Richard Hatch (Survivor contestant)

Richard Hatch (born April 8, 1961) is an American former reality television contestant. He won the first season of the CBS reality series Survivor. He was a contestant on a subsequent All-Stars season of Survivor, and on one season of Celebrity Apprentice.

In 2006, Hatch was convicted of attempting to evade taxes. Hatch served another nine-month sentence in 2011 for a probation violation. TV Guide included him in its 2013 list of "The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time".^[1] He was one of 16 contestants on The Biggest Loser: Temptation Nation.

Survivor

Survivor: Borneo

In 2000, Hatch competed in Survivor: Borneo, the first edition of the show in the United States. He initially competed with the Tagi tribe, and quickly aligned himself with former Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch. He often demonstrated a preference for playing the game completely naked. Hatch and Boesch formed a voting alliance with the two female members of the tribe, Sue Hawk and Kelly Wiglesworth. When each tribe was down to five members, they merged into one tribe, Rattana.

Further into the game, due to a rift in the relationship between Hawk and Wiglesworth, Wiglesworth became the new target of the now three-way alliance among Hawk, Boesch and Hatch. Wiglesworth had opted out of the alliance, a move Hawk considered cowardly and simply a way to show off to the jury, thinking this assured her of winning. When Wiglesworth won immunity twice, Colleen Haskell and Sean Kenniff were voted off.

Down to four contestants, Wiglesworth won immunity yet again, ensuring that one of the alliance would be voted out. In a two–two tie, Hatch and Hawk were both in danger of elimination.^[2] On a revote, Wiglesworth opted to eliminate Hawk. At the final immunity challenge, Hatch eliminated himself early, trusting both Wiglesworth and Boesch to take him to the end regardless, and not wanting the option to go back on his word to Boesch if he himself won the challenge.^[2] When Wiglesworth won immunity, she voted out Boesch, making him the final member of the jury.^[2]

In the final tribal council, Hatch was accused of being too cocky and evil. Comparing Hatch to a snake, Hawk claimed she must vote for him as nature intended, because "the snake must eat the rat," referring to Wiglesworth as the rat.^[2] Hatch became the first ever Sole Survivor in a 4–3 vote, earning the votes of Boesch, Hawk, Kenniff, and Greg Buis.

Survivor: All-Stars

Hatch's appeared on Survivor: All-Stars originally as a part of the Mogo Mogo tribe. They lost one member when Survivor: The Amazon winner Jenna Morasca quit the game. When the Saboga tribe was dissolved, Mogo Mogo gained two extra members; when they next lost immunity, they immediately targeted Hatch. Although Hatch got wind of his impending doom and put together a counter strategy, his plans were foiled and he was voted out.

Before he was voted out, he was involved in an incident with Sue Hawk. Hawk later claimed, during an immunity challenge, that Hatch's genitals touched her as he passed her by on the course. The next day, Hawk resigned from the game voluntarily, claiming she was too upset to continue.

In 2008, Survivor host Jeff Probst admitted he mistakenly judged Colby Donaldson to have lost a competition with Boston Rob, resulting in Hatch leaving the game before he should have. Probst also mentioned a rumor that Hatch smuggled a canister of matches onto Survivor: All-Stars "in a little container up his bum." Despite the rumor, the Mogo Mogo tribe was not able to make fire. Since this rumor, all contestants are now strip searched.^[3]

In 2010, Probst revealed that Hatch was considered a strong candidate to return for the 20th season, Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, as a villain. However, Hatch was unable to return because prosecutors refused to grant him permission to do so.^[4][5] Shortly afterward, Hatch revealed that he was cast to return, alongside Russell Hantz, in Survivor: Redemption Island but his visa was reportedly denied again by a judge.^[6]

Other appearances

In 2000, Hatch had a cameo as a patient in the Becker episode "One Wong Move" where Ted Danson's character received him as a patient, discussing the bizarre eating habits of the people on Survivor, and mentioning that he didn't mind if he had to take his clothes off.^[7]

Hatch appeared on an all-reality show edition of the game show Dog Eat Dog in 2002; he lost his challenge and was placed in the show's "dog pound".^[2] In 2005, Hatch was a contestant of Battle of the Network Reality Stars in which his team lost in the finals.^[8] He appeared as himself in the 2006 film Another Gay Movie.^[9]

In an 2010 issue of Entertainment Weekly, Survivor producer Mark Burnett said that if Hatch were not under house arrest, he would have been invited to participate in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.^[10]

In 2011, he appeared on the fourth celebrity edition of the US version of The Apprentice.^[11] He appeared on the Australian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, where he failed at the fourth question ("What is 11x12?"), he was the first contestant of the Australian edition and the first celebrity contestant worldwide who leaves with no winnings .^[12] In 2016, he competed in The Biggest Loser: Temptation Nation and was eliminated in the fourth week.

Personal life

Hatch is openly gay and has been married to his husband, Emiliano Cabral, since their 2005 wedding in Nova Scotia.^[13]

Hatch was born and raised near Newport, Rhode Island,^[14] graduating from Middletown High School in 1979.^[15]

He first majored in Marine Biology and Oceanography at Florida Institute of Technology before he enlisted in the Army in 1980. After enlisting, Hatch was appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point, by Rhode Island Senator John Chafee. Hatch served five years and was honorably discharged in 1985.^[15] He was first stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Stewart, Georgia, before attending USMAPS in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.^[16]

Hatch left West Point for New York City, where he worked for Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell (owners of Studio 54) at the Palladium. He later attended Baruch College in New York and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, during which time he became a sperm donor.^[17]

Hatch spent eight years in the Washington, D.C. area and graduated from National-Louis University with a bachelor's degree in Management/Applied Behavioral Sciences. Hatch returned to Newport, Rhode Island and adopted a 7-year-old boy.^[18] He later attended Rhode Island's Providence College, pursuing a master's degree in Education and Counseling.^[19]

Prior to winning CBS's original Survivor series, Hatch worked as a bartender, auto salesman, and licensed real estate agent before nearly fifteen years as a corporate trainer and consultant for his own company.^[15]

Following his Survivor win, Hatch was charged with tax evasion. He was convicted and served a 51-month sentence in federal prison. Hatch and his attorneys have argued that the prosecution and conviction were flawed because the IRS never completed the investigation of his 2000 and 2001 tax returns and never determined that any particular sum of taxes was due.^[20] He served an additional nine months in prison for not amending his 2000 and 2001 tax returns.^[18][20]

A property purchased by Hatch in Sydney, Nova Scotia following his Survivor win was included in a tax sale during a public auction in 2013. The CBRM tax office indicated that Hatch had not paid property taxes on the property for a period of more than six years.^[21]

See also

• List of The Apprentice (U.S.) candidates

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Richard Hatch.

• Richard Hatch at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Hatch biography for Survivor: Borneo at CBS.com
• Richard Hatch biography for Survivor: All-Stars at CBS.com
• Hatch's criminal indictment on The Smoking Gun