“I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night for the last year with regrets and this idea that I could somehow change the past.”

Ozzy Lusth reacts to painful Survivor 50 blunder: ‘The last year of my life has been so incredibly difficult’

"I've been waking up in the middle of the night for the last year with regrets and this idea that I could somehow change the past."

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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May 7, 2026 11:46 a.m. ET

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Ozzy Lusth and Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'. Credit:

Robert Voets/CBS

- *Survivor* legend Ozzy Lusth talks about being the victim of a soul-destroying blindside on *Survivor 50.*

- Ozzy reveals what it was like after the cameras turned off.

- The eliminated player also reacts to alliance -partner Rizo turning on him.

That was brutal. Absolutely brutal.

Just moments before the votes were read at Tribal Council, Ozzy Lusth was still deciding whether to play his immunity idol. He ultimately chose not to, and was promptly blindsided right out of *Survivor 50.*

The franchise legend was in absolute shock, shuffling around the Tribal Council set in a despondent daze. “This is so sad,” he uttered to no one in particular. “Man, I really trusted you guys so much. I can’t explain how painful this is to anyone.”

Making the exit even *more* painful is the fact that it came from a self-inflicted wound. The root of Ozzy’s undoing was him attempting to do jury management with Aubry Bracco by laying out his close alliance with Cirie Fields before sending her to the jury. The move backfired in a big way, and even Ozzy’s ally Rizo Velovic turned on him with his vote.

How did this tragic end compare to other past *Survivor* disappointments? What happened after the cameras cut off? And what does Ozzy make of Rizo not warning him to play his idol? We asked the blindsided jungle boy (excuse me, jungle *man*) all that and more, and you can now watch or read the entire emotional interview below.

**: You looked like you were having almost an out of body experience after being voted out, just sort of shuffling around in a daze. Walk me through what that was like.**

**OZZY LUSTH:** I was trying to come up with something cool to say. But I was pretty shocked at my own naivete, you know? The fact that I, once again, went home with an idol in my pocket. Even after I had a dream, I had a premonition, I knew it was coming. I was trying to explain this to someone last night. It's like you got the angel and the devil on your shoulders. I'm really bad at not listening to my angel. And the devil's like, "Don't play the idol, man. You got this another day. You can do it." So it was a risk that I, for whatever reason, I just, I don't know. I still don't know why I did it.

I mean, I don't even know why I told Aubry about Cirie and my plans and all that. I just exploded my game, and yeah, it was like an out of body experience. It really was.

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**You said, “I can’t explain how painful this is to anyone.” So naturally I am going to ask you to explain it. How did the feeling here stack up to being blindsided in *Micronesia*, which I know was particularly hard as well?**

This is all my own doing. I sensed it coming. The closer you get to the end, you gotta be ready to play your idol if you have it. You gotta be ready to go all out at Tribal. And I just let my trust in Jonathan and Joe and Rizo overcome my sensibilities and my intuition. I really felt like the smartest move would be to get rid of Aubry and to have it. I'm just one of those types of players, I wanna play with.... It's not that Aubry's not the best, but when it comes to physical challenges and things, I just thought that Joe and Jonathan were... I was really naive about that.

Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**I remember *Micronesia*, you were angry, and this seemed different to me. It was like, just disappointed and sad. And you even said how sad it was. Walk me through how you were doing that evening after the cameras cut off and you had to make your way to Ponderosa?**

I mean, I'll just be honest, the last year of my life has been so incredibly difficult because of the one moment where you wish she could just go back and take a right instead of a left. The funny thing is, right after you get voted out and you go and you sit and you talk to one of the producers and you run through your whole game. I think I was talking for, like, 45 minutes after, and I felt like I just disassociated. I was out of my body. And the pain and the regret, it’s like needles, and then it disappears. And then you're like, I don't know.

I've been waking up in the middle of the night for the last year with regrets and this idea that I could somehow change the past. Even right now, trying to explain it, it's so difficult. Like, why? What was it about that moment? Why didn't I just play the idol? Why was I trying to hold onto the idol? I said all day I was gonna play the idol. And in the last moment, I didn't do it.

I said some really fluffy, philosophical.... Like one of the last things I said to Jeff was. “If I get voted out, it's like I don't deserve to be here, you know?” And there it is. I *do* think I deserve to be there, but, you know, maybe somebody else needs that two million more than I do.

Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Listen, I always love chatting with you because you always are so open and honest with your feelings. And it's the reason why I would never go play *Survivor*, right? 'Cause I don't think I could handle what you've handled over the past year. And a lot of people try and brush it off but you're honest about the hurt. And the hurt is what makes the game so real and the stakes so high. You said that all day you were planning to play the idol. What was it ultimately that tipped it for you not to do it?**

I wish I knew the answer. It's something I've been asking myself for the last year. It's like, why would I not? Was it just me being greedy with wanting one more day? 'Cause to be honest, Dalton, from day one, I was at risk and I felt like I was playing with the house's money for this whole entire game. So I was like: *Ah, what's one more day? I think I can make it one more day. These guys gotta get rid of Aubry. Come on. They've been saying it this whole entire game.*

So I just kinda got cerebral about it when a lot of times in *Survivor*, I would say more often than not, you can't let your mind lie to you about what you feel, what your intuitions are. And I got too in my head about doing these crazy algebraic formulas, telling myself who's voting for who and how and why and what, whatever, when in my heart of hearts, I felt it, but my mind got in the way.

And I think that's probably the biggest lesson for me in all of this is being more in tune with your intuition, being more in tune with your dreams. As much as your subconscious is so powerful, our mind often gets in the way. That's really what it comes down to, is I let my mind play a major trick on myself.

'Survivor 50' recap: A soul-crushing blindside caps off a stellar episode

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**You know how I feel. I'll never blast someone for not playing an idol. I think there are calculations and there are reasons, and it can help you later, and you're just playing what you perceive to be the odds. So I guess let's get into the other thing that people could take issue with, which you've already brought up once. Why lay out the entire game to Aubry, including the extra vote?  Because to me, not playing the idol is not the flaw in the game. It was going to Aubry. Tell me about that decision.**

What it comes down to is the missing piece was not playing the idol. So you go to somebody like Aubry, you tell them the plan, you play the idol, they go home. At least with that, if you can get to the end, I've got somebody like Aubry sitting on the jury, I was honest to her in that moment, I played my idol, I sent her home, and maybe I've gotten myself that little leg up that I would need to win the two million.

So, you know, it was a stupid calculation without playing the idol. If I played the idol, then I think that that's a good move. But all in all, I didn't. I also didn't follow some of the most standard advice that you could ever have is: Keep your mouth shut. Don't tell your plans to anyone. But I got a little ahead of myself and it was doing the jury management, but way too, way too early.

Rizo Velovic, Aubry Bracco, Joe Hunter, Jonathan Young, Ozzy Lusth and Jeff Probst on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**You mentioned how difficult the past year has been. You go through this traumatic event, you have to sit with it for a year, and then you’ve got to watch it play back to a national audience on TV. How was it watching it play back last night on TV?**

I mean, listen, *Survivor* fans are the reason that I've been able to play so often. I've been able to play almost more than anybody. Five times. Very few people have gotten the opportunity to try and try and try again. So I thought about being at home alone, like, in my feelings, but I wanted to just be there with people so that I could go through it in a very public way, which I've been doing my whole life. [Starting to tear up] So, it was hard, but so much love here in New York, so much love in the room, I'm just so grateful that I had people that have let me play so many times, you know?

Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**I'm glad that you were able to be surrounded by that love. I'm sure you felt that love in that room at that time. Let's get into some other things happened. We saw Cirie on the other beach hoping Rizo would tell you to play your idol. What do you make of his decision to cut you loose instead?**

I mean, I don't blame the kid, you know? He's just doing what he thinks is gonna be the best for his game. I know that by telling Aubry about what was up with my plans, that that kind of solidified his desire to take me out. I do think it's shortsighted still. I think that when you make these kinds of alliances to go to the end with that you should just follow that. At least when you really think you've got a solid three, because at the end of the day, I would rather lose to Cirie and Rizo making that pact than stab them in the back and be sitting there with people that I didn't make the alliance with.

It goes back to the Aitu four [from *Cook Islands*] And when I said I was gonna stick with them, I did to the very end. And still to this day, I was ready to stick Rizo and Cirie, and I would have happily lost to Cirie or Rizo, although I don't think that he would have been able to go against Cirie and I. But, you know, the kid's a talker, right? And he does play a good game, but I think he's kind of burned his spot if he was ever to play *Survivor* again or any other reality show again. How can you trust this kid at this point? So I don't blame him, but at the same time, I wish that it was different, obviously.

Ozzy Lusth on 'Survivor 50'.

Robert Voets/CBS

**Let’s say you do make it to the end with Cirie and Rizo? How do you think you do with that Jury in that configuration?**

I think it's a tossup between Cirie and I. I think Rizo could probably make a strong case to certain people on the jury, but it would be a close one. I think it would be a close one. I'm not running away with the game. Definitely not with Cirie. And that's the thing. That's the game that I wanted to play going in. I wanted Cirie and I to be sitting at the end with really anybody, and I would happily lose to Cirie any day.

**So this is the big question now, Ozzy. You mentioned playing five times. Is your *Survivor* journey over?**

I mean, I just can't see a world where Jeff asked me to come play for a sixth time, unless it's like the last season that he ever does, and maybe it's *Survivor 60*. That would be the only time I could see Jeff asking me to come play the US *Survivor*. Now, I know there are some other [international] *Survivors* out there. There are other survival game shows, but I would happily go back. I would play *Survivor* over and over and over again.

And, you know, Dalton, I've told you about this project I'm working on down in Mexico — basically like an eco-resort that has a *Survivor* experience woven into the fabric of it. Because *Survivor*'s given me so much in my life, I wanna be able to bring an experience to fans where they can come and hang out with people that have played the game and have a mini -experience and just get a little taste of what we go through, what it feels like to have all of your distractions stripped away to be there making connections in nature, whether it's with nature or with your fellow game players.

So *Survivor*'s giving me so much and I wanna be able to bring that back to fans. And so that's a project that I'm working on and I hope to bring that online within the year.

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