Brian Heidik

Brian Heidik
Born	(1968-03-09) March 9, 1968 Quartz Hill, California, U.S.
Television	Survivor: Thailand

Brian Heidik (born March 9, 1968 in Burtonsville, Maryland) won $1,000,000 on the reality TV competition, Survivor: Thailand. In 2004 Heidik began writing Survivor commentaries for the National Enquirer tabloid.

Survivor: Thailand

As part of the Chuay Gahn tribe, Brian was not immediately targeted due to his physical strength and his ability to provide food for the tribe. Early on in the game, he was considered a trustworthy individual, despite his used car salesman occupation being known by all. However, his status as trustworthy would soon change dramatically. When Brian's tribe lost the first and second immunity challenges, he joined the majority to vote out John Raymond and Tanya Vance. After the Grindgate incident between Ted Rogers and Ghandia Johnson, Brian was worried that the rift between the two would divide the tribe. So he enlisted the help of Helen Glover to side with himself, Ted and Clay Jordan to vote out Ghandia, which they did successfully in Episode 4. By doing so, he created a Final 2 alliance with Helen, despite already having one with Ted. Chuay Gahn then enjoyed two immunity wins.

When there were only 10 Survivors left, the two tribes began living on the same beach, believing they had merged into one tribe. However, this was not the case. Chuay Gahn continued their winning streak for two more episodes, dwindling the former Sook Jai members to only 3. When the tribes finally merged at 8 Survivors remaining, Brian was a strong force in keeping the Chuay Gahn alliance strong and ousting the remaining former Sook Jai members at back-to-back tribal councils. They were very successful, voting out Ken Stafford, Penny Ramsey and Jake Billingsley. At this point Brian had three Final 2 alliances, each with Helen, Ted and Clay.

At the Final 5, the survivors (all members of Chuay Gahn) were forced to turn on each other. Helen and Ted had a plan to pull over Jan Gentry and vote out Clay, whom they believed did not deserve a spot in the Final 2. When Brian heard the two had been talking, he wrongly believed this was against himself, with neither Helen or Ted having this idea in mind. After winning individual immunity, Brian, together with Jan, Helen and Clay, voted out Ted despite their Final 2 alliance. At the Final 4, Brian enjoyed another immunity win and informed Helen that Jan would be voted out. However, he went with Clay and used Jan to vote out Helen, believing she had conspired against him and she was unbeatable in the Final 2.

At the Final 3, Brian felt comfortable with his game and immunity wins, despite backstabbing two of his former tribemates. He managed to win the final immunity, and chose to vote out Jan, taking Clay into the Final 2. Jan was the only former Chuay Gahn Final 5 member Brian did not have a Final 2 alliance with. Believing Clay was more hated, Brian thought he had made the right decision. However, Brian faced a tough Jury and in particular a very angry Helen.

In the end, Brian Heidik beat out Clay Jordan in a 4-3 vote to become the Sole Survivor. He managed to gain the votes of Jake Billingsley, Ted Rogers, Jr., Helen Glover and Jan Gentry. Brian was benefited by a usual occurrence on Survivor when two of Brian's votes came from a vote against Clay, particularly Helen and Ted whom Brian himself betrayed in the game, but still voted for him over Clay. Ted mentioned that he was voting for Brian, because he was "the lesser of two evils". Brian's strategy worked perfectly.

Personal life

Before Survivor, Heidik worked as a soft-core porn star.^[1] When he starred in his wife's pornographic videos, he went under the name David Roth,^[2] possibly a tribute to Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth.

On July 5, 2006, Heidik was arrested for allegedly shooting a 12 to 16-week-old shepherd-hound mix puppy with an arrow. Heidik claims he thought the animal who had wandered into his yard was a fox or a coyote even though he was just a foot away from the animal when shooting. The arrow traveled into the ribcage of the puppy and out the abdomen on the other side and was still protruding from both sides when police arrived. He was charged with domestic battery and felony cruelty to animals which was later reduced to misdemeanor cruelty to animals.^[3] The dog survived and was returned to his owner, Jeff McLeod, who lived about six miles from Heidik's house.

References

External links

• Brian Heidik at the Internet Movie Database
• Brian Heidik biography for Survivor: Thailand at CBS.com