Where's the Survivor season 1 winner now? All about Richard Hatch's new life including prison stint

In 2000, Survivor premiered and changed reality television forever. Hosted by Jeff Probst, 16 participants were left in a remote area of Borneo, Malaysia. They were tasked with surviving for 39 days, split into two tribes, and competed in immunity challenges to win supplies.

Richard became one of reality TV's original villains, using calculated manipulation and arrogance to last all 39 days. 

In October 2024, Richard opened about his reputation, telling People: "They loved to hate me because they didn't understand Survivor."

He continued: "The world saw me as a villain. I understood that the word meant something to people that wasn't reflective of what it means in the dictionary. Now more people understand the game, supposedly, and I don't know that they think of me as villainous. But I'll do whatever it takes in a game, and that's villainous to somebody."

Richard won $1 million, defeating Kelly Wiglesworth in a 4–3 jury vote.

Soon after he won Survivor, Richard was sentenced to prison. In 2006, the reality TV star was convicted on two counts of attempted tax evasion and one count of signing a fraudulent tax return after failing to report his large Survivor prize, on top of other smaller sums, per Entertainment Weekly.

Richard served over four years in prison, and was even sent back to prison for nine months after failing to refile his tax returns in 2000 and 2001. The drama didn't end there. In March 2026, just as Survivor season 50 premiered, a judge ruled that Richard owes $3,293,471.56 in taxes plus statutory additions from and after May 13, 2024, including interest after he failed to pay tax on his Survivor winnings.

Richard filed an appeal, saying in a statement to People: "I have spent 25 years trying to do the right thing in a complicated situation, and I remain committed to resolving this matter fairly. I have nothing further to say while the appeal is pending."

While competing on Survivor, Richard was at the center of controversy. The season one winner played the game naked, leading some of his fellow contestants to resent him.

"We would be sitting down eating a bowl of rice and Rich would come, sit down with his legs spread, 'Hey guys. How you guys doing?'" Gervase Peterson recalled. "I'm like, 'Can you just cover your legs, please? Cross your legs or something? And he was doing it for a reason — to get under your skin."

And in 2004, during Survivor: All-Stars, Sue Hawk alleged that Richard rubbed his naked genitals on her during a challenge, leading to Sue quitting the game.

Many other Survivor legends returned to the competition show, but Richard hasn't appeared since 2004. He stayed in the Survivor world by providing commentary on his YouTube channel. In the two decades since he won season one, Richard told Keloland Living he has "never missed an episode."

Outside of Survivor, Richard married his longtime boyfriend, Emiliano Cabral in 2005. The two were together until 2017. He announced the news on X, writing: "I'M LOOKING FOR LOVE! If you think I'm the guy for you or for someone you know, please let me know. I prefer to share the journey in partnership, and sadly, my 14-year marriage has ended. Mr. Right will have to be bright enough to be kind. Thanks for your help in finding him."

While studying at George Mason University, Richard donated his sperm to a sperm bank hundreds of times total for two years, twice or three times per week on average, so that he could earn $30 per donation.

Two different women used Richard's donated sperm and eventually gave birth to his biological children, a boy and a girl. And in 2011, he met them.

"The offspring want connections with their biological donors because of all kinds of varying reasons from health to emotional to whatever they are," said Richard.