TDT.com | Survivor 11: Brandon Bellinger

August 22, 2005

- "Rock Creek graduate to compete on CBS’s Survivor
    Brandon Bellinger has never feared taking risks. Whether it's leaping from the peak of his roof onto a giant elm tree or scaling a cell phone tower, Bellinger is always willing to take a challenge. The Manhattan resident's fearlessness will be shown nationally as he competes on CBS' Survivor, Guatemala.
   Bellinger, a Manhattan resident and 2001 graduate of Rock Creek High School, was selected for Survivor: Guatemala after auditioning in January. Filming for the 11th season began on June 27 and lasted 39 days. It will air on Sept. 15. If, and when, Bellinger is voted off, he will appear on The Early Show and the grand finale with the entire cast at the end of the season.
   His family said Bellinger has always had a knack for taking risks.
   Steve Bellinger, Brandon's older brother, recalled an instance a year-and-a-half ago when he and Brandon were on the roof of their house. Brandon was at the 30-foot peak of the roof and stood there for 10 minutes before convincing himself to jump onto a large elm tree 15 feet away. 'It was pretty impressive,' Steve Bellinger said. 'Just looking down at the tree makes your knees shake.' Steve said his younger brother has also climbed to top of a cell phone tower.
   Brandon's work as a forest firefighter at Bitterroot National Forest in Montana during summer 2004 prepped him for the physical brutality of Survivor.
   Kate Bellinger, Brandon's mother, said she had her reservations about her son being on the show.
'I was somewhat worried, but not too much,' she said. 'He wants to go out and be adventurous and do these things in life, so why stand in his way? He's pretty self-reliant and a tough young guy.'
   Alliances with cast members are a crucial aspect of success on the show. Brandon's family said that doesn't bode particularly well for him. 'Brandon would never stab anybody in the back,' Steve said. 'He's always looking for the best in life, but he doesn't want to hurt anybody to get there.'
   Cory Smith, a graduate student in accounting and a 2001 Rock Creek High School graduate, remembers Brandon as being the life of parties while in high school. He thinks that could endear Brandon to those watching the show this fall. 'It will be fun to watch Brandon try to make friends on the show,' Smith said, 'especially with the ladies.'
   Kate Bellinger said she was allowed no contact with her son during filming. When Brandon returns, he is obligated by contract to not say anything about what happened until the show airs. 'It will be good for me to watch the show and enjoy it because I am not going to know what's going on any more than other viewers,' Kate Bellinger said.
   She said her son's plans for the future are working on the family farm this winter. After that, she said, it's anyone's guess. 'Brandon wants to try different things in the future, such as traveling and seeing new places and scenery,' she said.
   Steve said Brandon's wild and crazy personality will make him fun to watch on the show. 'Win or lose, he's still a great guy,' he said."

- Adrianne DeWeese, for the Kansas State Collegian

August 13, 2005

- "Mayan 'Survivor' features Kansans
   A Manhattan farmer and a former Miss Kansas who worked as a sports radio talk show host are two of the 16 competitors vying for the $1 million prize in the 11th season of CBS's Survivor.
   Danielle 'Danni' Boatwright, 30, of Tonganoxie, and Brandon Bellinger, 22, of Manhattan, tried to outwit, outplay and outlast the other contestants in the Mayan ruins of Guatemala.
   Colleen Sullivan, vice president of publicity for CBS, said filming began in June and that the contestants returned home during the first weekend of August.
...
    Bellinger graduated from Rock Creek High School, located between the towns of St. George and Westmoreland in Pottawatomie County, and works as a farmer and rancher.
   'Brandon is a natural sweetheart,' Sullivan said. 'What you see is what you get. Still, he is a type A personality. He's the kind of guy that sneaks up on you.'
   Bellinger was interviewed by WIBW-TV in January when he filmed an audition tape at Harrah's Prairie Band Casino.
   'I'm trying to be a survivor. I will be on Survivor,' he said at the time. 'They're going to think I'm just a hick from Kansas.'
   Survivor contestants aren't allowed to speak with the media until the airing of the show in which they are voted out or win."

- Kasha Stoll, of the Topeka Capital-Journal

August 12, 2005

- Local CBS station WIBW-13 revisits their casting call interview with Brandon (includes a fresh link to video of his audition):

"Kansans on Survivor
   The sunflower state will be well-represented in the newest installment of Survivor! Two Kansans are among the 16 contestants who travelled to Guatemala for their chance to outwit, outplay and outlast.
   When 13 News hosted Survivor auditions at Harrah's in January, one hopeful made a bold prediction! 'I'm trying to be a survivor... I will be on survivor!!' said 22-year old Brandon Bellinger. And guess what?! He'll get that chance!! The Manhattan, Kansas farmer was one of 16 contestants selected for the latest Survivor competition in Guatemala!
   'First impressions -- they're going to think I'm just some hick from Kansas!' Brandon told the folks from CBS. We did reach Brandon on the phone. He was on the farm, he said but that's about all the information we got from him. He wouldn't even say exactly where the farm is! That's because Survivor contestants are under strict orders not to talk to media until the show airs where they're voted out or win, and that can be tough!
   'It's the hardest thing,' says Lisa Keiffer, who competed on Survivor Vanauatu a year ago. She says Brandon's in for the time of his life. 'You watch it and remember things that you'd forgotten,' she says.
   Fellow Kansan Danni Boatwright of Tonganoxie is among Brandon's competition. 'I'm such a tomboy,' Danni told CBS. Host and Wichita native, Jeff Probst sized up their chances. 'He comes off like I'm just here to have fun, but I think there's more going on there. Danni is someone people can get behind.'
   Now we wait, like everyone else, to find out if a Kansan will outwit, outplay, and outlast. Survivor Guatemala premiers September 15th right here on Channel 13."

- Melissa Brunner, for local CBS affiliate WIBW, Topeka, Kansas

August 11, 2005

- Pre-game interview transcript, taken from the CBS News site video, entitled: "Bradon [sic.] The Farm Hand."

Brandon: - "I'd rather be out here doing this than, you know, plowing a field back in Kansas."
- "Growing up on the farm was a lot of work. I mean, uh, we never really gotta partake in any of the school activities, really. I mean, like sports-wise: Never really played much sports. 'Cuz I always wanted to play sports. You know, there's that competition. So I, I never really got to do a lot of that, which I kind of regret, you know... I mean, the farm had to be taken care of, and everything, I had to work on the farm."
- "I'm a little bit more of a... wilder, I think I'm gonna be a bit more wilder than everybody else. I'm willing to do things other people won't do. You know, I, I'm more fearless, I think I'm probably more fearless than most people out there. And, uh, more independent, too. Like, some people may be missing their families, loved ones. You know, I'll miss my family too, of course, but not that much. You know, they're back in Kansas, they're doing fine."
- "I've done a lot of crazy things. You know, get that adrenaline rush. I uh, climbed one of those radio towers, one time before, you know, just for the, just for the hell of it, just to see if I could. I used to be terrified of heights. You know? I wouldn't even climb, climb a tree, like, 20 feet up, because, you know, scared of heights. But I worked myself out of that, because I was pissed off about being scared of heights."
- "Well, I think their first impressions of me might be, I don't know, I'm some dumb, ignorant hick from Kansas. That, you know, doesn't know anything about anything. But uh, really, I think I'm uh, somewhat cunning, like probably cunning more than most people out here."
- [Brandon juggles three rocks] "See? Now, watch this one..." [one falls to the ground].

- CBSNews.com video archive

August 11, 2005

- Officially revealed as a Survivor: Guatemala contestant on the Early Show.

- CBS Early Show site

Winter, late 2004-early 2005

- Local CBS station WIBW-13 profiles the crowd at a Topeka casting call, which, miraculously, contained an animated Brandon:

" More than 400 attended the auditions Sunday at Harrah's.
   People from all walks of life came to strut their stuff in front of the camera, trying to win their spot on the hit reality series-- Survivor.
...
    We aren't allowed to show Wilson's stunt on our newscast, but he wasn't the only outrageous applicant at Sunday's Survivor auditions.
   "Use really loud speech. Try to freak them out or something," applicant Brandon Bellinger says that's his strategy. "Gotta get in front of the camera and stare down the tubes at them," he says.
   Bellinger arrived at Harrah's bright and early to avoid long lines-- but it took him a while to work up the courage for the audition.
   "Right now I'm just going over the game plan, I've been going over it for like an hour," Bellinger says.
...
   All of Sunday's applicants want to make sure their tapes make the cut.
   "I'm trying to be on survivor," says Bellinger, "I'm going to be on survivor."
    In February, Survivor producers will notify about 800 applicants selected for the first cut.
After a round of in-person interviews producers eliminate all but 48 applicants before the final contestants are chosen."

- WIBW, Topeka, Kansas