6 Survivor Contestants Who’ve Been Arrested or Gone to Prison
Some Survivor contestants will stop at nothing in their attempt to win the game. Things can get pretty ugly as castaways fight to be the last one standing in the popular CBS reality series. So, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a few cast members have bent – or broken – the rules back in the real world. After returning home, these six Survivor players have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Richard Hatch
Richard Hatch capably played the role of the villain on Survivor’s first season back in 2000. His ruthless approach to the competition meant he walked away the winner. But a few years later, a jury convicted him of failing to pay taxes on his $1 million in prize money from the show. He served 51 months in federal prison. But the stint behind bars didn’t keep Hatch away from reality TV. He went on to appear on The Celebrity Apprentice and The Biggest Loser.
Michael Skupin
Michael Skupin was of 16 contestants on Survivor Season 2. Long-time fans likely remember that a burn he sustained while tending a campfire required him to be medically evacuated. In 2012, he returned for the show’s 25th season, where he was a co-runner-up alongside The Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel. But a few years later, Skupin found himself in serious legal trouble when police became looking into an alleged Ponzi scheme he was running. In the course of that investigation, they discovered material depicting child sexual abuse on Skupin’s computer. In 2016, a jury found him guilty of child pornography and larceny; he was sentenced to one to four years in prison.
Silas Gaither
Silas Gaither competed on Survivor Season 3, which took place in Kenya and aired in the fall of 2001. He was the fifth person voted out. Nearly two decades later, Gaither was in the spotlight again when he was arrested in Tennessee on charges of rape and aggravated assault. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and was sentenced to six years of probation, according to a report from News Channel 3 in Memphis.
John Raymond
John Raymond was a contestant on Survivor: Thailand, but he didn’t last long in the fifth season of the show. He was the first person voted out, after just three days on the island. But two decades after his brief stint on reality TV, he was back in the news again. The megachurch pastor and head of Lakeside Christian Academy was arrested in April 2022 on charges of cruelty to children. He allegedly disciplined several students at the school by taping their mouths shut after they acted up in class, the Lafayette Daily Advertiser reported. In a statement, he defended his actions, saying that he was defending a teacher who had been bullied by the students. He later pleaded not guilty. As of March 2023, a trial date had not been set, Nola.com reported.
Jonny Fairplay
Two-time contestant Jonny Fairplay is among the most notorious Survivor castaways of all time. During his stint on Survivor: Pearl Islands, he conspired with a friend to lie about his grandmother’s death in order to garner sympathy from other players and win a challenge. However, Fairplay’s grandmother, Jean Cook was very much alive. And she was still alive more than a decade later when he and his mother were arrested for allegedly stealing several items from her home. The charges against both were later dropped, WSLS 10 News reported.
Judson “Fabio” Birza
At just 21, Judson “Fabio” Birza became the youngest Survivor winner ever. The model triumphed during the show’s Nicaragua-set season, which aired in 2010. In 2011, police in Santa Monica, Calif., spotted Birza skateboarding in the street and arrested him on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance. He also had an unrelated DUI warrant and probation violation. Birza was released after posting $37,000 bail, and the reality star’s friends picked him up from the station in a white limo.
Sources: People, News Channel 3, WSLS 10 News, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, Nola.com, CBS News
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