STARKVILLE — “Congratulations Russell, you have won ‘Estate of Survival,’” a voice announced.
A sigh of relief, hugs and welling eyes followed the announcement as the words hit Russell Pair. After weeks of strategizing, the Mississippi State University student was named the victor of the Amazon Prime reality TV show’s inaugural season and the winner of the $100,000 prize.
“My jaw completely dropped,” Pair told The Dispatch. “I was in utter shock. I stood there still for what felt like forever but was probably just 10 seconds. … Throughout the whole show, (my family) was my driving force.”
Pair, a senior education major from Gadsden, Alabama, was one of eight contestants on “Estate of Survival,” a reality TV competition filmed in a completely empty mansion in Georgia. Residents had to compete in challenges to earn everything from essential appliances to basic furniture and air conditioning, all while avoiding being voted out of the competition.
“I knew very little going in, so it was a complete shock walking into an empty house,” he said. “They just gutted the whole thing. So we had no fridges, no food, no running water. We had to earn all that stuff.”
Pair’s connection with reality TV started long before he stepped in front of the camera. His mother, Susan Pair, said she started watching Big Brother when she was pregnant with Russell.
“When he was old enough, he started watching it with me,” Susan said. “So it was always kind of our little thing. … We would always say what we would do in that situation, what’s the best plan, who we thought would win.”
Those early strategy discussions would eventually pay off. After at least 10 rounds of interviews with casting directors and producers, Russell finally got the confirmation he made it onto the show only a week before filming.
“I still didn’t feel like I was going to be on it,” Russell said. “I literally told myself, until I’m physically in the house, I’m not on the show. I did not want to get my hopes up at all even when I was on location.”
But as soon as the mansion doors opened, Russell was ready for the competition. As the residents competed for basic necessities, he was putting plans into motion and forming alliances.
The show was more intense than he had expected. Every day came with a new twist in the competition and another exercise in strategy, he said.
“I was going to bed every night, and I would have to plan a whole strategy to keep me and my final two (allies) safe,” he said. “It was like playing 4D chess with three different chess boards. So I’m having to watch my move here (to) make sure it doesn’t counteract this move.”
With no phones or TVs to distract them, Russell said the contestants all grew close, and he still talks to the majority of the cast today. It was hard sometimes to plot against the other residents or to vote them out, he said. But Russell kept reminding himself why he was there.
“I went in with the mindset that I’m going to try as hard as I can because in the end, I was there for my parents,” he said.
Winning may have been a big shock, but Russell said the hardest part of the entire experience was keeping his victory a secret from his parents before the show officially aired. Watching the show back with them and seeing their reactions as he won made everything worth it, he said.
“It was just me and them,” he said. “It’s something that I’ll thankfully have my entire life. That was so rewarding.”
It was rewarding for Susan too, especially after sitting through six nail-biting episodes, worrying Russell would be voted out.
“I really felt like he was going to make it, so I wasn’t really surprised that he made it as far as he did,” she said. “But winning still surprised me. I was just shocked, crying, screaming – all that stuff.”
For Russell, the $100,000 prize gives him a sense of security and a head start as he prepares to begin his teaching career after graduation.
As a scholar in MSU’s Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, he’ll spend the first five years after graduation teaching in Mississippi.
“It’s not enough money where I’ll never have to work again, but it’s enough money to actually turn it into money that can maybe help my parents pay off a house one day. Maybe I can afford a house one day,” he said.
For now, finishing his degree and starting his career are Russell’s main priorities. But he’s not ruling out a return to the screen.
“It’s not what I’m setting out to do,” he said. “But if it happens? Cool. It’s going to be a hobby. That’s how I’m going to look at it.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
