Todd Herzog (center) celebrates his $1 million victory over Amanda Kimmell (left) and Courtney Yates on the Dec. 16 season finale of ‘Survivor.’ (Photo by Cliff Lipson/CBS)
He will survive Gay man takes home top prize on the latest ‘Survivor’ season
AT FIRST GLANCE, Todd Herzog, a gay man from Pleasant Grove, Utah, didn’t appear to be much of a threat in the jungles of China on the fifteenth season of CBS’ hit show “Survivor.” At 22, he’s not bulging with muscles, and he was even shorter than some of the women on the show. But not being the most fit didn’t stop another gay man, Richard Hatch, from taking home the show’s $1 million prize, and it didn’t stop Herzog either.
On Dec. 16, Herzog was named the winner of this season’s competition, besting his allies and tribemates Amanda Kimmell and Courtney Yates.
“The fact that I’m the second gay to win in 15 seasons is pretty sweet,” Herzog says. “I think it’s my drive for adventure [that helped me win]. I don’t know if that’s a gay gene, but I want to go further and experience different places and really enjoy them. As soon as I saw ‘Survivor,’ I knew it was something so different and crazy that I had to try.”
But he wasn’t so sure what he thought about Hatch when he first saw the show.
“I remember because I was taught being gay was wrong, and I thought it was wrong that this man who likes other men was on a beach running around naked,” he says. “I thought it wasn’t right, but I couldn’t understand my feelings for other boys back then.”
Seven years later, there’s no issue with Herzog being out on the show. In fact, other than a mention of his orientation in his biography on the CBS website, viewers wouldn’t even know he was gay by watching the show, because it was never really an issue.
“Everyone knew by day two, but no one had a problem with it,” Herzog says. “Today’s society seems to be so comfortable with it, that there are so many gay people out there, and people see that they’re normal people. It’s not as big an issue as some people make it out to be.”
WHAT SOME PEOPLE DID have a problem with was what a schemer Herzog was on the show. He managed to lie, cajole, and backstab his way into the top spot. But is he really like that in real life?
“I like to laugh and joke, and I’m very friendly, almost too friendly,” he says. “You know, it was a game, and I was there to be the bad guy. It worked out very well for me.”
He’s not stressed about ticking off his fellow survivors to whom he lied in order to win.
“I think we were all able to laugh off the fact that this is a game and we all talk trash,” he says. “I know I did. If someone is still bugged by something I said, they should learn to get over it.”
As for the money, Herzog says he’s going to pay off some credit cards, buy a new car and invest, but he still plans “a few shopping sprees.” In fact, he was leaving to get a massage with his boyfriend when he finished talking to reporters.
Yes, he’s in a relationship with a gymnastics instructor who also lives in Utah. Herzog had to quit his job as a flight attendant to participate in the show, and now with a financial windfall, he doesn’t plan on going back to work just yet.
“I’d like to work again someday, or else I’d go crazy of boredom,” he says.
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
