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Bobby Jon Drinkard — His Life Since Survivor
September 12, 2008 08:00 AM by Ryan Haidet
When he played Survivor the first time in Palau, he won over America. He became so popular that he was asked to return to play again in Guatemala. Bobby Jon had a chat with RealityTVMagazine’s Ryan Haidet to give an update on what’s been going on since Survivor. He’s hosting his own television show and says he still gets recognized because of Survivor.
RealityTVMagazine:
What’s been happening since Survivor?
Bobby Jon:
Since Survivor, I have had the opportunity to work for a television show in Alabama called “On The Job.” It airs in Alabama on public television. What we do is, we go around the state of Alabama and we focus on often overlooked jobs and educational opportunities. The thing is, a lot of people want to get involved in certain jobs, they just don’t know how to go about doing it. And that’s where we come in. We do everything from welding, pipe fitting, working with realtors, park rangers, game wardens, we work with doctors. We do it all. There’s nothing that’s off limits with our show. We really service the K-12 initiatives. We work with the two-year college systems in Alabama and the four-year college systems.
RTVMAG:
How did you get involved in this?
Bobby Jon:
I was working at Troy University and I met the producer from the show. We hit it off, had a good conversation. She was a big fan of Survivor, so that kind of helped us out. She asked me if I had television experience so I told her Survivor. She said, “Yeah I know that, but like any hosting experience.” I said, “Well no, not necessarily.” So I went and auditioned for her and she said, “You know what, it was pretty good Bobby Jon, but the bottom line is, I really don’t care about the hosting part of it. You’ll get better at that, we’ll teach you that. I just want to be around good people and I want good people to work for me. ” To me, that’s the most important thing she said. I told her, “I may not able to do a lot of things, but I know how to be good.”
RTVMAG:
What did you do immediately after Survivor?
Bobby Jon:
Immediately after Survivor, I was living in Los Angeles. I lived in Los Angeles for about three years. I was in LA from ’03 to ’06. The show aired in the spring of ’05 and then after that, the producers called and said, “Hey you want to give it another shot?” I was waiting tables, that was fine and good, but I was like, “Wait tables or go win a million bucks?” What do you do? “Let’s go try to win a million bucks.” That’s what I was doing.
I really saw the light, I really thought that, “I was on a show that 21 million people watched every Thursday night for two seasons in a row and this is gonna be great. So I’m going to have a lot of opportunities. And I got to see that you get opportunities, but once you get opportunities, you have to work even harder. I saw that I had in it me, what it took to maybe make it out in LA. I didn’t have it in me to sacrifice what I’d had to sacrifice to be an A-list celebrity.
RTVMAG:
How long were you home from Palau before you got the phone call to go back to Guatemala?
Bobby Jon:
We got home from Palau around the second week of December. Our show started airing in February. So I would say in April I was in Santa Monica and one of the casting directors called and was like, “What are you doing?” Kind of bizarre. I was like, “Nothing.”
So I’m talking to her, I’m pumping my gas, (and) going to the store. We talked for like 20 minutes. We talked about the weather, we talked about the rain in LA, we talked about the way the Dodgers had been doing lately. I’m like, “What do you want lady?” Finally she says, “Well look, would you like to go on there again? I can’t tell you about it, there’s gonna be a twist to the show. I can’t really reveal it right now, but we’re gonna bring a couple of contestants back and you’re one of them and we want to see if you want to do it.” Of course I said yes. When we were at the Palau finale I had already been asked, but I didn’t really reveal it because I just didn’t think it was proper to. It was not confirmed until I got back from the Palau finale.
RTVMAG:
What was the main difference for you between the two seasons? Which did you enjoy more?
Bobby Jon:
Definitely the Palau season was the one that I — just the beauty. You know, being introduced to a new experience and just a pow. It was really an eye opener to see. It was such a beautiful place. You know, the whole nine yards.
Guatemala, I think I appreciate a little more. Although I worked harder in Palau, I had to work harder for what I wanted in Guatemala. I guess I’m infamous or famous, or whatever it is you want to say, for falling out and passing out and having my eyes roll in Guatemala. And that was not put on, that was really happening. And that really was bizarre because that doesn’t happen to me. But that’s how tough the conditions were and I’m a tough guy. And if something puts me on my back, you can go ahead and put the stamp of approval that it’s tough.
RTVMAG:
You kind of seem to have an interesting relationship with Jamie. Are you guys still friends?
Bobby Jon:
I haven’t spoke to Jamie in about a year. I think he’s out in LA. He’s going back and forth from Georgia and LA. But Jamie and I went on a cruise together right after the show. And he’s a good guy, we were just two guys put in a certain situation. In the heat of the moment sometimes the bad comes out, sometimes the good comes out, you just have to juggle it up a little bit.
RTVMAG:
Are you still getting recognized?
Bobby Jon:
Yes. A lot? No. Should I? No, not at all — my season was two, three years ago. And plus, even in my seasons, there were people on there that were more recognizable and that type of thing.
But the thing I’ve been able to do, is that wherever I’m at I always make use of my time. … No matter where you’re at. You know people don’t remember the first time they met you, they remember the last time they saw you. I think that’s always something that’s always stuck in my mind is to know, wherever you go, someone is watching you. It might be somebody from above or whatever. Somebody’s watching you, so just always know that people watch you and it’s not about the show. This show does give people a platform. I don’t care if you were voted out in three days or 100 days. It does. I think people use it better than some and some use it pretty good and some not so much. Whatever you can do to make a positive mark is something that’s good.
RTVMAG:
What’s an interesting or strange fact about you that fans might know?
Bobby Jon:
This isn’t strange, but I take my Bible wherever I go. Wherever I go. And I always take time to read it. And I may not get the thing out of it right then, but somehow down the road, I do. And I always go to it and quite often. But everywhere I go, I make sure I take my Bible. I take that places where I wasn’t probably being the right kind of person sometimes. That’s my rock and that’s what I have to grow on.
First image by Ryan Haidet; second image by Bret Sohl.
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Topics: Survivor |
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