‘Survivor’ Legend Jonny Fairplay’s Grandmother Has Died — For Real

Survivor alum Jonny Fairplay is mourning the loss of his grandmother. Two decades after cementing his status as a legendary Survivor villain with his infamous “dead grandma” lie on Survivor: Pearl Islands in 2003, Fairplay confirmed on Saturday, Feb. 8 that his grandmother, Ellen Jean Hauser, had died.

The reality TV star, 50, confirmed Hauser’s passing to TMZ, telling that outlet that his grandmother passed away of kidney failure at Embrace Hospice House in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Feb. 7. She was 90.

“I’ll miss her every day,” he said. “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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Fairplay, and through him his grandmother, became a reality TV legend back in 2003 when he competed on Survivor Season 7, during which he pulled off what host Jeff Probst would dub the “greatest lie in Survivor history.” During the Loved Ones visit episode, Fairplay had his friend Dan deliver the fake news that his grandmother had died, earning him sympathy from his competitors and the reward challenge victory. However, Fairplay revealed in a confessional that his grandmother was actually alive and “sitting home watching Jerry Springer right now.”

The “dead grandma” lie made Fairplay one of Survivor’s most infamous villains, with Probst saying during that season’s finale that it “guaranteed Jon a spot in the Survivor villain hall of fame.” However, the upset the lie caused didn’t seem to bother Hauser. In fact, Hauser embraced it with a “DEAD GMA” license plate.

“She loved the exposure and attention from Survivor,” Fairplay told Entertainment Weekly upon his grandmother’s passing. “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.”

Following his stint on Survivor: Pearl Island, Fairplay went on to compete on 2008’s Survivor: Micronesia and the E! reality show House of Villains in 2020. He told EW that his grandmother’s “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.”