Andy DehnartA rumor has surfaced that suggests season 22 of Survivor will be a face-off between Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano, perhaps akin to Stephenie and Bobby Jon’s return for Survivor Guatemala. And recently, first-season winner Richard Hatch has said he’ll return to compete soon, while Ben “Coach” Wade said he was going to Nicaragua.
First, while bringing Russell and Rob back is an awful, horrific idea–next spring is way too soon for either man to reappear on Survivor, especially two-time loser Russell Hantz–and hopefully just something completely made-up, its source is actually an extremely reliable spoiler, the person who was partially responsible for the spoilers and boot lists that flooded the Internet during the last two seasons, although she noted, “I was not the one who posted the entire list before the show aired. I was just correcting peoples guesses.” The poster known as missae is often referred to as if she’s Russell Hantz’s wife, although that has never been verified. Still, her accurate and specific spoilers from seasons 19 and 20 would suggest she is either a contestant, crew member, or extremely close to one of those people.
Anyway, missyae posted on Survivor Sucks a thread titled “Survivor 22: Russell Hantz vs Rob Mariano!” and wrote, “Oh yes, its true, its damn true. More info coming later.”
While producers talked about having all-stars return for season 22 (and one season every year), the second Nicaragua-hosted season starts taping soon and there’s hasn’t been much talk in the cast community about people being approached about returning or going to Nicaragua. This, however, could explain why: It might be Russell, Rob, and 16 or 18 brand-new contestants. Or perhaps there could be two other villain-types going with them.
First, Richard Hatch posted a comment to Facebook recently that apparently referenced this weekend’s cast reunion in Orlando and said, “you’ll be seeing me compete again relatively soon.”
And Ben “Coach” Wade wrote on Twitter last week that he was going to Nicaragua for “a secret mission”. If he was going to be a cast member, it’s unlikely he’d be so open about going there, but if he, too, ends up on season 22, the shark will have been officially jumped.