Video links

• "Sophie the Double Threat" preseason ad
• "Meet Sophie" video at CBS.com
• Sophie's pre-game interview with EW.com's Dalton Ross
• Sophie's 2010 Sears online audition video at Video-Survivor.com.

• Sophie's pre-game interview with Xfinity TV's Gordon Holmes
• Sophie Clarke's official Survivor: South Pacific CBS.com bio
• Sophie Clarke on facebook, twitter (private).
• Sophie's (largely blank) CBS.com user profile.
• Sophie Clarke's WordPress blog (also now private).

Collection of images from the pre-game and circa Ep1-era footage provided with the cast release videos:

Vidcap gallery: Click on thumbnails to expand; use arrow keys to navigate between large pics.

From her MSN.com contestant profile:

"Sophie says: I'm very sure of myself. I think it comes off. I think there aren't that many young applicants that seem so centered.

Jeff [Probst] says: She's the observer."

From her EW.com new contestant picture caption (by Dalton Ross):

"Sophie became a Survivor fan quite by accident. 'I started watching the show when I was 9 years old when it came out. My dad thought it was a documentary. We weren't really allowed to watch TV, but he thought it was going to be all educational, and it was not at all. We watched it anyway and I've been a fan ever since.' But what will transform her from fan into winner? 'I think I have that je ne sais quoi that other people don't have,' says Sophie. 'I'm super determined. I've never quit anything in my life. And I think all my life experiences put together amount to a winner of Survivor more than anyone else. At least I hope so.'"

Excerpts from her official CBS Survivor: South Pacific bio page:

"Inspiration in life: I won Prom Princess at my small rural high school where my graduation class was 28 students.
Inspiration in life: I am skeptical of lionization of any one person. I do admire, however, Albert Schweitzer. He came from a well-off family and yet chose something much less grand with his life than he could have. True humanitarian. True passion. True dedication.
Hobbies: Cooking, scrabble and reading.
Pet peeves: Smart women who pretend to be dumb, particularly if they wear a lot of eye makeup, and people who walk slowly in cold weather.
3 words to describe you: Purposeful, resilient and shrewd.
Survivor contestant you are most like: I relate to Russell's determination to win at any cost, Stephen's intelligence, Stephenie's competitiveness and Susan's trueness to character.
Reason for being on Survivor: To win money! I have been bragging to friends for way too long about how easy Survivor is and how good I would be. I would like to have the freedom in Med. School to choose my specialty based on passion and not money and the potential to more quickly pay my debts.
Why you think you'll 'survive' Survivor: I am strong and athletic (play soccer, softball and basketball) and I am an extremely good skier. I am 'Outdoor Emergency Care' certified and can thus deal with unexpected and extreme situations with a calm approach. I am a leader and always ready and eager to step up!
Why you think you will be the sole Survivor: I am tough, smart and driven. People will trust and like me even though they should not. I will piss people off, yet be convincing and heartfelt enough at the end to make them give me the money. I will mess with their minds and beat their bodies! I think it might actually be easy."

Summary of evidence for Sophie Clarke being on Survivor: South Pacific.

- Going through potential contestants at Sucks, AFishCalled (7/15/11) says: "Have a few other leads... a Vermont college student, and a male nurse from NY or Florida."
- A few posts later, liskd asks: "Sophie Clarke - as the Vermont student?" liskd posts a link to Sophie's Sears contest audition video, hosted at Video-Survivor.com, and AFishCalled concurs.

- Later, as the returned contestants start adding each other as friends on facebook, Polonium notes Sophie is in Brandon Hantz's circle of friends: "Jim Rice is also friends with Whitney Duncan and... Sophie Clarke: She applied through the Sears casting call videos and is the Vermont student contestant mentioned earlier. No obvious connection to Jim Rice (who appears to be a semi-professional poker player)."

- With just over a week to go in the Sears contest (1/1/11), Sophie (posting as "sclarke1313") expressed excitement that she had a chance to win, at least on the CBS.com boards. (Note that she didn't make the top 10 finalists that the public voted on, but managed to get on the show, anyway.)