Over 20 years ago, Jonny Fairplay cemented his status as one of the biggest Survivor villains with one move: The “dead grandma” lie. In it, he had his friend come out for the then-seasonal loved ones visit, only to reveal that his grandmother, Ellen Jean Hauser, has passed away. In actuality, Fairplay had just used it to gain sympathy from his fellow contestants, iconically uttering, “My grandma’s at home right now watching Jerry Springer.”
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Unfortunately, decades later, the lie has become the truth. Fairplay announced to TMZ on Feb. 8 that Hauser had passed away at the age of 90 at Embrace Hospice House in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The cause of death was kidney failure.
“I’ll miss her every day,” Fairplay told the outlet. “It’s easy to think she was just part of one of the biggest lies in TV history, which made me famous. But I look at her place in my life as a loving grandparent who only wanted the best for me in my life, and she’d do anything to help me get it, which she did.”
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The “dead grandma” lie is considered one of the most iconic and despicable moves in the show’s near-25 year history. Naturally, once the untruth was unmasked, many fans, as well as Survivor host Jeff Probst, were up in arms about the duplicity. In the reunion following Survivor: Pearl Islands‘ finale–in which Fairplay finished third–Probst interviewed Hauser in the audience, asking her reaction to being used in a piece of emotional manipulation.
Courtesy of Jonny Fairplay
And, perhaps surprising to some, Hauser was eager to be a part of Survivor history. In fact, in the years following, Fairplay revealed that she had gotten a license plate that read “DEAD GMA.”
“She loved the exposure and attention from Survivor,” Fairplay tells Entertainment Weekly. “It didn’t hurt that she thought Jeff Probst was one of the most handsome men on the planet. Jerry Springer invited her on his show as a guest, which she turned down because she was scared of his audience.”
Of course, even in a somber moment, it wouldn’t be Jonny Fairplay if he didn’t finish his statement with a tongue-in-cheek joke. Fairplay, whose numerous reality TV appearances include Celebrity Fear Factor and House of Villains, says, “Her dying words were something like, ‘Jonny, I want to see you on Survivor 50, The Traitors, and Deal or No Deal Island.’ I had no idea she had so many streaming services.”
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