rossshow
12-13-2005, 05:49 PM
From Gay.com, Reported at SS:
http://p085.ezboard.com/fsurvivorsucksfrm1.showMessage?topicID=45180.topic
"I wanted to be the anti-Richard Hatch": "Survivor's" Rafe Judkins speaks
For fans of Rafe Judkins, the young gay Mormon on "Survivor: Guatemala," this week's defeat, in which he came in third behind winner Danni Boatwright and Stephenie La Grossa, was quite a disappointment
....
What prompted you to try out for "Survivor" in the first place?
I love the outdoors; I've always loved the outdoors and a big part of it was that I thought they never had a gay guy on "Survivor" that was in any way nice. (Laughs) You know, most of them had been pretty cutthroat, the villains of their season. Every single one actually has been the villain of their season.
Was Brandon really a villain?
Who?
Brandon Quinton ["Survivor: Africa"].
No, I guess he wasn't a villain, but I don't think he was particularly well liked.
And John Carroll ["Survivor: Marquesas"]?
Yes, he was definitely a villain.
Well, I know Coby [Archa, "Survivor: Palau"].
Yeah.
And we all know about Richard Hatch [winner of the first "Survivor"].
Yeah, that was a big part of it. I wanted to be like the "anti-Richard Hatch."
Well, now you've joined kind of an elite group, not only of gay "Survivor" contestants, but also of gay reality stars. Will you be doing the "circuit" like the rest of them, or do you have other plans for your future?
You know, I don't really know what the "circuit" is. We weren't allowed to talk to media at all until today, really. I guess I will be finding out about everything soon. But I'm going to move out to Los Angeles soon to pursue screenwriting, and different things I can do to support myself, I'll definitely do.
A lot of reality stars have used the shows to jump-start entertainment careers. Was that part of your plan?
No, not really. I wanted to be on "Survivor" since the first show aired. I told everyone when I was in high school, "I'm going to be on this show." Everyone was like, "Okay, Rafe." And I was like, "I'm going to do it the summer after I graduate from college." And I did.
Getting back to "Survivor" for a moment. When you came out to the tribe, how did you think they were going to react and what was their reaction?
It was tough because . . . I was nervous because Gary's incredibly religious . . . there's a lot of people from very religious backgrounds and . . . you know, from the deep South, who have never met a gay person before and I was the first one. So I was nervous at first that it would be a bad reaction, but I think that people really opened up and accepted me because I was just open with people straight from the beginning, I was like, "This is who I am. I like who I am." And everyone was fine with that, I never had a single problem out there, about that.
You're Mormon.
Right.
Can you relate that to the experience of coming out to your family?
Coming out to people who you're not sure what their reaction is going to be is always incredibly difficult and I had to come out to my extended family because I was going on "Survivor." They didn't know beforehand. So I was nervous. I didn't know if they were going to be proud of me for being on the show or upset that I was "out" on national television. But as soon as the first episode aired, they all called and they are like, "We are so proud of you. You are representing yourself and us so well. And we're proud that you're a member of our family."
That's great! You had just started a relationship with Stephen just prior to going on "Survivor." Is that correct?
Yeah, we met in April. So we've been dating for about seven months now. And he's Mormon as well.
And the two of you are obviously still together.
Yeah, we're moving in together in L.A.
Is he from L.A. or is he moving there with you?
He's moving there with me.
That's great. At the auction, when your mother showed up. Was that a surprise? [Each contestant was given money to bid on various prizes at an auction, one of the reward challenges. One of the prizes was to spend a day and night with a loved one. Rafe's mother was there, but he did not win.]
I knew that she was going to come at some point because I had to sign papers for her. But it's crazy, you're out there for 33 days at that point and then out walks my mom from behind the temple. I just couldn't believe that she was there. You get so emotional about family when you're out there, I've never been homesick before in my life, any time anyone mentions your mom, or your dad, or your brother or your significant other, you just start to cry. And it was just an emotional release to see her.
Why do you think they picked your mother instead of Stephen?
Well . . . I picked my mom.
You picked your mother instead of Stephen.
Because I really wanted her to get the experience of traveling. Because she decided to raise us and she never had a chance to travel and that was one of things she wanted to do most in life, so I really wanted her to get a chance to come down and see me so that she would get a chance to get out of the country.
That was very nice of you. Was it difficult to leave Stephen so early in the relationship and go on "Survivor"?
It was really tough, because we had only been together a couple of months and I was like, "I'm going to be on this reality show and I have to leave for 40 days and I'm not going to talk to you at all." We were in like the "honeymoon" stage at that point, like we were talking every day for a few hours and spending all our time together. It was incredibly difficult to leave him, but I think it was a great experience because it's nice that early in a relationship to spend that time away and just know . . . I knew when I was in Guatemala, that was forever, because I just missed him so much and so truly . . . I knew when I got back that we'd be together, pretty much forever.
It's nice that gay couples have that feeling of being together forever and hearing that voiced. Speaking of that, what is your take on the whole gay marriage controversy?
I definitely support gay marriage completely. I think it's something . . . I've a lot of experience with really conservative people because of my family and I think it's something that, once people get to know a gay person and get to know me and understand who I am, that maybe they will be a little more favorable toward gay marriage. I think that it's something that is important and that I really want to support after this is all over.
One more question and I will let you go: Does third place get any kind of compensation?
I get $85,000. So, I'm doing fine.
But no car.
No, no car. I was thinking before the episode aired that they're going to give us the four [cars] at the finale. And then they're like, "This will be won by fans." And I'm like, "Awww."
If you had won that challenge, would you have given the others a car? [The winner of one of the reward challenges got a car. In the past, the winner of the car did not go on to win the game. The winner had the choice of keeping the car or giving the remaining contestants a car. Cindy Hall opted to keep the car, and was the next person voted off.]
I would have, but I'm coming from a different financial situation than Cindy is, so it's a lot harder decision for her.
Thanks for talking to us.
Thank you!
http://p085.ezboard.com/fsurvivorsucksfrm1.showMessage?topicID=45180.topic
"I wanted to be the anti-Richard Hatch": "Survivor's" Rafe Judkins speaks
For fans of Rafe Judkins, the young gay Mormon on "Survivor: Guatemala," this week's defeat, in which he came in third behind winner Danni Boatwright and Stephenie La Grossa, was quite a disappointment
....
What prompted you to try out for "Survivor" in the first place?
I love the outdoors; I've always loved the outdoors and a big part of it was that I thought they never had a gay guy on "Survivor" that was in any way nice. (Laughs) You know, most of them had been pretty cutthroat, the villains of their season. Every single one actually has been the villain of their season.
Was Brandon really a villain?
Who?
Brandon Quinton ["Survivor: Africa"].
No, I guess he wasn't a villain, but I don't think he was particularly well liked.
And John Carroll ["Survivor: Marquesas"]?
Yes, he was definitely a villain.
Well, I know Coby [Archa, "Survivor: Palau"].
Yeah.
And we all know about Richard Hatch [winner of the first "Survivor"].
Yeah, that was a big part of it. I wanted to be like the "anti-Richard Hatch."
Well, now you've joined kind of an elite group, not only of gay "Survivor" contestants, but also of gay reality stars. Will you be doing the "circuit" like the rest of them, or do you have other plans for your future?
You know, I don't really know what the "circuit" is. We weren't allowed to talk to media at all until today, really. I guess I will be finding out about everything soon. But I'm going to move out to Los Angeles soon to pursue screenwriting, and different things I can do to support myself, I'll definitely do.
A lot of reality stars have used the shows to jump-start entertainment careers. Was that part of your plan?
No, not really. I wanted to be on "Survivor" since the first show aired. I told everyone when I was in high school, "I'm going to be on this show." Everyone was like, "Okay, Rafe." And I was like, "I'm going to do it the summer after I graduate from college." And I did.
Getting back to "Survivor" for a moment. When you came out to the tribe, how did you think they were going to react and what was their reaction?
It was tough because . . . I was nervous because Gary's incredibly religious . . . there's a lot of people from very religious backgrounds and . . . you know, from the deep South, who have never met a gay person before and I was the first one. So I was nervous at first that it would be a bad reaction, but I think that people really opened up and accepted me because I was just open with people straight from the beginning, I was like, "This is who I am. I like who I am." And everyone was fine with that, I never had a single problem out there, about that.
You're Mormon.
Right.
Can you relate that to the experience of coming out to your family?
Coming out to people who you're not sure what their reaction is going to be is always incredibly difficult and I had to come out to my extended family because I was going on "Survivor." They didn't know beforehand. So I was nervous. I didn't know if they were going to be proud of me for being on the show or upset that I was "out" on national television. But as soon as the first episode aired, they all called and they are like, "We are so proud of you. You are representing yourself and us so well. And we're proud that you're a member of our family."
That's great! You had just started a relationship with Stephen just prior to going on "Survivor." Is that correct?
Yeah, we met in April. So we've been dating for about seven months now. And he's Mormon as well.
And the two of you are obviously still together.
Yeah, we're moving in together in L.A.
Is he from L.A. or is he moving there with you?
He's moving there with me.
That's great. At the auction, when your mother showed up. Was that a surprise? [Each contestant was given money to bid on various prizes at an auction, one of the reward challenges. One of the prizes was to spend a day and night with a loved one. Rafe's mother was there, but he did not win.]
I knew that she was going to come at some point because I had to sign papers for her. But it's crazy, you're out there for 33 days at that point and then out walks my mom from behind the temple. I just couldn't believe that she was there. You get so emotional about family when you're out there, I've never been homesick before in my life, any time anyone mentions your mom, or your dad, or your brother or your significant other, you just start to cry. And it was just an emotional release to see her.
Why do you think they picked your mother instead of Stephen?
Well . . . I picked my mom.
You picked your mother instead of Stephen.
Because I really wanted her to get the experience of traveling. Because she decided to raise us and she never had a chance to travel and that was one of things she wanted to do most in life, so I really wanted her to get a chance to come down and see me so that she would get a chance to get out of the country.
That was very nice of you. Was it difficult to leave Stephen so early in the relationship and go on "Survivor"?
It was really tough, because we had only been together a couple of months and I was like, "I'm going to be on this reality show and I have to leave for 40 days and I'm not going to talk to you at all." We were in like the "honeymoon" stage at that point, like we were talking every day for a few hours and spending all our time together. It was incredibly difficult to leave him, but I think it was a great experience because it's nice that early in a relationship to spend that time away and just know . . . I knew when I was in Guatemala, that was forever, because I just missed him so much and so truly . . . I knew when I got back that we'd be together, pretty much forever.
It's nice that gay couples have that feeling of being together forever and hearing that voiced. Speaking of that, what is your take on the whole gay marriage controversy?
I definitely support gay marriage completely. I think it's something . . . I've a lot of experience with really conservative people because of my family and I think it's something that, once people get to know a gay person and get to know me and understand who I am, that maybe they will be a little more favorable toward gay marriage. I think that it's something that is important and that I really want to support after this is all over.
One more question and I will let you go: Does third place get any kind of compensation?
I get $85,000. So, I'm doing fine.
But no car.
No, no car. I was thinking before the episode aired that they're going to give us the four [cars] at the finale. And then they're like, "This will be won by fans." And I'm like, "Awww."
If you had won that challenge, would you have given the others a car? [The winner of one of the reward challenges got a car. In the past, the winner of the car did not go on to win the game. The winner had the choice of keeping the car or giving the remaining contestants a car. Cindy Hall opted to keep the car, and was the next person voted off.]
I would have, but I'm coming from a different financial situation than Cindy is, so it's a lot harder decision for her.
Thanks for talking to us.
Thank you!