Gervase Peterson

Gervase Peterson (born November 2, 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a contestant on Survivor: Borneo, the first edition of the popular CBS reality television series Survivor, which premiered in May 2000, and was the highest rated American series during the summer of that year. Peterson returned in 2013 to compete on Survivor: Blood vs. Water and ultimately ended up in 3rd place, receiving zero jury votes.

Survivor

Borneo

During the original Survivor season, Peterson worked only when necessary, and was able to successfully preserve much of his strength until the individual challenges in the later rounds. Although at times it made him appear lazy, he claims that this was part of his strategy.^[1]

As a member of the Pagong tribe, Peterson was one of the first Survivor contestants who was forced by circumstance to eat cooked rat for sustenance, and was the very first contestant to remark that cooked rat actually tasted good. In one episode, he made a disparaging remark about women, stating that "nothing is dumber than a woman, except maybe a cow."^[2] However, his teammate Joel Klug laughed so hard that the comment was attributed to him, and the female members of Pagong voted Klug off at the next opportunity.^[3]

After the two tribes merged into Rattana, Peterson (like all the remaining members of Pagong) did not realize that former Tagi members Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, Rudy Boesch, and Susan Hawk had formed a voting alliance until the Pagong faction had been outnumbered and outmaneuvered. The Tagi alliance, along with former Tagi member Sean Kenniff, eliminated Peterson in Episode 10.

Amidst the fervor that swept the nation during Survivor: Borneo, a hacker announced that he had gained access to an area of the CBS Survivor website containing a photo array of the 16 contestants. An "X" was displayed across the picture of everyone except Peterson. This led many to believe that the network had inadvertently revealed Peterson to be the winner. A few episodes later he was voted off, and CBS admitted that its so-called snafu was done purposely to fool viewers and pundits as a way of keeping the true winner's identity secret (The final tribal council, where Hatch was voted the winner, had been pre-recorded along with the rest of the season).^[4]

Blood vs Water

Peterson competed on the show's 27th season, Blood vs. Water.^[5] Peterson competed with his niece Marissa, with Peterson joining the Galang tribe of veteran contestants while Marissa joined the Tadhana tribe of the returning players' loved ones. After Gervase's excessive celebration of the Galang tribe's first victory, the Tadhana tribe decided to retaliate by voting out his niece. Thus, Marissa was voted out third and the first contestant to be voted out in tribal council. In the third Redemption Island duel, Marissa lost in the game and was defeated by the husband and wife duo of Candice and John Cody, ending in 17th place. Gervase was originally placed on the Galang tribe but then switched to the Tadhana tribe after a new tribal swap, then made it to the merged Kasama tribe. Throughout the entire season, Peterson served as the right-hand man of alliance leader Tyson Apostol, always voting with Apostol in every tribal council. In the penultimate tribal council, and the final chance to use a hidden immunity idol, Apostol gave his second immunity idol to Peterson, who used it to negate the two votes that were cast against him. Peterson made it to the final three, along with Apostol and Monica Culpepper, but received no votes. Apostol won with 7 of the 8 jury votes, while Culpepper got one vote.

After Survivor

Acting

Like several members of the Survivor: Borneo cast, Peterson has attempted to parlay his popularity into an acting career. Thus far, his most notable role has been that of absentee father Leo Thompson, whom he portrayed in 2001 on the CBS daytime drama As the World Turns. Other television appearances include Son of the Beach, The Hughleys, and Nash Bridges. He had starring roles in the independent films 13th Grade and Hell's Threshold, and also appeared in White Men Can't Rap and L-O-V-E. Additionally, he made a cameo appearance in The Scorned, which featured numerous personalities from American reality television.

Peterson appeared in the Bravo series Battle of the Network Reality Stars, which pitted familiar reality television personalities against each other in a competition reminiscent of ABC's Battle of the Network Stars from the 1970s and 1980s. Initially, Peterson was the captain of Team Light Blue, but when contest rules allowed two teams to choose a member from each other's roster, he was selected by Team Red. The finale aired on September 21, 2005, the same night as Bravo's All Star Reality Reunion, in which Peterson also appeared.

Modeling

With the exception of his stint on Survivor, Peterson is always seen with a fully shaven head. He has been selected as one of the celebrity representatives for the HeadBlade, a razor designed specifically for men who shave their heads.

He has also modeled clothing for South Pole.

ValleyDawgs

In 2006, Peterson became co-owner of the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, a franchise in the United States Basketball League.^[6] However, the team folded later that year due to financial difficulties. The USBL replaced it with the Albany Patroons.

Boxing

In 2009, Peterson participated in a celebrity boxing match sponsored by the Celebrity Boxing Federation.^[7] Fighting as a light heavyweight,^[7] he defeated adult film entertainer Travis Knight.^[8]

Burnz Cigars

Peterson is co-owner of Burnz Cigar Vault & Lounge in Lawnside, NJ (a suburb of Philadelphia).

Residence

A native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Peterson now resides in the nearby suburb of Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey.

See also

Notes

External links

• Gervase Peterson at the Internet Movie Database
• Gervase Peterson biography for Survivor: Borneo at CBS.com
• Gervase and Marissa Peterson biography for Survivor: Blood vs. Water at CBS.com