One of the sixteen contestants in the upcoming Survivor: Tocantins has an impressive, if not overwhelming, background before playing the competition.  Benjamin Wade seems to have done everything—work as a soccer coach at the Southwest Baptist University, conduct an orchestra in California, and set the world record for the longest solo kayak expedition in the ocean.  For someone, that's quite a lot of accomplishments already—so, I wonder, why do Survivor?

“This show was made for me,” he said.  “I wanted to change the game from what it is to what the producers had in mind.  Rather than a game of deceit and lies, I want the game to be about actual survival.”  Sounds strangely familiar—it's pretty much the same thing he's told TV Guide, when he believed that the show has become more about the “survival of the weakest” than his idea of the show.

Well, the show's gone on for 18 seasons already, so why just now? Turns out he's also wondering about the same thing. “I should have done this years ago,” he said. “One of my assistant coaches said that I should be the next bachelor and the idea [of being on a reality show] kinda clicked … I am one of a kind, and I used that in my interview video. In my three minute tape I showed scenes from a symphony concert, video from my coaching and some of my kayaking.”

But, apparently, he almost didn't make it.  He was confident—very confident, even—that he'd make it to Survivor, but when CBS finally made the call, he turned them down.  “The soccer team was doing really well this year and I would have had to leave before the season was over and I was not going to that,” he said.  “I wasn't settled with my decision so I talked to my supervisor and he told me to pray about it so I called CBS back and said yes.  They gave me a hard time, but I told them I was a man of my word. It was like a millstone taken off my neck.”

So how will he do?  He says he played the game the same way his American Indian ancestors would've.  His game play is also inspired by the Vikings and their idea of heaven: “The bottom level is for those who lived a long life and the top level is for those who met a worthy competitor on the battlefield,” he explained.  “I never lie.  I have integrity.  I am a strong Christian.”

Whether he'll be successful or not remains to be seen when Survivor: Tocantins premieres on February 12.  Maybe he'll overwhelm, maybe he'll be cocky, maybe he'll be as good as he claims to be.  Well, that's still up in the air.


-Henrik Batallones, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: The Lassen County Times
(Image courtesy of CBS)