Survivor 50's Ozzy Lusth Talks Past Regrets And Former Rivalries: 'I'll Be Ready To Stick A Knife In Coach's Back'

The following interview was conducted on location in Fiji before filming began for "Survivor 50."

Fifth time's the charm? 

Jungle Man Ozzy Lusth is back in action and ready to finally claim his crown! And while viewers may think they know what they'll be getting when one of the game's most adept physical players returns to Fiji, according to the man himself, "Now, I'm like Grandpa Ozzy and I'm gonna be sitting around the campfire telling stories, getting to know everybody." 

In our pre-season interview below, Ozzy says he's ready to right some wrongs from his past "Survivor" career, and that includes getting to know people on a deeper level and improving his social game. He also shares some strong opinions about Kyle and Kamilla's return, relative newbies Rizo and Savannah, and whether he and Coach will be able to put their bad blood aside.

TVLINE | You get the call to come back. It's been a while since you've been on. What was your thought process like?
OZZY LUSTH | Honestly, there was zero thought process involved. When you see Jeff's face surprisingly pop up on a Zoom call asking you to go back and play "Survivor 50," you say "hell yes."

TVLINE | What has been going on in your life since we last saw you?
I moved away from Venice Beach after living there for 20 years. I moved to my hometown in Guanajuato, Mexico, and I opened a vinyl bar/music venue restaurant. It's by far the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life, but it's been great preparation for coming out here and gossiping with a bunch of Survivors.

TVLINE | How are you feeling now that you're back and about to start your fifth season?
Oh man, it's an absolute dream come true for the fifth time. I love this game. I've grown up playing this game and to get one final shot to win the million dollars, to win the title of Sole Survivor, it's a dream come true and I'm gonna be relishing every single hard moment of it. Look, if they call me back for Survivor 80, I'll be there. I will never say no to "Survivor."

TVLINE | We know you've got the survival skills, but what are you going to bring to the table this time that might be a little different from what viewers have seen in the past?
I've got the survival aspect on lock, challenges on lock, but at some point, little Ozzy had to grow up. Now I'm like Grandpa Ozzy and I'm gonna be sitting around the campfire telling stories, getting to know everybody. I can't play the same game that I played in the past. I've got to play a much more connected game.

TVLINE | How you feel about the size of your target and what you might do to shift people's perceptions of that?
My target level is, I would say, maybe just slightly above average. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give myself a 7 potentially, but there are much bigger targets out here than I am. I'm kind of a washed-up has been Survivor. It's been 16 seasons since I played last, and I didn't really even perform that well on my last season, "Game Changers." And we have a threesome of Joe, Kamilla, and Kyle coming in hot, just ran that game into the ground. Joe almost caught up with me and my five immunity wins, and Kamilla and Kyle with the underground game just running people! We also have two brand-new Survivors that nobody knows a thing about, but granted, if they got invited to come back and play Season 50, you know they made a huge impact on Season 49. So five people right there that have much bigger targets than myself and I'm gonna play that up as much as I can.

TVLINE | Joe, Kamilla and Kyle aren't the only cluster of three from the same season. Is it an advantage to not be a part of such a packaged threesome?
You've got the fresh faces of Joe, Kamilla, and Kyle who just came off of 48. They're fresh in our memories, but you also have Mike White, Angelina, and Christian [from "David vs. Goliath"]. They played together. I know Christian wasn't part of the alliance with Mike and Angelina, but it doesn't matter because they're three strong. They must have some sort of familiarity. I know that Christian had a cameo role on "The White Lotus," so they're gonna be another threesome to watch out for. Then you've also got Q, Tiffany, and Charlie [from "Survivor 46"]. All great players, all of them running great strategy games, and Q is one of those guys that has the potential to be a challenge beast and make an immunity run, potentially getting to the end of the game, winning every single immunity. The odd people out, I think, are at a big advantage at this point because there's lots of potential to be swing votes and form your own alliances because we're all looking at these threesomes as potential strong alliances. That's fresh on everybody's mind, I'm sure.

TVLINE | There are some familiar faces here who you've played with in the past. Coach, for example, among others. How are you feeling about those relationships?
I'm out here to play as hard as possible and that means making connections with every single person I can. Look, Coach and I have history. Cirie and I have history. Aubry and I have history, even though we never really played together. We do have that connected bond of a season of "Survivor." So I'm looking to really capitalize on every single relationship I possibly can and use it to my advantage. And I'll be ready to stick a knife in Coach's back as soon as I have the opportunity as well.

TVLINE | So there's no shot at you and Coach burying the hatchet this time around?
I would really love to bury the... I don't wanna say bury the hatchet. I think that's a bygone saying. I would love to put bad blood between Coach and I behind us, and if Coach and I can find a way to work with each other without letting other people know, it could be a Kyle/Kamilla situation. You never know.

TVLINE | Is there anything from your past games that you regret or might want to do differently this time around?
I'd say my biggest regret in all the seasons I played are my social skills. I relied much too heavily on my ability to go catch a lot of fish, climb coconut trees, and win at challenges to secure good alliances, but that's not gonna win "Survivor 50." "Survivor 50" is gonna be about deep trust and a few people to get yourself to the very end and win the game.

TVLINE | How do you feel about winners being here, in general?
I'm gonna venture to guess that one of the players from 49 wins [their season]. They probably don't even know it yet. Maybe they do, but I think that there are probably three winners out here and one of them came from "49." Dee, Kyle, somebody from "49." Look, it's great to have winners out here because that's a huge target. Nobody wants to take a winner to the end. Nobody wants to see another Sandra situation.

TVLINE | Is there anyone not here that you were expecting?
I really thought that somebody like Richard Hatch would be here, the first winner, in all his naked glory, but also somebody like Rob Cesternino, who is one of the biggest champions of "Survivor" and has turned it into his amazing, illustrious career. Maybe he's a little too close to the game, but it would have been nice to see him. He's a big talker. He says he's one of the best players to ever play. It would have been nice to see him out here to back up his bravado.

TVLINE | You talked about upping your social game a bit more. What exactly will you do differently this time around?
Look, I'm a much older Ozzy. I'm 44 years old. It's been 20 years since I first played this game and I want different things in life. Of course, I want to be able to go out and fish and climb coconut trees and win challenges, but I'm actually more interested in making some lifelong friends this time around.

TVLINE | Have you kept up with the new era-style of gameplay? How much have you been watching?
I've been following the new era off and on. It's a little bit hard for an old guy like myself, who played 39 days, to watch these new kids come in and get a million dollars after 26 days. I've almost made it 26 days every single time I played. I think one time I didn't, but I've been following the new era. There's a lot of twists, a lot of advantages, a lot of chance, a lot of luck. The one thing that remains the same is it's so necessary to have a strong alliance of people that you trust. I'm very inspired by Kamilla and Kyle. I think they played one of the best games of "Survivor" that I've seen in recent memory, and for Kyle to come in and win it and for all three of them to be here now... it's an inspiration, but it also is, "All right guys, you just had your chance."

TVLINE | How do you think you're going to adapt to the rapid-fire pace of this 26-day game?
Honestly, I don't think it's gonna be hard to get used to the rapid nature of this game. I think I'm ready for it. I've been preparing. It's just gonna be bloodshed. There's gonna be a lot of backstabbing. There's gonna be a lot of people maybe destroying friendships. We'll see.

TVLINE | Do the new school players have an advantage since they played more recently?
I think the new school players have a slight advantage, but it only goes so far as their egos let them. They're fresh. They're used to this 26 days, but when you have some older players that are used to slogging it out for 39 days, there's gonna be some good battles.

TVLINE | You're currently on lockdown, you're not allowed to talk to anyone yet, but what are the pre-game vibes like right now? Any thoughts on who you might want to work with?
Yeah, so we're in the holding pattern before the game and there's a lot of information that is gleaned at this point. You're just collecting data. For example, I think that Rizo probably just entered puberty. Maybe he's in his first year of college, he probably turned 18, sent in his "Survivor" audition, got "49," maybe he won it. The kid looks like he runs ultra marathons. He's stacked. His legs are like tree trunks. He could be an interesting person to work with. It depends. We're gonna have a real litmus test as to what they say when we do finally make it to the beach, and they give us their story of what happened in 49 because chances are 90% sure that they're gonna be lying regardless of what they say. Why would they tell us the full truth? And if they do tell us the full truth, I'll still think they're probably lying.

TVLINE | Any thoughts on the other player from Season 49?
Savannah is reminiscent of Parvati, not just in looks. She carries herself with a sort of classy, demure, "I'm gonna stab you in the back and you're gonna love it" kind of vibe.

TVLINE | Who do you keep in touch with from your original season?
You know what? I don't really keep in touch with anybody from my original season. I wish that I had more contact with Cao Boi [Bui] and [Jessica] Flica [Smith]. Those were two people that I really loved in the show, but for the most part, I don't really keep in contact with anyone, and that's something that I really regret. It's something I want to change about this season now that I'm older and wiser and have the patience for getting to know people on a deeper level. That's something that I want to accomplish this time around.

TVLINE | So 50 is "In the Hands of the Fans," as you know. Did you vote on any of the categories?
I did not vote. I'm aware of most of the categories except for maybe the last few. There's a couple categories when it comes to the fan vote... I really hope that we don't get rice. I hope that we get building supplies for a shelter. I hope that there are hidden immunity idols. I hope that there is fire-making because I love that. What the idol looks like, the colors... [that] doesn't really matter to me. Hopefully it's something that brings out the fire in my eyes.

TVLINE | What are you most anticipating about this season?
The thing I'm most anticipating about this season is Day 1. A lot of foundation is gonna be laid Day 1. The trajectory for the game can be decided in stupid errors and wrong alliances. It's crucial. A solid Day 1 performance is crucial to the rest of the game.

TVLINE | If this is the last time we see you on "Survivor," how do you want to be remembered
If this is the last time I ever played "Survivor," I want it to be known that I'm one of the best players to ever play the game.