Everybody Hates A Winner

The Survivor losers weren't the only ones who disliked corporate trainer Richard. Many viewers agreed with Sue that million-dollar Survivor winner Richard Hatch was a "snake."

Viewers of CBS’ Survivor were given the chance to speak out in a CBS Survivor poll, conducted by interSURVEY immediately following the close of the season finale – and their verdict? The wrong castaway won. Sixty-eight percent of Survivor viewers said that the wrong person won, while only 32 percent thought Rich was the one who should have gained the million-dollar prize.

Among the final four survivors – Rich, Kelly, Rudy and Sue – viewers would have preferred both Rudy and Kelly to Richard. When asked whom they would choose, 45 percent of viewers chose Rudy, and 42 percent chose Kelly. Only 12 percent chose Rich, and still fewer – 2 percent -- chose Sue. Gender helped determine attitudes toward who should have won: men chose Rudy with 48 percent, and women chose Kelly with 45 percent.

Before Wednesday’s finale, Rich was the least popular of the remaining four contestants. According to a pre-finale survey conducted over the weekend, Rich was the least liked (more people said they disliked than liked him), and he was the one viewers least wanted to win.

While viewers might have preferred another winner, in the end, they had to admit that Rich won fair and square. In the post-finale poll, 61 percent of viewers said Rich played fairly, while 38 percent thought he did not.

At the same time, however, viewers were divided over whether they would have been willing to play the game the way Rich did. Half of viewers thought they would have been willing to do all Rich did to win, but another half said they wouldn’t. Men were more likely than women to say they would do what it took – 58 percent of men would, but an equal number of women wouldn’t. Younger viewers were also more likely to contemplate doing what Richard did, while older viewers felt they could not. Overall, viewers also divided over whether most people would be willing to do what Rich did to win: 51 percent said most would, and 48 percent said most would not.

One thing viewers said they would not want to do is spend 39 days on a remote island with Rich. Only 13 percent of viewers said they thought it would be fun to spend 39 days on an island with him, and 42 percent said they could tolerate it, but 44 percent said they would hate it.

Other things viewers would not want to do include eating some of the island delicacies the castaways had to eat to survive. In the pre-finale survey conducted over the weekend, majorities of viewers said they would not be able to eat either live grubs or cooked rat, even for the chance to win a million dollars.