Now that Survivor has been on the air for more than 25 years, Jeff Probst’s beloved reality show has had many stars. Even considering that new fans have to figure out which seasons to watch first and there have been many medical evacuations, Richard Hatch is still one of the show’s most influential stars ever. Since Richard starred in two of the best seasons ever, is considered one of the show’s best players, and ranks higher than a lot of other winners, he was inducted into the Survivor Hall of Fame.
Even though Richard’s place in Survivor history doesn’t get enough respect, he continues to be a fan of the show. Since Richard continues to watch the show, he told TheThings that he has a shocking opinion of Survivor 48’s most heartwarming moment.
Richard Hatch Exclusively Told TheThings Why Jeff Probst’s Eva Erickson And Joe Hunter’s Memorable Scene
In March 2025, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas exclusively interviewed Richard Hatch about his opinions on Survivor 48. During that conversation, Richard began by explaining how happy he is that Eva Erickson has earned the chance to play Survivor.
“I think it’s phenomenal that Eva is playing out her fantasy, if it were her goal of being on the show. I think anybody who wanted to get on and gets on is great to have that opportunity. And someone with autism, you know, clearly hasn’t been highlighted before. I mean, who knows how many people on the spectrum wherever have made it onto the hundreds of people who’ve played the show now.”
However, Richard made it very clear that he didn’t like how Eva and Joe Hunter’s most memorable from Survivor 48 played out. As Richard explained to TheThings, he believes the role Jeff Probst had in that scene was wrong.
As Survivor 48 fans will already know, Eva was under a lot of pressure during a challenge and became overwhelmed. Prior to that challenge, Eva had told Joe she was diagnosed with autism and had taught him how to help her if she had what she called an episode. Since Eva was having an episode following that challenge, Joe used the skills she’d taught him to help her in a really touching moment.
How Many Reality Shows Has Richard Hatch Starred In, According to IMDb? | |
|---|---|
Show | Tenure |
Survivor: Borneo | 2000 |
Survivor: All-Stars | 2004 |
Battle of the Network Reality Stars | 2005 |
The Apprentice | 2011 |
The Biggest Loser | 2016 |
House of Villains | 2024 |
When Eva was still having her episode, Joe was intensely watching from a distance and looked like he wanted to help her. But it was only when Jeff asked Joe if he wanted to hug Eva that he leaped into action. While talking to TheThings, Richard explained why he thought it was wrong for Jeff to ask Joe if he wanted to hug Eva.
“Jeff’s involvement there was so problematic on so many levels. What’s Joe going to say, first of all? ‘Would you like to go give her a hug?’ says Probst? Come on. ‘No. I wouldn’t.’ You know? Joe’s not gonna say that.”
From there, Richard acknowledged that it seemed clear that Joe wanted to help Eva at that moment. “Joe wanted to. I understand that.”
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Richard went on to express that he believed it wasn’t Jeff’s job to intercede at that moment and put Joe on the spot. “The host is not supposed to interfere with the game.” Richard also questioned why Jeff got involved. “Whether it’s ego or something else. And I’m afraid that happens far, far, far too frequently… and he just should know better.”
While talking about Survivor over the years, Richard has never been shy about criticizing Jeff Probst.
During his March 2025 TheThings interview, Richard Hatch explained his opinion that the team behind Survivor shouldn’t be forcing their agenda on viewers. “Particularly in Survivor, for me, what we offer the world is an opportunity to engage around the things that we saw or that how we perceived what happened afterward. It isn’t the job of the host or the network or the woke whomever, to instruct us as we’re watching the game and enjoying Survivor unfold to to push their agenda.”
While talking to TheThings about Jeff’s involvement in the Joe and Eva scene, Richard briefly explained why he criticizes Jeff.
“I have a different perspective on people in power, and I think when you have the power, you have more responsibility, not less, to do the right thing and to take the bigger picture into perspective and to prevent others from being either exploited or misused or mishandled, et cetera. So that’s why I’m what people consider more harsh than some might want me to be. It’s just my opinion of who Jeff Probst is.”
Richard then went on to explain to TheThings why he was bothered by the inclusion of Jeff crying while talking about the Joe and Eva situation.
“I was off put in many, many ways by how he intervened and then chose to edit his own tears into the show. So it’s just not arbitrary. It’s not like, ‘Oh, well, here’s a shot of Jeff, and we caught it as the game was going on and you’re noticing that.’ This was a whole scene around Jeff crying and Jeff talking about how he hadn’t cried up until now. It’s about Jeff, and that’s not the game, I think.”
In response to Richard’s remarks, he was asked whether a couple of scenarios could alter his opinion of the scene.
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When fans watch Survivor, they only see an edited version of the events that take place when the show is filmed. As a result, things could have played out differently during the Eva and Joe situation than fans saw.
While talking to TheThings in March 2025, Richard Hatch spoke about Jeff interfering in his life, which had extremely negative consequences for him. Richard then explained how upset he was to still see Jeff doing things like that. “[Jeff interfering] happened to me in really, really powerful ways, changing the course of my life for which Jeff has never accepted any responsibility, although admitted what he did wrong. Yuck. Just yuck to see it still playing out and to have him not be held accountable and… bottom line, I think what’s most important [is] to undermine what we viewers would get from this game.”
Richard was asked by TheThings if he would feel differently about Jeff asking Joe about hugging Eva if Joe was more blatant about wanting to get involved than it seemed. In response, Richard explained why that scenario wouldn’t alter his opinion of Jeff asking Joe that question.
“No. And here’s why. When you’re there and you’re on the the beach and those things are happening and you’re separated, you are still playing Survivor. And so everyone around Joe has the opportunity, I would suggest, to observe what’s happening to him. ‘What does he know? Why is he reacting that way? What’s going on with him?’ And to think about what he’s doing and what it means. The idea that he had a deeper connection with Eva that others didn’t know about is up to Joe to share or not. Not Jeff. Not the host at all.
If Joe wanted to go hug Eva, Joe could have walked 10 feet and hugged Eva. He wanted to, and maybe he felt held back. I certainly understand the humanness of Probst or anyone else saying, ‘Hey, Joe. What’s going on? Do you wanna go over there and hug somebody?’ But it wasn’t that. It was very, very pointed and specific, and it was Jeff using what he knows from having watched the dailies and from having observed what’s going on with these contestants to interfere with the game. And I think that’s just always dangerous and inappropriate.”
At that point, Richard was asked if his opinion of the situation would change if he learned that Eva’s episode lasted a lot longer than it seemed on the show.
While talking to TheThings, Richard Hatch explained that his issues with how Jeff Probst handled the Eva Erickson and Joe Hunter scene were about more than that moment. “I know it’s subtle, and I know in this one instance, if you just take that specific thing, ‘Gosh, Jeff just asked him to hug someone who is struggling. What’s your problem, Hatch? You’re cold.’ Yeah. I get it, how it looks like that, but I’m looking much bigger picture as I tend to do.”
After being asked by TheThings if the timeline of the events could change his opinion. Richard held firm. “Nope. Not at all. And here’s why.” Richard then explained why he believed Eva’s episode lasting longer than it seemed wouldn’t change his opinion of how Jeff handled things.
“In the context of your suggesting that it may have gone on lots longer, there are lots of things Jeff could have done. Jeff could have offered to hug. There are medical folks around to be brought in for those specific reasons. Again, for me, the only issue is Jeff shouldn’t be interfering with the game, period. So Jeff, knowing that Joe could do something to help Eva is nice, but it’s all part of his privileged knowledge of what’s happening in the game…
So no, I don’t give a pass in saying that, ‘Well, maybe Jeff was trying to stop something that was going really, really wrong for a much longer time than we viewers knew.’ There are multiple options for him to have handled that without interfering with the game.”
Richard also explained that, as of the time of this writing, there is no way for fans to know how Jeff interfering could affect the rest of the season. “You know, we’re having this interview before this unfolds, and I don’t have any advance notice. So who knows what impact that will have throughout the rest of the game. And that’s my concern. That’s my issue.”
Richard Hatch Reacted To Jeff Probst Crying While Taking About Joe Hunter, Eva Erickson, And His Own Kids
As this article earlier revealed, Richard Hatch believes it was wrong for Jeff Probst to include the footage of him crying on Survivor. With that in mind, TheThings journalist Matthew Thomas asked Richard Hatch if he questioned whether Jeff’s tears were insincere. Richard had a fascinating response to that question.
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First off, Richard stated to TheThings that he didn’t want to believe Jeff’s tears were manufactured and that he couldn’t know if that was the case.
I hate to be that jaded. So I’m not going to weigh in whether it is or isn’t.
Richard then explained to TheThings that they aren’t close enough for him to understand Jeff’s motivations behind him crying on the show.
“I don’t know Jeff. I know Probst pretty well. I’ve spent a lot of time with him. I spent time after the show. I mean, I understand him in a way that I don’t think many people do, but I don’t know him so personally that I would know how far he would push things.”
Richard’s perspective of Jeff’s involvement in the Joe and Eva scene is truly fascinating to consider.
Survivor
- Release Date
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May 31, 2000
- Network
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CBS
- Showrunner
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Jeff Probst
- Directors
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Jeff Probst
- Writers
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Jeff Probst
