Rizo Velovic‘s Survivor 50 moves were made in secret all season long. Because of that — and because no one had seen Survivor 49 when filming began — the RizGod says he was treated very “negatively” at Ponderosa after he was eliminated in the final four fire-making challenge of Season 50 (the one that Jeff Probst accidentally spoiled). In fact, he was accused of lying by most of the players.
Rizo made it 25 days on Season 49 and Season 50 of Survivor, with less than two weeks between the filming of those seasons. The fire-making challenge was his demise in both runs, and he played a sneaky game in both seasons, too. The youngest member of the Survivor 50 cast, to his credit, was part of a strong secret alliance with Cirie Fields and Ozzy Lusth for most of the season. He eventually had to blow up that alliance because Ozzy exposed their plans to Aubry Bracco, who would go on to win the season. Rizo tells TV Insider that he had to send Ozzy home when he did because he would’ve looked like a “sheep” otherwise.
Below, Rizo explains his strategy, reveals what his Ponderosa experience was like, and explains what people misunderstand about his skills. Plus, while he doesn’t remember crying while saying his catchphrase, “R-I-Z-G-O-D, RizGod, baby,” he shares why those words mean so much to him. (Read our finale recap here.)
Congratulations on making it to the final of Survivor again, two consecutive seasons in a row. You played 50 days with only nine days in between. So, were you feeling OK, physically? How are you?
Rizo Velovic: Well, right now I’m perfectly fine. Out there, I was definitely going through it. I wasn’t sick in the sense of [like] I had the flu or anything, but I was definitely malnourished. I didn’t eat anything in Survivor 50 till rice, pretty much because I never won a reward. So I was really going through it. I was getting lightheaded. My stomach felt like it was eating itself. So I was going through it, but I can’t have anyone say that the new era is soft because I pretty much played a 39-day game.
And again, with only that short break in between. So, in those days in between, did you practice making fire?
Honestly, no. For me, it really was just spending time with my family and just reflecting what I did in 49. Obviously could’ve, would’ve, should’ve, but for me, going into 50, fire was kind of a toss-up. I was more focused on doing my homework of who I was potentially playing against than just spending time with my family.
It’s such limited time in the first place. Also, your body had been through it, so you need a break.
Right.
I’m sure everyone is asking you about this today, but the spoiler and the live finale. How did that happen? Jeff brought you out too early. What went down?
It’s not Jeff’s fault at all. Jeff is the GOAT. I love Jeff. I think what happened is they assumed that the fire happened already. I don’t know how, but I was backstage waiting for the fire to happen, and they’re telling me, Rizo, Jeff’s going to call, you’re going to go up. I was like, I didn’t lose yet. Why are we doing this? And they’re like, Just play it off. I go up to Jeff, take the round of applause. I take the screen time, and I’m trying to tell Jeff, “Win or lose, I’m so proud,” so hopefully Jeff can pick up on it, but there’s so much going on. I don’t think he did. What I will say is that in the moment, it stung a little because I have so many friends and family at home that were watching and rooting for me. To kill the suspense kind of sucked. But waking up the next day, looking back at it a week, a year, 10 years from now, it’s an iconic moment that is kind of funny. And to know that the RizGod’s a part of it is pretty cinema.
Robert Voets / CBS
I knew you’d call it cinema. I’m glad that you did.
Yeah.
And I mean, his recovery was pretty funny.
Oh, it was great.
Do you think it kind of elevates the story of your fire-making challenge in the end?
I don’t know. I think for me, I don’t know, because honestly, it kind of sucked the wind out of the room for me. I don’t even remember what I was saying, so I was super excited to hear what I said. But at that point, I was like, everyone just kind of saw me lose. So what I said probably doesn’t hit the Waterworks better. But no, I think what I said was still great. It still meant so much to me, and it kind of was a good storybook ending to my survivor career if that’s the case.
Oh, I hope it’s not the end. You’re so much fun to watch.
Thank you. I hope it’s not, too.
I could see you coming back a bunch of times, honestly, if that’s what you want.
Yeah. Well, honestly, I’d love to end as a swan song as a winner, but I’d come back five, six, seven, eight times. Who cares?
One of the most entertaining parts of the finale was you crying while saying your catchphrase. How much does this phrase, “R-I-Z-G-O-D, RizGod, baby,” mean to you? How long have you been saying it?
Since I was 14 or 15 years old, I’ve been saying it ever since I was a teenager. I made it my personality and there’s a personality behind the RizGod. I am Rizo to so many people, but RizGod is just kind of like a confidence booster for me. So, ultimately RizGod means a lot because I get to show the world who I am in a more elevated sense. I don’t remember crying and saying it, so I’m so happy the editors put that in because it just elevates my character and Survivor, so it was funny. I love it.
And to talk about your idol, you deployed the same strategy with it. You held onto it for as long as you could in both 49 and 50. Why repeat the strategy?
Ultimately, I repeated holding onto it, but they were used very differently. So, 49, I had the luxury of being able to play it on other people. I had the threat of, you could vote me, I’ll play it on myself, you can vote [Savanna Louie] or [Sophi Balerdi], and I’ll play it on them, and you’re going home. And I think that really struck fear in people’s hearts, so I was able to use it as an offensive weapon. For the Billy Eilish Idol, I had no maneuverability. I could only play it on myself, so as someone that was never getting votes because I was so well insulated with the nucleus of Cirie and Ozzy and I, I knew not to play the votes or I knew when the votes weren’t coming my way, why would I just do what Aubry did and burn the idol? I felt like I could just use it to get to the final four. Obviously, I can’t win an immunity challenge, so let me give myself a shot at the final four. That’s why I kept onto it. I felt like it would’ve been pointless to burn it.
Robert Voets / CBS
Based on your talks with the jury in the time since, do you think that you could have won, or beaten Aubry, if you were in the final three?
Absolutely not. I don’t think they would’ve given me a chance. Even though I mean now watching the season, they give me a lot of flowers. They say, “Wow, Rizo, you did great. You did a lot that you were saying.” Because when I came to Ponderosa, I was telling everyone what I did, and they were all like, “You’re lying. You did not do that.” I’m some idiot. I’m making up all this sh*t. And I’m like, all right, you know what, whatever. I’ll let you guys watch it back. But I do believe and in my heart of hearts that if it was my intended final three of Joe, Jonathan, and I, I have a really good shot at winning. I think the votes that Aubry gets from the jury are kind of votes that I would get, except for Ozzy. I don’t think Ozzy would’ve ever voted for me even if I offered him $2 million. I think I had a really good shot against Joe and Jonathan, but once Aubry was there, I knew I lost.
We do have to talk about Ozzy. What was the strategy behind your decision to go betray your Cirie, Ozzy, Rizo alliance at that moment? What was the value of not letting that alliance live another day?
Yeah, I think for me it ultimately came down to Ozzy just spilling the beans of what the endgame was and what our gameplay was. He told Aubry about this extra vote. He told Aubry about his alliances with me and Cirie, said that he’s taken Cirie to the end, talking about all these things. And what we don’t see in the edit is how close of a relationship I have with Joe. Joe is actually my final two out there. So, when Aubry spills all this information to Joe, she’s like, “Rizo is working with Cirie and Ozzy. Did you know this? Joe’s coming to me, and he’s like, are you working with Cirie and Ozzy?” Obviously, I have to lie and pivot because at that point, I can’t lose Joe’s trust, so to me, I pivoted and said, “You know what? I want a final three with Joe and Jonathan.” So, I was able to let go of Ozzy because I was insulated with a different group of people.
I was able to play the middle in that way. And ultimately, I felt like Ozzy, what he did was preach to Aubry his game plan and his game plan was to make it to the end and beat me, to be honest. If I did this Natalie Anderson move and said, “Ozzy, play your idol,” Aubry wouldn’t have given the credit to me because Aubry would’ve said, “Wow, Ozzy has a sheep of an ally like Rizo that is saving him. He knows that Rizo can’t beat Ozzy. I’m going to give credit to Ozzy. He told me I was going home. He made it happen.” It would’ve never been my move. So, I had to get rid of Ozzy and pivot to Joe and Jonathan.
Did you ever really want a final three, you, Ozzy, and Cirie?
I mean, if you’re asking me if we’re playing for fun and it’s backyard Survivor, of course I would love a final three of me and Cirie, and Ozzy. But you’re asking me on Survivor 50, the biggest season of all time, for a chance to win $2 million? Absolutely not. Honestly, if I even stayed with Ozzy, I was always going to cut him at seven or six. I wanted to go to final five with Cirie. That was my goal. I love her, but like I said, I can’t beat her…If I made it to the end with Cirie, I would legit have to open up a checkbook and pay each juror $2 million just to even listen to me against Cirie. And she’s been so gracious to me. She’s been so kind. She has been the best mentor and the best ally I could ever ask for. And she understood what I had to do to give myself the best chance at winning. So, I love Cirie Fields.
Robert Voets / CBS
Do you think that Joe, Jonathan, Rizo is the only final three where you could have won out of the final five that you had?
Oh, for sure. 100%. I think that was the only way of winning. I think Tiff had a lot of friends there, and we didn’t really see Tiff’s game on the edit, but Tiff just had that likability and underdog story. And especially Cirie would’ve voted for Tiff over me because Tiffany was loyal to Cirie. I wasn’t, so Cirie would’ve been the voice of reason for Tiff, and I knew that. That’s why I knew that I needed to get Joe and Jonathan to the end with me because Cirie wouldn’t have been my voice of reason. The big thing I took away from 49 is the jurors didn’t see my game, and I was part of the reason for that because all of my close allies made it to the end with me. You know what I mean? Nobody was there preaching for me. And I realized that, sh*t, if I want to make the end and win, I need a close ally of mine to preach for me in the jury. And that’s kind of why I cut Cirie. I did it in hopes that she would preach for me to win.
In final tribal council, what was the moment that locked in your vote for Aubry?
Ooh, it’s tough. I’m going to be quite honest. I think I voted based on sheer legacy. For Aubry to make the final five, three out of the four seasons she did, to make the final tribal council twice, and honestly, the way she was speaking about making it to the end, not playing the best game, but playing the best game amongst the people at the final three really solidified that she knew that she didn’t play the flashiest game or the best game. But she played the best game to win. I respected that self-awareness, and that’s what ultimately gave her my vote. Because to be honest, I was going into it wanting to vote for Joe because Joe and I had a great relationship, a relationship that wasn’t really shown in the edit. But going into Ponderosa, I got the gist that nobody was voting for Joe, and it was between Jonathan and Aubry. I didn’t want my one vote to Joe to be the reason why a certain person won or lost. Ultimately, I had to sacrifice that vote for Joe to vote for a winner that I wanted to win.
What else was the vibe like at Ponderosa? Did the jury make you think you could have won if you got there?
They were really negative towards me, honestly. It was actually very disheartening because they didn’t believe me. I would tell them I worked with Cirie and Ozzy. One thing that I’ll say — and Rick Devens and I are great friends, I love Rick, I love his family, that’s my guy — but Rick even at Ponderosa was like, “Rizo, honestly, you telling me all this now at Ponderosa’s great, but if you said that at final tribal, I probably don’t even believe you.” And I’m like, “Well, that sucks.” But I knew if it was against Joe and Jonathan…there was a lot of people that were anti-Joe and Jonathan, and they were part of the same faction. So, I was like, listen, if they split votes and I get the people that are against Joe and Jonathan, I can pretty much have a good shot at winning this game.
What did people think you were lying about specifically at Ponderosa?
They just thought I was a kid with bravado. I mean, I was told by Cirie from all the … Not all the jurors, but all the old-school jurors, “Why does this kid think he wants to be a legend? He’s played one time. He’s holding this idol that’s not a move. He’s lazy at camp. He will never get my vote.” I knew all of these things. I was aware that people didn’t like me, so I knew I had to get to the end with people that also people didn’t like. I think they just thought that I was just RizGod because of the [Season 49] preview. Mind you, I never was on the beach calling myself RizGod. I would explain to people when they asked what the RizGod was, but I wasn’t like, R-I-Z-G-O-D.
Listen, I will say this, at this moment now, me and the cast are very good. They have a lot of respect and love for me. They give me the flowers that they didn’t give me on the island, but I think the perception I gave out there was someone that was too cocky and confident, which to be honest, I felt like I earned because I made the finale twice. I’m one of four people to ever come back and play Survivor more two times to never be voted out, but I think it just rubbed some people the wrong way. And I think it’s the difference in game style with the old school and new school.
I imagine maybe that watching 49 made them realize that you are a strong player. Your idol was so public in 49 and even with that, you convinced everyone not to vote for you. You were kind of like Cirie in 49, misting everybody into not voting for you. It was crazy. You were the biggest public threat.
Yeah, I think that’s what it really came down to. I think after watching it, Emily said it in her exit press, she’s like, listen, and this is true, she told me in the game like, “Rizo, I don’t know what you’re doing.” And at that moment, I was like, “OK, that means I’m playing a really good game, but not a good enough winning game because the jury doesn’t see it.” So, I think I play really well behind the scenes. I was able to, in 49 and 50, flip-flop manufacture votes that I wanted to happen, but people don’t see that if you’re not aligned with me. So, I think after watching 49 and 50, they recognized that I went out there to play the game, and I did well, but on the island, my perception was just I was this lazy, cocky kid.
Maybe next time around it’s a little more public for you then.
Yeah, I think it’s good for my third time, if I ever do play again, that people will respect me if I make the end again. Even if I don’t do anything, they’re like, “Damn, Rizo made the end again. We’ve got to give them the million dollars.” But also it’s going to be a disadvantage because people know my game now. I’m going to have to pull out the Cirie and always make the end game, and hopefully I could pull out a win.
Survivor 50, Available Now, Paramount+, Season 51 Premiere, Fall 2026, CBS
For more inside scoop on Survivor 50 from the set, pick up a copy of TV Guide Magazine’s Survivor at 50 Special Collector’s Issue, available at Survivor.TVGM2026.com and on newsstands now.
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