former Galus tribe members turn on each other. This proved effective when White turned the Galu women against cocky Erik Cardona, who was blindsided at the first Aiga Tribal Council (unknown to everyone at the time, they effectively flushed Erik's own Hidden Immunity Idol in the process). Hantz on the other hand, used his Idol, though no votes were cast against him. Hantz 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 4 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 by the 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 Waters 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 the last remaining (loyal) Galu member Brett Clouser 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 Clouser'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 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, Hantz was berated for being arrogant and overly two-faced. Despite garnering votes from Shambo and John Fincher for his aggessive game plan, he eventually lost when the other Jury members voted for Natalie instead. In the reunion show, Russell attempted to bribe Natalie into surrendering the Sole Survivor title to himself for $100,000, arguing that he was more deserving than she. Natalie declined. His newfound infamy, however, did earn him the Sprint Player of the Season title, which included a $100,000 award.

Voting History
In The Day Of Reckoning, the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Laura and Natalie, forcing a revote. Russell did not changed his vote at the revote.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
His actions in Samoa earned him a place in the show's 10 year anniversary season. 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.

Survivor: Redemption Island
"zapatera"

- This is my game, sucker! Hantz returned to compete for a third time along with Heroes vs. Villains archrival Rob Mariano to settle their iconic rivalry in the said season. After a draw of buffs, Russell went to the purple Zapatera tribe. Immediately after the tribe reached camp, Russell stated that he would be playing differently than his previous seasons. He laid it out by saying that he would not sabotage anybody or do the things he was notorious for in the past. Despite his claims, the new contestants still became suspicious of him. Nonetheless, Russell led the tribe to two successive challenge wins. Knowing he had a big target on his back, he made a familiar move by again making alliances with the petite girls, Stephanie Valencia and Krista Klumpp. After winning the Day 5 Immunity Challenge, the three found the clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and tried to look out for it, but eventually failed, because Ralph Kiser already found it (by accident). Russell was then called out in the open by Ralph for stealing the clue, which angered the former. With no Immunity Idol, Russell feigned possession, with Stephanie holding her bag the whole day, so it would look like she is "protecting" the idol.

In Day 8, hungry for Russell's downfall, the six other tribe members concocted a bold plan to get rid of Russell. First, they would tell Russell that Francesca Hogi won the first duel (which in truth, it was Matt Elrod who won, potentially throwing Russell off-guard once he steps in at Redemption Island) and second, they will purposefully throw the next challenge, to have an opportunity to go to Tribal Council and vote him out. The idea would go as planned at the Reward/Immunity challenge, as David acted as if he was unable to finish the puzzle, giving the victory-hungry Ometepe tribe their first challenge win.

While Ralph had not yet revealed his possession of the idol to his allies, the majority alliance assumed that decided to split the votes between Russell and one person from his alliance. At Zapatera's first Tribal Council, Russell continued to stress out that he was a changed man, while Stephanie was trying to protect him, saying that his past experience will propel them in future victories. But the sextet went to their plan, with the vote ended up a three-way tie between Russell, Stephanie and Ralph. With five of the six-person alliance eligible for the revote, all their votes went to Russell. As Jeff snuffed his torch, a furious Russell walked out from Tribal Council and headed to Redemption Island.

Angry of being doublecrossed by his tribe, Russell vowed to defeat Matt. But in a surprise turn of events, the villain finally fell from grace after being defeated in the Day 9 duel. Much to the spectators' surprise, Russell was reduced to tears seconds after losing, stating that he had really changed. 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.

Voting History
In Keep Hope Alive, the vote ended with a 3-3-3 tie between Ralph, Russell and Stephanie, forcing a revote. David, Julie and Sarita changed their votes to Russell at the second vote, sending Russell to Redemption Island.

Post-Survivor
At the Heroes vs. Villains Reunion Show, Russell revealed that he had kept and laminated the letter written to him by J.T. Thomas when he gave up his Hidden Immunity Idol to Russell. 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, but Russell managed to retrieve it before it got burned.

After the Redemption Island Duel which he lost, Russell said that he will not be returning to play Survivor. However, there is still a chance he might return, since he said to Jeff during a Skype chat after the airing of the episode that he may consider returning for a future season. Russell told Jeff to "keep his number" for a future season during the Redemption Island Reunion Show. Also at the Redemption Island Reunion Show, Russell praised his rival Rob Mariano's gameplay and also congratulated Rob and proceeded to shake his hand.

Russell also appeared during the South Pacific Reunion Show, where he was asked about his thoughts on his nephew Brandon Hantz's time on the show after Jeff Probst found him the audience. Russell was visibly appalled by his nephew's perceived lousy performance and lauched a tirade at him, receiving boos from the crowd. In response, Jeff jokingly suggested "Brandon vs. Russell" as a future season.

Russell and his older brother Shawn (Brandon's father) are currently hosting their own reality show called Flipped Off that airs on A&E.

Russell is reported to be divorcing his wife Melanie and is currently dating Mikayla Wingle.

Trivia

 * Hantz is the first of two male contestants to make it to Day 39 more than once, he was followed by Rob Mariano.
 * Like Rob, Russell has never been a member of the Jury.


 * Russell was the only male castaway to be voted out pre-merge on Survivor: Redemption Island.
 * Over his Survivor "career", Russell possessed the most Hidden Immunity Idols with five.
 * His nephew Brandon was a contestant on Survivor: South Pacific.
 * Hantz was the first male player to lose a duel on Redemption Island (as well as the first person from the winner's opposing tribe).
 * Hantz is one of three players (along with Rupert Boneham and Coach) to play multiple times in the same location.
 * Hantz is one of three players (along with Colby Donaldson and Coach ) to compete in three seasons and not participate in a Tribe Shuffle.
 * So far, Hantz is the only contestant to have competed in three seasons with a Final Three Finale.
 * Hantz is the first person to find a Hidden Immunity Idol without clues.
 * In He Has Demons, Coach Wade referred to Russell as his archnemesis, though the two never had any substantial interactions with each other during their time in Heroes vs. Villains. 
 * He is the only three-time contestant to place lower in each subsequent season he participated in.
 * Russell was inducted into Xfinity's Survivor Hall of Fame in 2010.
 * Because Heroes vs. Villains was filmed right after Samoa, none of the contestants knew Russell and what he did on his previous season.
 * Russell had originally applied for the second season of the Mark Burnett CBS series Pirate Master. However, Pirate Master was canceled after anemic ratings. Once casting for Survivor: Samoa began, casting agents remembered Hantz and flew him to Los Angeles.
 * Before being cast on Survivor:Samoa, Russell did not know enough about the show, and was asked to watch.
 * Russell's brother, Willie Hantz, competed on the 14th version of Big Brother. He was expelled on Day 14 for throwing pork rinds at his fellow cast members during a rampage, causing his expulsion.