Richard Hatch

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. 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. When Wiglesworth won immunity, she voted out Boesch, making him the final member of the jury.

In the final tribal council, Hatch was deemed arrogant and was both praised and vilified for his leadership of the voting alliance. Hawk compared Hatch to a snake and Wiglesworth to a rat; she voted for him to win because nature intended for "the snake to eat the rat." Hatch became the first Sole Survivor in a 4–3 vote, earning the votes of Boesch, Hawk, Kenniff, and Greg Buis.

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.

In 2011, he appeared on the fourth celebrity edition of the US version of The Apprentice. He appeared on the Australian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, where he flunked at the fourth question ("What is 11x12?"); he was the first contestant of the Australian edition to win nothing, and became the first, and so far only recorded case, of a celebrity contestant worldwide to leave with no winnings. In 2016, he competed in The Biggest Loser: Temptation Nation and was eliminated in the fourth week.

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. 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. Eventual winner Rob Mariano was put in his place. In another interview by Us Weekly in 2020, Probst revealed Hatch was also considered a candidate to participate in an all-winners 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, but was cut citing concerns on his conduct in All-Stars as "inappropriate" and the fact that the show was in a different culture and time and hoping to show better conduct for the other castaways by not expecting castaways running naked in the future.

In a 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.

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.

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".

Hatch is openly gay and married Emiliano Cabral in a 2005 Nova Scotia wedding. Hatch filed for divorce in December 2017.

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". In 2005, Hatch was a contestant of Battle of the Network Reality Stars in which his team lost in the finals. He appeared as himself in the 2006 film Another Gay Movie.

In 2000, Hatch competed in Survivor: Borneo, the first edition of the show in the United States. Beginning the game on the Tagi tribe, he quickly assembled a voting alliance with former Navy SEAL Rudy Boesch, Sue Hawk, and Kelly Wiglesworth. Hatch slid into the role of fisherman for his tribe to ensure that he would be too valuable to vote off, despite his nudist tendencies and perceived overconfidence. After six eliminations, Tagi merged with the other tribe, Pagong, to form a new tribe called Rattana.

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 did not mind if he had to take his clothes off.

After his Survivor win of $1 million, Hatch was charged with tax evasion and convicted for not paying taxes on that winning sum. He served a 51-month sentence in federal prison. Hatch and his attorneys had attempted to argue 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. After being released from prison, he later served an additional nine months in prison for not amending his 2000 and 2001 tax returns.

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. 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.

Hatch was born and raised near Newport, Rhode Island, graduating from Middletown High School in 1979.

Richard Holman Hatch Jr. (born April 8, 1961) is an American former reality television contestant. In 2000, he won the first season of the CBS reality series Survivor. He was a contestant on a subsequent All-Stars season of Survivor, on one season of Celebrity Apprentice, and on one season of The Biggest Loser.