From Deseret News archives:
Utahn will try to survive in China
Pleasant Grove's Todd Herzog will be trying to outwit, outplay and outlast the other 15 contestants and win a million dollars when "Survivor: China" premieres on Thursday, Sept. 20. (Actually, the season has already been shot and is currently being edited. Which is why CBS doesn't make contestants available for interviews until after they've been eliminated from the show for fear that they'll give something away.)
"I'm a huge fan of 'Survivor.' I've been a fan since Day 1, since I was 16 years old," Herzog says in a video clip on cbs.com. "I've wanted this for six years now. And now that it's here, I'm so ready to get out there and play this game as hard as I can."
Herzog is the second Utahn and fourth with Utah ties on "Survivor." What seems beyond coincidental is that he's the second 22-year-old, self-professed gay Mormon on the show the first was Rafe Judkins (who was born in Utah, raised in Pittsburgh and lived in Providence, R.I.). Judkins finished third on "Survivor: Guatemala" in 2005.
Ashlee Ashby was the least successful. The former Brigham Young University student (who was born in Idaho and raised in South Carolina) was the second contestant voted off "Survivor: Palau" in 2005.
Herzog, a flight attendant who graduated from Pleasant Grove High and attended Utah Valley State College for two years, tells fans in his cbs.com clip that he is a "very people person" who is "very positive" and "can get along with pretty much anybody." (Which is definitely a skill needed to succeed on "Survivor.")
Herzog and the other 15 contestants will be going where no "Survivor" cast has gone before. Where no American television series has ever been produced before mainland China. They will be on two separate islands on Zhelin Lake in the Jiangxi Province.
Herzog describes himself as a "hard worker" who will "give it 110 percent." And he says the hardest part of the experience "is not having Starbucks on the island."
"I've got to prove I can do this," Herzog says. And he thinks he has a chance "as long as I can go and don't (tick) people off too much or stand out too much as the freak of who-knows-what."
Hopefully, he didn't tell the other contestants this tidbit from his online biography: "He thinks the Spice Girls are the most significant historical event of the past 100 years and is unbelievably stoked that they are going on a reunion tour this winter."
Recent comments
Just read Todd's Bio...intersting to me he claims to be a Mormon, but...
LJ | Aug. 22, 2007 at 9:42 p.m.
- A debt-free holiday season 8:09 p.m.
- Quotes on the passing of Abe Pollin 8:04 p.m.
- Wizards owner Abe Pollin dies 8:02 p.m.
- Small-ball women's basketball 8:00 p.m.
- MSU kicks 2 off football team 7:59 p.m.
- Chairs of NFL concussion panel resign 7:56 p.m.
- Photo: Crafting nutcrackers 7:20 p.m.
- S.L. budget discussions continue 6:49 p.m.
- Man pleads guilty in assault 6:49 p.m.
- $25K reward offered in slaying 6:21 p.m.
- Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
- Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
- Best prep football games of 2009
- KSL: Prostitution in Utah County
- Man trapped in own body for 23 yrs
- Kirilenko climbing blocks list
- Woman describes stabbing, killing
- Boys basketball rankings
- 'Dancing' will fill out finale
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
225 - Glenn Beck to enter politics?
223 - RSL wins MLS Cup on penalty kicks
202 - Protests against Phoenix LDS temple
180 - Palin plans tour stop in Utah
179 - Bronco, Kyle rubber match
137 - Palin's book shows she's unqualified
136 - BYU records with win
133 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
116 - Officer cleared in Cardall Taser case
104
As distressing as it was to see KUTV's longtime vice president/general...
Hey I just noticed that the Des News has the girls' basketball all-state...
You state: "The Government is NOT here to insure that YOU have equal rights."...
Is Kyle Whittingham really shopping himself around to other programs? That...
TV wouldn't "dominate" 5A, nor would they be an "average 5A" team. I would...
Is it ethical to hold an opinion on an initiative you haven't read?
If you go to google streetview and lookm at the house imediately west of the...
The "ethics" problem in Utah is not a problem. Period. We have one of the...
"Go Support your Brothers | 5:10 p.m. Nov. 24, 2009 Hey Bingham Football...
I'm glad to see that America is still America, and the 1st Amendment stands....
The winner of the utah/byu game is the real loser if they get the ice-bowl in...



