Survivor Gabon

Instead of reporting on Survivor Gabon contestant Dan Kay’s death, E! News decided to create a fictional narrative about a “Survivor curse.”

Survivor Gabon player Dan Kay died unexpectedly at age 40. He’s survived by two children. He was the eighth person voted out of the game in 2008.

On Thursday night, Survivor Gabon and Heroes vs. Villain’s Randy Bailey played Big Brother harder than most of the people on Big Brother 18.

More than two years after she admitted using steroids and agreed to a four-year suspension, Survivor Gabon‘s Crystal Cox was stripped of her gold medal for the 4×400-meter relay by the International Olympic Committee on Saturday. Her actions during the 2004 Athens Olympics could still affect her entire team. The the International Association of Athletics… continue reading

Survivor Gabon cast member and Olympic relay team member Crystal Cox will probably lose her gold medal for her part in the 4×400 meter relay during the 2004 Athens summer Olympics after admitting to using anabolic steroids. She’s being suspended for four years and will have results from 2001 to 2004 stripped. The AP reports… continue reading

After his Survivor Gabon win Sunday night, Bob Crowley flew immediately on a red eye to New York for a day of interviews. By Tuesday, he’d lost his voice, so we didn’t talk until last night. He was also speechless, sort of, during the reunion, which Bob told me “was shell-shock. It’s so nice to… continue reading

A container with artifacts from Survivor Gabon, including an endangered mandrill’s skull and hides of endangered civets, was seized in Texas this week, and now the Department of Agriculture is investigating. The seizure “of the freight container by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Nov. 18 has spurred a U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation… continue reading

After the Survivor Gabon finale, the final five visited the red carpet in a tent outside the studio to talk to the press. It was a bit disconcerting, since some journalists needed CBS-provided cheat sheets with the casts’ photographs and names on them (really?), and others showed up to reality starfuck. Because we were crammed… continue reading

As Survivor Gabon, wrapped up, there was no one I wanted to watch crash and burn more than Ken Hoang, whose arrogance about his alleged control of the game pissed me off. Back in Africa in June, however, he was the opposite of arrogant, and was that same Ken again Sunday night. Ken Hoang Ken,… continue reading

Survivor Gabon concluded last night with Bob Crowley beating Susie Smith by a 4 to 3 vote, and he walked away with $1.1 million and the distinction of being the oldest winner ever. The $100,000 came from viewers’ votes; he beat runner-up Sugar and third-place Matty for that prize. When we talked in Gabon, Bob… continue reading

There’s often a distinction made between behavior in the game of Survivor and real life; the theory is that, since it’s a game, anything goes. That always struck me as sort of disingenuous, but at the same time, I’d expect some level of civility from cast members who disliked each other or had bad blood…. continue reading

Survivor Gabon concludes live this Sunday night, starting at 8 p.m. ET with the two-hour finale, and finishing up with a live vote tally and one-hour reunion. That’s all going down in Los Angeles, where I’ve traveled to watch it play out in person. This season definitely ranks significantly below the last two in terms… continue reading

When, Ace and Dan were voted out at the same time, I was coincidentally in an undisclosed location–soon to become disclosed–so I wasn’t able to talk to them until later. There was a similar delay with Charlie, and by then, new people were being voted out, and so here we are: I’m behind with interviews…. continue reading

Charlie Herschel was voted out of following yet another tribe shake-up. As a fan of the show, he told me he “expected the worst” on Survivor Gabon but “every second that I was out there, I was in heaven. It was amazing.” Besides being part of the dominant tribe and alliance that eventually got crushed… continue reading

Ace Gordon was arrested shortly after we talked, so our conversation wasn’t about that experience. We did, however, discuss his accent, which by then he’d been asked about so many times that he was irritated. That question, he said, “just becomes boring.” He said he wondered what people expected him to say: “No it’s fake,… continue reading

Dan Kay left his job as a lawyer last year, but he’s now returning to practice law–unless he finds himself “slipping back into the unhappiness that I was in,” he said. In Africa, he told me that the show “kind of came along at the right time,” so I asked now if it was what… continue reading