Lusth was born on August 23, 1981, in Guanajuato, Mexico. When he was only a couple of years old, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Durham, North Carolina, to be closer to his relatives. After a few more moves, his mother, with Ozzy and his two siblings, Katrina, Zoe and adopted sister from Vietnam Audrey Vu settled in Mountain View, California. He went to high school in Mountain View. After graduating, he attended Santa Barbara City College for two years, where he worked as a stripper on the side,[2] until he moved to the Los Angeles area. He is of Mestizo descent.[3]
Lusth was originally recruited to play Survivor after his friend met a casting agent for the show, and they wanted a "non-stereotypical Latino."[2] On Survivor: Cook Islands, Lusth was originally a member of the Aitutaki (Aitu) tribe, which represented Latinos. Having no particular alliance with any members, he was seen as a threat. In Episode Two, he suggested the tribe throw the immunity challenge so they could vote out the weak link, Billy Garcia. Lusth's plan was met with skepticism, particularly by Cristina Coria. However, Garcia was voted out at Tribal Council. Following a tribe switch, Lusth remained in Aitu with only one of his original tribemates, Cecelia Mansilla. Lusth was perceived a threat but he led his tribes to numerous immunities. Yet he was not part of the dominating alliance of Yul Kwon, Candice Woodcock, Becky Lee, and Jonathan Penner, and Lusth lost his original tribemate, Mansilla. Following the third tribal council, Lusth was angry that his tribe had voted for Mansilla, but was comforted by his tribemates. After two straight wins, Probst announced both tribes would go to Tribal Council. Lusth, along with the rest of the tribe except Jessica "Flicka" Smith, denounced "Plan Voodoo" and voted out Cao Boi Bui. The tribe lost immunity at the next challenge and Smith was unanimously voted out.
Lusth played a large part in the next three straight wins and the Rarotonga (Raro) tribe saw their numbers dwindle. However, when Probst announced an offer of mutiny, the Aitu tribe was left shocked and decimated as original Raro members Woodcock and Penner returned, thus making Raro eight members strong. The challenge following the mutiny was dominated by the Aitu Four: Sundra Oakley, Lusth, Kwon and Lee. Lusth and the Aitu Four sent Woodcock to Exile Island several times, eventually sealing her fate and Penner's. The mutiny sealed Lusth in his alliance with Oakley, Kwon, and Lee, and the Aitu Four dominated subsequent challenges. Following the tribe merge, Lusth remained loyal to the Aitu Four and voted with his allies to send Nate Gonzalez, Woodcock, Penner, Parvati Shallow, and Adam Gentry off, despite times when he considered aligning with Shallow. Lusth was seen as a threat by allies Lee and Oakley, who went to Kwon in an attempt to vote Lusth out. But Lusth won immunity once again, forcing the expulsion of former Raro members.
Lusth won the final immunity challenge and scored a spot in the Final Three with Kwon, who had the hidden immunity idol. Forced to vote one of their own out, Lee and Oakley tied with two votes against each. Lee won the fire-making tiebreaker, securing a spot with Kwon and Lusth. At the final Tribal Council, Lusth was praised for his athletic skills but criticized for being a loner. He finished in second place in a 5–4–0 vote and was the first male runner-up in two years since the eighth season. Probst stated at the reunion show that he had dominated. Prior to the million dollar vote, Adam Gentry had promised he would give Kwon his vote if he survived longer than Penner. Kwon did and Gentry followed suit. Lusth gained the votes of Raro members Shallow, Gonzalez, Jenny Guzon-Bae and Rebecca Borman.
Lusth was the longest-lasting contestant from the original Aitu tribe, and stayed so after the tribe switch. Dominant in swimming, agility and balance, he won five out of six individual immunity challenges. He won a Mercury Mariner for being voted favorite player of the season.
Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites was Lusth's second appearance on Survivor. With regard to his prior appearance, Lusth commented, "My mistakes last time were basically being too much of a loner. I'm never going to go anywhere by myself except to use the bathroom".[4]
Originally part of the Malakal tribe representing the Favorites, Lusth decided to establish alliances. He allied himself with Amanda Kimmel, a Survivor: China contestant. The two went on to join forces with James Clement, Kimmel's ally from China, and Parvati Shallow, Lusth's fellow contestant on Cook Islands. The four became known for the romantic relationships between Lusth and Kimmel and between Clement and Shallow, with Cirie Fields joking that Kimmel would be giving birth to "little Ozzlets." The tribe faced an early defeat and the alliance of four found themselves against another dominating alliance of Ami Cusack, Jonathan Penner, Eliza Orlins and Yau-Man Chan. Both alliances attempted to recruit Jonny Fairplay, whose vote would become the swing vote. However, things changed when Fairplay asked to be sent home to be with his pregnant girlfriend, and the tribe honored his wish and voted him out 9–1, with Fairplay voting for Lusth. Faced with a loss in Episode Three, the four recruited Fields as their fifth member and voted out Chan, who was perceived as a threat by her. In Episode Four, Lusth was banished to Exile Island where he found the immunity idol and put a fake one in the place where he found the real one.
Following a tribal switch in Episode Five, he remained with two of his alliance members, Kimmel and Fields. The tribe began to lose in immunity challenges and subsequently voted off the Fans: Joel Anderson, Chet Welch, and Tracy Hughes-Wolf; during this time, Penner, now a member of Airai, was evacuated and Kathy Sleckman quit. With the tribe numbers becoming even, Malakal lost the challenge before the merge and voted off Cusack. When Lusth reunited with his alliance at the merge, the five of them took control of the game, voting off Orlins, whom Shallow disliked. He became comfortable with his position in the game, trusting Kimmel, Clement, and Shallow completely. He also found an ally in Fan Erik Reichenbach, who admired Lusth's abilities. However, Shallow had plans of her own. Having aligned herself with Fans Natalie Bolton and Alexis Jones while on Airai, she found herself in trouble when Fields approached her with a plan to blindside Lusth. Shallow's vote became the swing vote and she was confused, debating whether or not to vote her ally out. But Shallow stuck with Fields and convinced Lusth to leave his idol back at camp. At Tribal Council, Lusth was blindsided and this became the start of the women's alliance's domination, led by Shallow.
At the Final Tribal Council, he berated Shallow for selling away their friendship and refused to let her talk. He also confessed his love for Kimmel, for whom he cast his vote to win, saying she deserved the money a million times more than Shallow. He and Kimmel were still together as of the reunion show, but he revealed in an interview that they had separated before he returned for Season 23, Survivor: South Pacific. He also revealed at the reunion show that he and Shallow have healed their friendship.
Lusth returned, along with Benjamin "Coach" Wade, for a third shot at the game in Survivor: South Pacific. He revealed that he wanted to play a strategic game this time, feeling that everyone only saw him as a physical threat in previous games. He was randomly assigned to the Savaii tribe, where he quickly formed a core alliance with Keith Tollefson and Jim Rice, with Whitney Duncan and Elyse Umemoto being the extra members. His increasing closeness with Umemoto prompted Rice to undercut his power in Episode Five by convincing the tribe to vote out Umemoto instead of John Cochran. This initially angered Lusth, but he later forgave his tribe.
As the tribe approached what they suspected was the last Tribal Council before the merge and the return of the Redemption Island victor, Lusth made an unprecedented, bold, and strategic move by requesting that his tribe vote him out to Redemption Island, in the hope that he would beat long-running Redemption Island resident Christine Shields-Markoski and return to the merged tribe, making the former Savaii numbers equal to the former Upolu members. Jeff Probst has called this one of the greatest moves in Survivor history.[5]
The plan worked, but at the first post-merge Tribal Council Cochran betrayed his own tribe and joined with Upolu in voting out Tollefson, followed by Lusth and his other former tribemates, one by one. Back on Redemption Island, Lusth defeated Tollefson, Rice, Dawn Meehan, Duncan, Cochran, Edna Ma, and Brandon Hantz to stay in the game. Ozzy won immunity when he got back into the game and Rick Nelson was voted off. However, in the next challenge Lusth was defeated by Sophie Clarke at a puzzle game and became the last person voted off to become the final member of the jury. He later cast his vote for Clarke to win. He did, however, win the $100,000 Sprint Player of the Season prize over Cochran, who came in a distant second. Lusth was also the last member of the original Savaii tribe and set a Survivor record in being voted out three times in one season.
Lusth returned for a fourth time in the 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers. This made him one of only four contestants at the time to ever compete on Survivor four times—the others being "Boston Rob" Mariano, Rupert Boneham, and fellow Game Changers contestant Cirie Fields. On Day 16, Lusth attended his first Tribal Council, where he joined the majority in voting out two-time winner Sandra Diaz-Twine. He had to go to Tribal Council again on Day 18, when he joined the majority in eliminating Jeff Varner. He was ultimately blindsided on Day 24 for being too big of a physical threat. He placed 12th and was the second member of the jury. At Final Tribal Council, he praised finalist Brad Culpepper for his gameplay and voted for Culpepper to win, although Sarah Lacina would ultimately win the title of "Sole Survivor."[6]
Accolades
Shortly after Survivor: South Pacific ended, Ozzy was inducted into Xfinity's Survivor "Hall of Fame" in the class of 2011, alongside Cirie Fields and Tom Westman.[7] Several years later, in the official issue of CBS Watch magazine commemorating the 15th anniversary of Survivor, Lusth performed well in two major viewer polls that were released in the magazine. He came in fifth in the poll for "Greatest Castaway of All Time," and he came in third in the "Hottest Male Castaway" poll, behind Colby Donaldson and Malcolm Freberg. He was also the only male contestant to appear in both polls, and one of only two contestants overall to appear in both the "greatest players" poll and one of the "most attractive" polls, the other being fellow Cook Islands and Micronesia contestant Parvati Shallow.[8][9] Lastly, his elimination in Episode Ten of Micronesia was voted by viewers in the same magazine as the #2 most memorable moment in the series, only behind Sandra Diaz-Twine burning Russell Hantz's hat in Episode 14 of Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.[10]
By making the merge in Survivor: Game Changers, Lusth became the first and only player in Survivor history to make the merge four times, and Lusth also holds the record for the most times eliminated from the game, by being voted out on five separate occasions (one in Micronesia, three in South Pacific, and one in Game Changers). At the time of his participation, he holds the record for the most time spent playing Survivor, with 128 days spent in the game as an active contestant followed by Fields who played 121 days, Rob Mariano who played 117 days, Shallow who played 114 days, Amanda Kimmel who played 108 days, Rupert Boneham who played 104 days, and Andrea Boehlke who played 103 days;.[11] This record lasted for nearly three years, to be surpassed later by Mariano, who eventually played 152 days (excluding the 37 days in Survivor: Island of the Idols, for which he was not directly involved in the gameplay[12]), and Shallow's 149, both for their participation in Survivor: Winners at War.[13][14]
In 2016, he also appeared in a special episode of The Price Is Right which featured multiple former Survivor contestants competing on the show.
Personal life
Lusth lives in Venice Beach, California. He once owned the Brakeman Brewery in East Los Angeles, which has since closed.[15] He currently works in adult film promoting OnlyFans. Lusth came out as bisexual in 2022.[16]
Survivor is a reality-competition television franchise produced in many countries around the world. The show features a group of contestants deliberately marooned in an isolated location, where they must provide basic survival necessities for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants until only one remains to be awarded the grand prize and named the "Sole Survivor".
Survivor: Pearl Islands is the seventh season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It was filmed from June 23, 2003, through July 31, 2003, and premiered on September 18, 2003. The season was filmed on the Pearl Islands, off the coast of Panama, and had a pirate culture theme. Hosted by Jeff Probst, it consisted of the usual 39 days of gameplay with 16 competitors.
Sandra Diaz-Twine is an American television personality who became known for her appearances on the reality game show Survivor. She won the first two seasons she appeared on, Survivor: Pearl Islands and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, making her the show's first two-time winner. She returned for Survivor's 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers, where she was the 6th person voted out. Along with fellow Survivor contestant Rob Mariano, she was a non-competing mentor on the show's 39th season Survivor: Island of the Idols, and subsequently competed on the show's 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, where she was the 7th person voted out and only player to leave the game at the Edge of Extinction. Diaz-Twine is regarded among fans as one of the greatest players on the show. She also competed on Blood V Water edition of the Australian Version of Survivor with her daughter Nina, which premiered in Australia on January 31, 2022.
Jerri Manthey is a German-American actress and television personality. She is perhaps best remembered as a polarizing figure from Survivor, on which she was a three-time contestant: she placed 8th on Survivor: The Australian Outback, she came 10th on Survivor: All-Stars, and was eliminated at the Final Four on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.
Rupert Frederick Boneham is an American mentor for troubled teens who became known to reality television audiences in 2003 as a contestant on Survivor: Pearl Islands. He later appeared on the All Stars, Heroes vs. Villains, and Blood vs. Water seasons of Survivor, placing fourth, sixth, and 20th, respectively. He was ultimately a fan favorite among Survivor viewers, who voted him a million-dollar winner on Survivor: America's Tribal Council, a special episode of Survivor: All-Stars. The prize was awarded after a nationwide popular vote in which Boneham received 85% of the votes cast. Boneham and his wife Laura later competed on the 31st season of The Amazing Race and were the second team eliminated.
Jeffrey Keith Varner is a former American real estate agent and television personality, a news anchor and reporter, a former entertainment reporter, and a contestant on three seasons of the CBS reality television series, Survivor: The Australian Outback,Survivor: Cambodia, and Survivor: Game Changers. Varner is most known for infamously publicly outing fellow Survivor: Game Changers contestant Zeke Smith as transgender.
Thomas "Tom" Westman is an American firefighter and television personality best known as the winner of the tenth season of the American reality show Survivor, Survivor: Palau.
Survivor: Cook Islands is the thirteenth season of the American competitive reality television series, Survivor. The season was filmed from June 26 to August 3, 2006, and premiered on September 14 of that year. Filmed in the Cook Islands, it was broadcast by CBS.
Jonathan Lindsay Penner is an American actor, screenwriter, television personality, and film producer, known for producing and starring in the film The Last Supper, as well as acting in the television series Rude Awakening and The Naked Truth. He is also known for his multiple appearances on the American competitive reality series Survivor.
Terry Deitz is an American retired U.S. Navy pilot, television host, and two-time contestant on the American reality television show Survivor, where he placed third in the 12th season. He also competed in the 31st season, placing 15th. He is currently a commercial airline pilot and host of Great Planes on the Military Channel.
Cirie Tiffany Fields is an American nurse and television personality who competed on four seasons of Survivor. She first appeared in 2006 on Survivor: Panama, finishing in 4th place. In 2008, she returned and placed 3rd on Survivor: Micronesia. She made her third appearance on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains in 2010, finishing 17th after being targeted and blindsided early in the game. She made her fourth and final appearance on Survivor: Game Changers in 2017, where she finished 6th and was eliminated without receiving a vote.
Yul Julius Kwon is an American television host and former government official, lawyer, and management consultant based in California. He first gained national recognition and popularity as the winner of the reality TV show Survivor: Cook Islands in 2006. He appeared again in Survivor: Winners at War, where he placed 14th. Kwon hosted the 2012 four-part TV series America Revealed on PBS as well as LinkAsia on Link TV.
Survivor: Micronesia – Fans vs. Favorites, also known as Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites and Survivor: Micronesia, is the sixteenth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. It is the show's third season to include contestants from past seasons, after the all-returning contestant pool from Survivor: All-Stars, along with Survivor: Guatemala, in which two contestants from Survivor: Palau returned for a second chance.
Parvati Shallow is an American television personality and was the $1 million winner of the reality television series Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites. She had previously competed in Survivor: Cook Islands in which she placed sixth, and later was the runner-up in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. In 2020, she competed on the show's 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, where she placed 15th.
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains is the twentieth season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. Premiering on February 11, 2010, it was the show's fourth season to feature contestants from past seasons, after Survivor: All-Stars, Survivor: Guatemala, and Survivor: Micronesia, and was only the second season to feature a cast consisting entirely of returning players, after All-Stars. The season was filmed in Upolu, Samoa. Unlike previous seasons, the preceding season and this season were filmed back-to-back with a commenced short break occurred between seasons due to budget circumstances over the worldwide Great Recession.
Russell Dennis Hantz is an American television personality, best known for his appearances on the U.S. reality show, Survivor. He was the runner-up on Survivor: Samoa, and the second runner-up on Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. He also competed on Survivor: Redemption Island and Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders, where he was the second player to be eliminated both times.
Survivor: South Pacific is the twenty-third season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed from May 30 through July 7, 2011, and premiered on September 14, 2011. Applications were due on January 11, 2011, approximately 800 applicants visited in various states, from there 16 contestants were chosen as participants.
John Martin Cochran, also known by just his surname Cochran, is an American television writer, and former reality television personality. He first appeared on the 23rd season of Survivor, Survivor: South Pacific, and came in eighth place. He returned for the 26th season, Survivor: Caramoan, and ultimately won the title of Sole Survivor and the $1 million prize. He later went on to become a writer for various CBS sitcoms, including The Millers,Kevin Can Wait, and more recently Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Troy Robertson is an American photographer and reality television star best known for competing on Survivor: One World, the 24th season of Survivor. On the show, he was known by his nickname, Troyzan. He would later return to Survivor for its 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers.
Sarah Lacina is an American police officer best known for competing on the American reality show Survivor. She came in 11th place and was the first jury member in the show's 28th season, Survivor: Cagayan, in 2014. Lacina was voted the winner of the show's 34th season, Survivor: Game Changers in 2017. She competed for a third time in Survivor: Winners at War, the show's 40th season, in 2020 where she finished in 4th place and was the final jury member.
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