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Stephenie LaGrossa. (Photo courtesy of CBS). |
Survivor Palau's Stephenie LaGrossa has pulled off the impossible. As the last standing member of the Ulong tribe, the first in Survivor history to lose every immunity challenge, she managed to convince the members of the competing Koror tribe to spare her during Thursday's episode.
After inheriting Stephenie, Koror went to tribal council where they instead voted out 32-year-old Coby Archa, a hairstylist from Texas.
This is not a shock to Bobby Jon Drinkard, the 27-year-old waiter from Alabama, who saw first-hand how tough Stephenie can be.
"She has a bit of an edge to her and puts forth a lot of gusto. I don't think she's doomed at all -- she's a very strong player."
Bobby Jon knows what he's talking about.
As the second-last member of Ulong, he lost the game's first ever one-on-one tribal council immunity competition to Stephenie.
"When you are out there with no water, no food and you can't even take a shower, you have to dig deep. I guess she just dug a little deeper than I did."
Following Bobby Jon's departure, Stephenie, the 25-year-old pharmaceutical sales agent from Pennsylvania, was forced to live on the island completely alone.
Having to fend for herself, Stephenie built a fire and secured food, but the isolation took its toll on her mental well-being.
"She's tough enough to get through anything," says Bobby Jon, who had a chance to vote Stephenie off earlier in the game but kept her around because of her competitive nature.
"If she wins the $1 million, she'd better give me half," he says. "I hope she does, but it's going to depend on how strong she can continue to be from here on out."
As for Bobby Jon, he's not disappointed he didn't win Survivor. He is, however, a little embarrassed by his team's incredibly poor showing.
"To say it was just bad luck is the easy way out. The bottom line is we could have done much better at the challenges.
"That said, this is a game show and there is only going to be one winner in the end. I think what is more important is how you are portrayed."
Most of the contestants, including Bobby Jon, want careers in acting or modelling after their 15 minutes of Survivor fame is over.
His career options were something he kept in mind throughout the taping of the show.
"If you are difficult to deal with, people will see that and a restaurant won't even hire you," he says, adding he's been criticized for being too nice and a touch naive.
"I may have been better off in the game if I had been more conniving, but I think it would have hurt me more in the game of life."
Survivor airs on CBS and Global at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
