‘I Was Not Invited': Original ‘Survivor’ Winner Richard Hatch Claims CBS Lied About Season 50 Finale

Whose idea was it to exclude Rhode Island's Richard Hatch from Survivor's recently completed 50th season? Heads should roll!

I was a devoted fan of the CBS reality show Survivor for most of its run. I never missed an episode.

However, after season 48, I'd had enough. The program, the first "reality" game show, lost its way. It got soft. Lost its edge. It became woke. Yuck!

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The Original Villains: How Hatch and Hawk Gave Survivor Its Edge

Part of what gave Survivor its edge was the casting of castaways from all walks of life, some thought of as "villains," who would spend a month or more, unwashed, underfed, and crammed in the same shelter. The so-called villains are what made Survivor fun to watch.

Newport's Richard Hatch and Waukesha, Wisconsin truck driver Susan Hawk were perfect foils for each other in Survivor's first season in 2000. They were villains, the first in a long line of antagonists, before such characters were vanquished for politically correct sob stories.

Hatch, the insufferable, gay nudist, the game's first million-dollar winner, went to jail for not paying taxes on his winnings. Hatch continued to be a villain even after the game was over.

The Season 50 Finale: Hatch Accuses CBS of Lying Online

Though several past winners participated in Survivor 50, which wrapped in May, Hatch wasn't among them. He said that CBS "lied" when it said all Survivor winners were invited to participate in the May 18, 2026, Season 50 finale, posting to X, "I'm the Original Winner, and I WAS NOT INVITED."

CBS told Page Six in a statement, "All winners were invited to the Survivor 50 finale to celebrate the show's legacy." Who knows who is telling the truth?

Hatch made a second appearance on Survivor All Stars in 2004, causing a stir when he ran an immunity challenge in the nude. He was not invited to participate in the show's 40th season in 2020.

'A Different Culture': Why Jeff Probst Drawing the Line Makes Sense to CBS

Survivor host and co-executive producer Jeff Probst told US Weekly at the time, "Given his history on our show, it did not seem appropriate."

"We were in a different time and a different culture back then and would never let him run a challenge naked now," Probst said.