In December, “Survivor 49” finalist Rizo Velovic made history, alongside the season’s “Sole Survivor” Savannah Louie, as he was invited to return to Fiji just nine days after wrapping filming to compete for a second time on the all-star cast of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.”
Now, with just two weeks remaining until the milestone installment makes its historic three-hour debut on Wednesday, February 25, Rizo – better known to fans by his self-appointed nickname “Rizgod” – is opening up about the former castaways he wants to partner with to avoid having his torch snuffed yet again by longtime host Jeff Probst.
Rizo Names Chrissy Hofbeck & Genevieve Mushaluk as Ideal Allies
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter’s Terry Terrones in the days before Season 50’s filming began, Velovic revealed the returning castaways he’d love to form alliance with to dominate the all-star installment.
“Honestly, as a ‘Survivor’ superfan, seeing all of these people genuinely makes me excited,” said the 25-year-old castaway – the youngest on the record-breaking 24-person cast. “And there’s a world where I think I could work with everyone.”
Despite his determination to keep his options open, Rizo identified two of his ideal Season 50 alliance members as Chrissy Hofbeck (“Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers) and Genevieve Mushaluk (“Survivor 47”).
“Out of 24 people, 21 of the 24 people here have played with someone [else on the cast] before,” Rizo explained. “The only three that haven’t are Chrissy, Genevieve and Jonathan [Young].”
After clarifying that he’s “not interested in working with” the challenge beast from “Survivor 42,” Velovic added that he wants to capitalize on Chrissy and Genevieve’s lack of connections on the island.
“As someone that no one has seen my season, what better way to bond with someone that doesn’t have another friend from their season here,” he continued, noting that, by the time Season 50 filming had begun, only the first promo trailer for “Survivor 49” had been revealed to the public.
“I think strategically, Genevieve and I, and Chrissy and I worked well together just based on being a viewer and watching their seasons. So I think we’d mesh well together,” Rizo added.
Rizo Adds Joe Hunter & Charlie Davis to Dream ‘Survivor 50’ Alliance
Velovic similarly expressed his interest in allying with Joe Hunter (“Survivor 48”) and Charlie Davis (“Survivor 46”).
Speaking specially about the firefighter finalist from Season 48, Rizo said, “Joe’s the number one guy I want to work with.”
“Joe has proven that he will literally put his game aside to help people win,” he explained. “He tried to do it with Eva [Erickson], and he kind of did it with Kyle [Fraser]. So I’d be foolish not to work with someone who preaches honesty and integrity, like, ‘Joe, help me win the game!’”
When it comes to Season 46’s Taylor Swift-obsessed finalist, Charlie, Rizo’s connection is more base level.
“Me and Charlie are the two youngest in this cast,” he explained, adding that, “I think Charlie has a lot to prove. I think he has to prove to himself that he was worthy of winning his season…And I think people that have something to prove come out and play this game hard. And that’s kind of the people I want to work with because I’d rather have the people that play hard working with me than against me.”
Rizo Would Prefer to Play with ‘Old-School’ Castaways
CBSDespite the majority of his “ideal” alliance members being pulled from the cast’s “New Era” returnees, Rizo argued that he’d actually prefer to work with “old-school” players like Ozzy Lusth, Cirie Fields and Benjamin “Coach” Wade.
“I think they have more knowledge, more experience, but also, like, a better sense of loyalty than I think the New Era does,” said Rizo. “Plus, the New Era is like, super intermingled. They know each other outside of the game, they go to meet-and-greets, charity events…And I don’t have the luxury of being integrated in the ‘Survivor’ alumni yet.”
Notably missing from Velovic’s dream Season 50 alliance is his Season 49 ride-or-die Savannah Louie.
Other pre-season interviews confirmed that the duo have seemingly gone their separate ways for their follow-up appearances, with other castaways reporting that the two barely interacted with one another during the cast’s quarantine at Ponderosa.
Rizo and Savannah, as the sole returnees from the installment, were not allowed to discuss how they’d placed on their season before the game began, heightening their threat levels as “unknown” factors, similar to Russell Hantz’s infamous return to “Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.”
Find out how the pair fare among the largest cast of returning players the series has ever seen when the epic three-hour premiere of “Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans” hits CBS screens nationwide on Wednesday, February 25 at 8:00pm ET.
