Survivor’s jailed naked fat guy: “I’m innocent!”

Richard Hatch, who won $1 million on the first season of Survivor, then went to prison for not paying taxes on the prize, says he’s “an innocent man in jail.”

And never mind Gitmo. The infamous gay “naked fat guy” says he was tortured behind bars by Jerry Springer!

The Survivor villain-turned-winner-turned-loser was convicted last year and sentenced to 51 months. He’s locked away in the Federal Correctional Insititutional in Morghantown, West Virginia.

He’s featured in the new (March 26) issue of People magazine:

“Obviously, this is better than the county lockup. There’s no fence here. But people think I’ve come to a country club. It’s not. This is prison. Just because it’s got a beautiful view of the countryside doesn’t make it a resort. And it’s horrendous because I’m an innocent man in jail.”After his conviction, Hatch says he spent “six horrendous months” at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

“We were all in a small room–52 people: child molesters, murderers, rapists and me. For six months I never left that room. There were no doors, no privacy. There were two TVs in that room, so I lived all day long with Jerry Springer blaring.”

Hatch’s lawyer is trying to get him a new trial, saying the judge improperly kept him from testifying about cheating on the show.

Meanwhile, Hatch says he’s “working on a book that I should have no trouble getting published. It begins with my auditioning for Survivor and will end with my time in prison.

“I don’t apologize for anything. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

–Tabloid Baby