Russell Hantz was a last minute addition to the season. Since the seasons were filmed back to back, no other Survivor knew anything about his game play. All the other Survivors were told by the production crew that he was considered one of the top five Villains of all time.
For only the second time in Survivor history was the entire group made up of returning players. Ten of them were designated 'Heroes' based on their previous game play and ten were designated 'Villains'.