'Survivor's Jeff Probst: Jury Not Awarding Russell Win Is 'Silly'
"I think Russell was the victim of a jury of bitter people," says Probst. "I am not taking anything away from Natalie, she clearly did a great job of reading the group dynamic of the jury and as a result she deserves the money." "Often on Survivor, the vote does come down to a choice where a determining factor is 'how nice someone is' but that's usually when all other criteria being considered is equal." "But that doesn't hold up this season. This season was so lopsided in terms of one person completely dominating the game that to not give him the money and the title is a bit silly." "If I were playing Survivor, no matter how much I despised someone, if they kicked my ass in the game I would give it to them. Period. Outwit. Outplay. Nobody outwitted or outplayed Russell. Not even close." "I was a bit surprised at Erik's nod to Natalie during the final tribal council. I think he certainly helped Natalie and definitely hurt Russell. I also think that when Erik watches this season again in a few years he will regret not giving his vote to Russell." "Erik is the kind of guy who I thought would respect a player like Russell. I think Erik was still smarting from the whole Galu disaster. I do not believe the jury voted for Natalie, I believe the jury voted against Russell." "Russell was clearly upset last night and I think a lot of people understand why that would be. He played a very risky and creative game and he wanted to be acknowledged." "As for the audience, they spoke quite loudly when they awarded him the $100,000 from Sprint by an overwhelming 46% Russell to 10% Shambo and 7% Natalie. Not even close. I put myself in that same group. I'm speaking as a fan, not as a host or a producer." "Survivor: Samoa will rank as one of my favorite seasons and for one reason: Russell Hantz. He single handedly kept this show interesting week after week after week." "But I know some will argue that because it was 'The Russell Season' it lacked having more big characters and therefore does not rank as high. This is one that will be debated by Survivor fans for years to come."
Russell Hantz isn't the only one who thinks he should have won 'Survivor: Samoa', host Jeff Probst also thinks the oil company man should have taken home the million dollar prize.
December 22, 2009 | |
