After Survivor fans figure out which seasons to watch first, they will inevitably start to understand what it takes to win the game. After all, even the worst Survivor winners have to overcome a lot, including the show’s producers, who arguably affect the game.

Unfortunately for Survivor players, however, there are some things they would never imagine could affect their game and experience. For example, it turns out that a beloved player was tricked by a fake idol that Zeke Smith hid during an earlier season.

This article will reveal how a fake idol that Zeke Smith hid affected a later season. Then, the article will look at how Smith feels about the legendary Survivor player who he accidentally tricked with his fake idol.

Zeke Smith Tricked Ozzy Lusth With A Fake Idol He Planted A Season Earlier

Throughout Survivor’s history, several players have tried to plant a fake idol. Typically, Survivors create fake idols to change the game or simply to mess with other players and make good television for fans.

In 2017, a writer for The Purple Rock Podcast published an article grading the fake idol plays that had happened by then. That article made it clear that creating a fake idol can be a great move, but it can also completely torpedo a player’s game.

What that article couldn’t have revealed was that one fake idol play somehow managed to affect a season that was filmed later. The reason for that is the writer would have had no idea how Zeke Smith’s failed fake idol came back to haunt Ozzy Lusth a season later.

In March 2021, Smith was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly about his highly complicated Survivor experiences. The headlines that were spawned by that interview mostly focused on Smith getting outed by one of Survivor’s biggest villains, Jeff Varner.

Of course, it was important to know how Smith felt about what happened to him and how he was affected. However, there was a tidbit from Smith’s article that it is shocking didn’t get more attention from Survivor fans.

As Smith explained to EW, during his first Survivor season, he created a fake idol that he hid. Unfortunately for Smith, however, his work didn’t help him at all because none of his Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X tribemates found the fake idol.

Smith went on to explain what happened next. “This A.) did not work and B.) in the spectrum of fake idols was crappier than the Stick—it was a piece of sea debris I wrapped in the ubiquitous Survivor canvas and tied with twine. It was a beauty on the outside, but rotten on the inside. Anyway, it was a fun gimmick for 20 minutes, then it was useless, so I stashed it in a bush and forgot about it.”

While Smith likely assumed he would never see his fake idol again, that actually wasn’t how things played out. Since Smith was so lovable during Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, he was brought back for the following season, Survivor: Game Changers.

During Survivor: Game Changers, Smith was on a tribe that lived on the same beach where he hid his fake idol during Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X. That amazing fact led to an amazing moment when, during Survivor: Game Changers, Ozzy Lusth found the fake idol Smith hid during Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X.

How successful was Zeke Smith during Survivor?

While speaking to EW in 2021, Smith described the moment when Lusth found the idol he stashed in a bush one season earlier.

At that moment, Smith must have been amazed to see his trick pay off even if it was a season late. Smith easily could have allowed his tribemates to think the idol was real. At the very least, Smith could have waited to see how things were playing out before he revealed the truth. However, based on what Smith told EW, he immediately revealed that the idol was fake.

Looking back, it seems like a shame that nobody tried to play Smith’s fake idol during Survivor: Game Changers. After all, it would have been fascinating to see if Survivor’s producers would have shown footage from the earlier season.

Zeke Smith Revealed How Much He Liked Ozzy Lusth After Briefly Tricking Him With A Fake Idol

After Zeke Smith told EW what happened after Ozzy Lusth found his fake idol, he described the Survivor legend.

While speaking to the outlet, Smith revealed that he unfortunately had been disappointed in some of the Survivor players he got to meet.

” I got to meet a lot of my Survivor heroes, and some of them really disappointed me.”

Fortunately, Smith told EW about how much he liked Lusth after getting to know him better.