‘He was very sneaky, he lied a lot’: A ‘Survivor 47’ castaway shares his profound hot take on an infamous ‘Survivor’ villain

The cast of Survivor 47 looks nothing short of spectacular, but after Gabe Ortis showed fans of the hit competition show that he is able to see beyond someone’s stereotype, he is our early frontrunner for the title of “Sole Survivor” and the million-dollar cash prize. His attention to detail is certain to be an asset to his gameplay!

For those who have yet to study up on the cast of Survivor 47, 26-year-old Gabe was born and raised (and currently residing) in Baltimore, Maryland, working as a radio show host as we speak. While his pre-season interview with longtime Survivor writer and reporter Mike Bloom solidified him to be a force to be reckoned with on Survivor for several reasons — describing himself as “opportunistic, resourceful, and blunt” — one thing stuck out to us in particular, and that is his hot take on Survivor villain Russell Hantz.

The three-time Survivor castaway is often deemed one of the greatest villains that the show has ever seen (for better or worse), but Gabe was able to offer an interesting take in his interview with Parade. Praising his unwavering loyalty during Survivor: Samoa and Survivor: Heroes vs Villains specifically, Gabe argued that Russell is simply misunderstood, praising all of the heroic things that he has done when asked his hottest Survivor take.

Don’t believe us? Keep scrolling to see what he had to say…

Gabe Ortis defends Russell Hantz

Prefacing that “everyone pegged him as this sneaky, conniving player,” Gabe praised Russell’s tendency to “take his day one or two alliance to the very end,” arguing that despite his villainous exterior, he actually has some great qualities (primarily loyalty):

“If you were part of Russell’s alliance early in the game, he was taking it to the end. Now, maybe it wasn’t because he liked you, or because he wanted to be friends with you, or he respected you. He probably just saw you as a tool. Regardless, that loyalty was unbelievably strong, and I don’t think that he gets that perception very often, if at all. He was a very, very loyal player to both of his alliances in both Heroes vs Villains and Samoa.”

Admitting that Russell lied a lot and was sneaky, Gabe concluded his response by stating, “I think he deserves a little more credit for being a loyal alliance member,” and we seriously could not agree more.

With an interesting perspective on Survivor — as well as an interesting perspective on some of its most iconic castaways — we are confident that Gabe will be successful on Survivor 47, but will he emerge as the champion? To find out for yourself, tune into the show this fall, beginning with a highly-anticipated two-hour premiere on September 18 on CBS (with next-day streaming on Paramount Plus).

Needless to say, our calendars are marked and our premiere parties are planned!