Alan Ritchson Dumps Manager, Who Was the Guy Kicked Off Of 'Survivor' 39

There were several headlines yesterday announcing that Reacher star Alan Ritchson had split with his longtime manager, Dan Spillo, and it took me a moment to place the name. Spillo, if you recall, was the talent agent-turned-contestant on season 39 of Survivor who was ejected from the game. In fact, he was the first—and I believe only— player ever booted from the island.

It was a strange situation, and at the time, neither CBS nor Jeff Probst offered many details. However, reports eventually surfaced: Spillo had allegedly inappropriately touched another contestant, Kellee Kim, on the island and was warned about his behavior. He was ultimately removed from the show after reportedly inappropriately touching a crew member. When Spillo later apologized to Kellee Kim after the episode aired, she took him to task for only apologizing to her, given that he had reportedly harassed several other women as well.

Anyway, that guy was Alan Ritchson’s longtime manager. Clearly, he was effective at his job, having helped turn Ritchson into a major star with the success of the Reacher series, which is about to launch him into even greater stardom with a slew of upcoming projects. Ritchson currently has seven movies in various stages of production, including Runner, directed by Scott Waugh (Expendables 4).

It was actually on the Australian set of Runner where things came to a head. The two reportedly got into an argument, after which Spillo left the set. He will no longer receive a producing credit on the film.

In addition to his ejection from Survivor, Spillo was also reportedly fired by Joey King in 2023, according to THR, over financial irregularities. He allegedly double-dipped into her finances, collecting fees as both a manager and a producer.

Despite his past controversies, Spillo managed to remain successful in the industry, at least until now.