‘Survivor: South Pacific’: Ozzy Lusth Denies ‘Poisoning’ Jury Like Coach Claims (VIDEO)

Kelli Boyle February 12, 2026, 5:44 pm

What To Know

Ozzy Lusth reflects on the Survivor: South Pacific finale, denying Coach Wade’s claims that he “poisoned” the jury.
He discusses the complex dynamics with Coach, including betrayal, religious manipulation, and their unresolved relationship heading into Survivor 50.
The Survivor: South Pacific finale airs tonight (February 12) on CBS as part of the “Road to 50” series.

Ozzy Lusth and Benjamin “Coach” Wade‘s performances in Survivor: South Pacific are considered two of the show’s all-time greats. The finale of that season airs tonight at 8/7c on CBS as part of the network’s “Road to 50” series, a collection of classic Survivor episodes airing over two weeks that feature players from the Survivor 50 cast.

In “Loyalties Will Be Broken,” Sophie Clarke secures a spot in the final three by defeating Ozzy in a high-stakes final immunity challenge, eventually winning the million-dollar prize after the jury confronts Coach over broken promises and religious manipulation. The episode originally aired in December 2011.

Ozzy and Coach were the only returning players of Season 23; everyone else was brand new (one player, Brandon Hantz, was following in his uncle, Russell Hantz‘s footsteps, and then tried to veer far away from any comparisons to him). After Sophie won the final immunity challenge, Ozzy urged Coach to keep his word and not vote him out like Sophie and Albert Destrade. He asked Coach to make it a tied vote and send him and Albert to the tie-breaking fire-making challenge. Coach stuck with his original alliance, betraying Ozzy, whom he viewed as his biggest threat to win. But the jury didn’t respect Coach’s final pitch, and Sophie ended up winning it all. In the years since, Coach has claimed that Ozzy “poisoned” the jury against him before the final vote.

Here, Ozzy reflects on his last episode with Coach with TV Insider. What will their dynamic look like in Survivor 50? Get a glimpse inside the season below.

What do you remember most about filming this episode?

Ozzy Lusth: Oh, man. Digging into those old wounds. It’s OK. It’s part of the process of getting through that trauma of having $1 million slip through your fingers. All in all, that season was a really fun season for me to play. Even though I didn’t come out with the win, it’s still, to this day, one of the most enjoyable seasons.

That finale, it was difficult for a lot of reasons. Part of it was trying to get my point across to Coach that he needed to change up the way he was [playing]. I didn’t trust that Coach was going to do the right thing, which, who knows what that means for anyone playing Survivor. If he had let me actually make fire with Albert, I think I would’ve won the game. There’s a chance that Coach could have still won the game, going against me. During our talks, I just didn’t have any confidence in Coach’s word that he was going to actually take me to the final, so my decision to expose him for double-dealing, I thought it was my only chance of really getting anywhere.

Do you think Coach would’ve looked better in front of the jury had he brought you to the end with him?

I think Coach would’ve looked astronomically better, and it would’ve been a better season. The way that Coach went out is really tough even for me to this day, because I really tried to give him the softball questions that he needed to answer to get the jury to vote for him. I really didn’t want anyone else. If I wasn’t going to win the game, I really wanted Coach to be able to. I felt like I owed it to him. I respected the way he played. I wanted to make sure that he understood that the jury had certain sentiments about how he played, and that if he just really took complete and total ownership of it and stopped doing the “I’m a Christian man, I’m bound by honor” thing, that he would’ve won the game. But he kept with his “I’m an honorable man” situation, and nobody bought that. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t see that the jury was pretty bitter.

To this day, I have a lot of regret. I feel like I did all I could to convince Coach to be more responsible, but it’s tough. I really feel like either myself or Coach should have won that game. I don’t think it should have been Sophie or anyone else.

Coach Wade, Ozzy Lusth, and Jeff Probst in Survivor: South Pacific

Monty Brinton/CBS

You could argue that the honorable thing would be to take you to the end with him. Everyone on the jury’s going to have a different perspective on what “honor and integrity” looked like.

Oh, 100 percent. But when you get down to those last moments, all you have left is to look people in the eye and tell them that you lied to them to get further in the game. And [he] used Brandon’s crazy hard-line Christian viewpoints against the entire tribe. Brandon hijacked that season up until the moment he went out of the game. Coach is a Christian, but he really, really played into that energy. That’s why a lot of people say it’s cult vibes. Coach is smart enough to see that energy and was able to use that as a major force in the decision-making. Brandon was this unstoppable force, and Coach got right behind him, and he played from the shadows, which is a very smart way to play, especially when you’re playing with such a loose cannon. I have a lot of respect for how Coach handled him because Brandon is such a strong personality.

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At the end of the day, you’ve just got to be able to look people in the eye and say, I lied to your face, I am a better player than you, and I’m sitting here. People respect that much more than trying to sit with a lie that you told them.

What would your jury pitch have been had you made it to the end?

I don’t think I had to have a pitch, honestly. I could have just said I played a game that was true to the way that I have always wanted to play Survivor, and that is just through surviving in the wild and winning challenges. I know that’s boring to a lot of people, but it’s the way that I [played]. In that season, trying to play with Keith, Jim, and Cochran, they had it out for me. I didn’t have any power. I had to do whatever I could just to make it through. And so playing big, risky moves and using Redemption Island as my foil was the only way that I could really get through to the end.

In the live finale, you seemed at peace with the fact that Sophie beat you in that last immunity challenge. Even in our set visit interview last year, you said that you couldn’t solve a puzzle when you needed to, and that’s just Survivor. Where do you stand now about Coach voting you out instead of letting it go to a tie? Are you at peace with that?

It took me many, many, many, many years to become at peace with it. Survivor has this funny way of [being] the greatest gift, but it can also be your worst nightmare. So being able to get up and have this beautiful view of the world and already start [thinking about] spending the money and of all the amazing things you can do, and then all of a sudden it’s taken away, those regrets are harsh. They’re hard to deal with. I had a lot of resentment for Coach for many years. And then the sentiments start to die down, and real-life regrets start to replace them. So I did hold it against him for a while, but at the same time, I’m not one to blame others for my mistakes. He just did what he thought was best for his game.

I was more upset with his trash-talking after the season and his resentment against me for what he thought was my poisoning the jury. You have to have a pretty flimsy point of view in your gameplay to let somebody completely change the way you’re going to vote. People know who they’re going to vote for going into Final Tribal. Some people are right on the fence, and they can be persuaded. I was not doing any politicking at Ponderosa, trying to get Coach eliminated. Was I going to be Sophie’s champion? Not really. And I sure wasn’t going to be Albert’s champion. I was trying to be Coach’s. If anything, I was trying to do him a service, so I just felt like it was in poor taste that he decided to take it personally after the game was over.

CBS

I was going to ask about that because he’s been bringing that up in his Season 50 preseason interviews. I don’t know if you’ve seen that, but it has come up.

I’m sure it has. I really appreciate Coach. Having had the chance to actually play with him, he’s a very different person than he was in [Season] 23. So many years have passed. He’s a different person. He’s a lot of fun to be around. He’s got a lot of stories. He’s an amazing linguist. He’s got that gift of gab. He would’ve been a bard in another life, traveling around with his lute, singing songs to people. Coach is an amazing character, and he is a great guy, but sometimes those are the most dangerous people on Survivor.

What was your reaction to seeing Coach on the Survivor 50 cast list?

My reaction was, I hope we get to play together. I hope we get to put water under the bridge and alchemize our sour relationship into something that could potentially be sweet for both of us.

Did you hope you would end up in the same tribe to begin with?

I don’t think I thought about that. I didn’t think that we would end up on the same tribe just because I really thought the way we were going to cast us was that I would be with people that I’d never played with before. I was really surprised that I was put on the same tribe as Cirie because Cirie and I obviously have history, so I thought that was a little bit of an odd choice. But at the same time, I was appreciative of that because Cirie and I do have a little bit of a relationship, and I had no relationship with Devens, Christian, Savannah, Emily, Joe, and Jenna, so getting to know all of them, it was a blessing.

[Coach and I] hadn’t seen each other since the finale of South Pacific. I’ve never seen him at events. I’ve never really talked to him. So [50 was the chance] to speak again after more than a decade, be able to speak to each other and say, “Hey, man, sorry, and let’s move forward.”

One thing that stands out to me about the finale is the fight that you and Sophie had in your final tribal council, where she got really upset that you launched a “personal attack” calling her “spoiled,” but she called you an “a**hole” in that tribal as well. Do you think her perspective was fair? Does being fair matter?

I don’t really think being fair matters. We are playing a game, and it gets super personal, especially when you get down to those last moments. When there’s $1 million on the line, you’d better let it all hang out. Sophie won the game because Coach lost it. I wasn’t making my assessment from solely my perspective. I didn’t really have that much time to play with Sophie. A few days here and there merged. And then when I came back in the game, this is all just stuff that I picked up from her teammates. It wasn’t anything personal. It’s just how I saw her through the lens of everyone else’s perspective.

Sophie Clarke in Survivor: South Pacific

CBS

Why do you think this episode made it into the lineup of these Survivor classics that CBS is airing?

Wow, let’s see. Probably for the fact that it gives backstory to Coach and me. It’s the easiest way to see our dynamic and where we left off, and we haven’t really made up with each other since this episode.

You played again in Season 34, Game Changers, and now in 50. But you and Coach both said in South Pacific, “This is the last time for me.” What made you come back?

When you hear Jeff’s sweet voice on the phone asking you to play, you can’t say no, at least I can’t. And it’s such a fun experience. There’s nothing like it in the world. If Jeff called me today to come back and play Season 52, I’d be in for sure. I think most Survivors feel the same way. Once you start having children, it probably changes the equation a lot. I know a lot of people haven’t been able to play because of their families and their kids, so until that moment happens, I’m always down to heed the call.

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On set last year, a lot of players were bringing up South Pacific as one of their favorite seasons of all time. It’s a fan favorite among just viewers as well. Why do you think it’s good?

There’s just so much drama. And up until that last moment, it looks like I might pull off the impossible. The relationships develop really nicely. Coach does a great job with the way he moves through the tribe and takes ownership. And then at the very end, this dark horse that nobody saw coming, Sophie, pulls through and beats us both. There’s just a lot of themes, from women’s empowerment to two big players cannibalizing each other.

And then there’s the religious fervor element of it all. Watching it again, it really is cult-like. It was addictive.

Yeah, so good to watch. So hard to play. I didn’t really have to deal with that part of it, but that was the amazing thing about Brandon Hantz. Once Brandon made a decision, nothing was going to assuage him. Even his father tried to talk some sense into him at the very end, and Brandon wasn’t having it. I love the kid. He and I have this weird relationship where, during the game, he’s one way. Out of the game, he’s a totally different person. I’ve had that experience with a lot of other people.

Eliza Orlins, for example, I could not, for the life of me, understand what people liked about her playing the game. She just is so intense. Out of the game, she’s one of my favorite people ever. Survivor is a weird commentary on what capitalism does to communities. When you start to examine it in that lens, you start to see how really good people are turned against each other when money’s involved. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try to change about the way Survivor‘s played. Winning money is the opportunity to change your life. It’ll make you do things that you’re not proud of, but that is the game.

How would you change it to make it less capitalistic?

That still is a question I’m trying to solve.

I wonder if it’s not as good television without that capitalistic drive to win the money.

Well, contractually, you’re not allowed to share [the winnings with other players]. You’d really have to think that through on how you would do it. But look at [Mike Gabler, Season 43 winner], for example. He’s one of those people who donated his entire check. And that example, I think, is something that is a way to change the game, not just using it for yourself, but to use your platform and your winnings to then help people who really do need it. I really respected that. I think that he’s one of the greatest players because of that.

Would you donate your money if you won?

Hell yeah. Well, what I would do is I would create an intentional community that brings a little taste of Survivor to the masses. So if you wanted to feel what it felt like to play the game, come to my little eco resort and have a chance to play a little mini Survivor, connect to nature, learn how to build a fire, learn a little bushcraft, feel what it feels like to build community, and then play the game. The stakes are a lot lower, so you have a chance to actually feel what it feels like to have all the good parts of playing the game.

Robert Voets / CBS

Did your edit in South Pacific or any other season impact how you portrayed yourself in 50? I remember last year you said you wanted to play as Oscar this time.

Yeah, I played a much different game than I normally would’ve. You can’t just keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect to win. I did everything I could to change it up completely, and I think I did a pretty good job. We’ll let the fans decide. Maybe they’ll just be like, nah, just stick to the climbing trees and spearing fish. That’s all we want to see.

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I’ve seen fan reactions about how they want to see you and Cirie play differently. I think they’ll be happy to know that you changed things up.

I don’t know if Cirie needs to change anything up. She’s pretty damn good all around. She’s had some bad luck, but she’s one of the best players ever to play. And that’s the thing: a lot of times, the best player never wins Survivor. Every season, a lot of people claim that, well, the best player wins the game. I don’t agree. I go back to what happened to Coach in South Pacific. He dropped the ball on his final tribal. After 39 days, the last hour, he just didn’t hit that jump shot at the buzzer. That’s all it was, but he played an incredible game up to that point. Sophie was there to get the rebound, and she won because of his failure, in my opinion.

Survivor 50, Premieres Wednesday, February 25, 8/7c, CBS

For more inside scoop on Survivor 50 from the set, pick up a copy of TV Guide Magazine’s Survivor at 50 Special Collector’s Issue, available for preorder now at Survivor.TVGM2026.com and on newsstands now.