Russell Hantz
Russell Hantz (born October 10, 1972) is the runner up of Survivor: Samoa and a participant in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.[1] A native of Dayton, Texas, Hantz owns his own oil services company.
Personal life
Hantz is married with four children and currently resides in Dayton, Texas.[2] On April 23, 2010, TMZ reported that Russell Hantz was arrested for battery after he allegedly "shoved somebody to the pavement".[3] It was later revealed that the person Hantz had shoved was an 18 year old woman who had, apparently, been verbally arguing with him.[4] Hantz has refuted these claims, however, saying that he did nothing wrong and has even threatened to sue the police department.
Survivor
Hantz appeared in two seasons of Survivor. Hantz became the first player in Survivor history to locate a hidden immunity idol, a small baseball-sized object that could be used protect him or an ally from being voted off the game one time, without a written clue normally given to players. He would further find at least six other idols between those two seasons with and without clues. Due to his ability to easily find these idols, the producers of the show took the "Russell factor" into account, according to the host Jeff Probst, in hiding future idols.[5]
Survivor: Samoa
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (April 2010) |
Hantz was selected to be on the Foa Foa tribe where he attempted to make living conditions harsher for his tribe by dumping water out of canteens and burning socks. Meanwhile his tribe lost 6 out of the 7 immunity challenges prior to the merge of the two tribes. As the tribes merged Foa Foa trailed Galu 8-4.
Meanwhile Hantz found a hidden immunity idol, without clues (a Survivor first). At the first post-merge tribal council Galu decided to blindside one of their own, but Hantz was concerned that the vote was a ruse and that he was the actual target. At Tribal Council, Hantz played his Hidden Immunity Idol, however, not a single vote was cast against him.
Hantz remarkably found his second Hidden Immunity Idol without the help of a clue. This time the plan worked perfectly when Hantz pulled out his second Hidden Immunity Idol, negating any votes against him. The seven former Galu votes against him didn't count, leaving the former Foa Foa votes as the only ones that counted. As planned, they all voted against Kelly and she was blindsided by a vote of 4–0. The Hidden Immunity Idol went back into the game.
After the next reward challenge a clue was given regarding another hidden immunity idol to five members including Hantz. After a race for the idol, Hantz was able to find his third idol. As Shambo began to shift sides to the former Foa Foa's, the next vote first ended in a tie, but John, worried about being eliminated from the game by the rock-pulling tiebreaker, switched his vote on the tiebreaker, eliminating Laura. With the tribes now 5-4, the remaining Foa Foa members continued to hold together for the rest of the game, systematically eliminating the former Galu members, one-by-one. Their plans were halted when Brett went on an immunity challenge winning streak, resulting in Foa Foa having to turn on each other with Shambo and Jaison being voted out. At the last tribal council Hantz defeated Brett lost the final immunity challenge and was voted off leaving the Final Three as Hantz, Natalie, and Mick.
At the Final Tribal Council, Mick was ignored by the jury, considering his lack of leadership when assigned that role, and received no votes. Though Hantz was confident that he had played the game well and that Natalie would be seen as a coattail rider, many of the jury disliked his brash attitude, and Natalie was ultimately named the sole survivor by a vote of 7–2–0. Hantz ended up winning the $100,000 fans vote "Sprint Player of the Season" Award.
After he realized that he had lost, Hantz first offered White $10,000 for the title of "Sole Survivor" but she could keep the $1,000,000 prize. He then increased his offer to $100,000. White declined both offers.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Hantz is a contestant in the 20th season of the show titled Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. He is a member of the Villains tribe.
See also
References
- ^ Stanhope, Kate. "Survivor: Samoa Winner Unveiled". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 25, 2010.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
CBSwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Survivor 'Villain' Arrested for Battery". TMZ. April 23, 2010. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
- ^ http://www.theadvertiser.com/article/20100423/NEWS01/100423011/UPDATED-3-15-p.m.-Survivor-contestant-Russell-Hantz-arrested-in-Lafayette
- ^ Probst, Jeff (2010-04-30). "Jeff Probst blogs 'Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains' episode 11". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2010-04-30.