Survivor: The Amazon contestants - additional information
Deena Bennett Jeanne Hebert JanetKoth Shawna Mitchell
Jenna Morasca Christy Smith Heidi Strobel JoAnna Ward
Ryan Aiken Alex Bell Rob Cesternino Dave Johnson
Butch Lockley Daniel Lue Roger Sexton Matthew von Ertfelda
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Jenna Morasca

21, Pittsburgh, PA
Model, TV reporter

- Student at University of Pittsburgh. - Official CBS bio
- Audition video
- CBS intro (pre-game) video


Contestant-related press and rumors
Date Story Source
February 13, 2003

"Local 'Survivor' competes in Amazon edition"
- "Will Jenna give Survivor: The Australian Outback player Amber Brkich of Brighton, Beaver County, a run for her money in the contest to be Pittsburgh's reality-show Hometown Hottie? 'And then some,' said Mark Burnett, executive producer of Survivor. 'She's quite sure of herself and will speak her mind. She certainly isn't a wallflower.'"
- "Her mother, Carla, has been battling breast cancer for 12 years. Her father, director of engineering at the Westin Convention Center Hotel, said he was initially reluctant to see his daughter participate in Survivor. 'Naturally, being the father, I thought she was crazy,' Michael said. 'She kind of convinced me that's the thing to do. She's a go-getter. When she wants something, she goes and gets it.'"
- "She took last semester off and departed for Brazil on Oct. 27. Michael said he and his wife told family members she'd left for Pitt's Semester at Sea program. 'That kind of kept them quiet for a while, but eventually they figured out [something was going on because] they at least let you call,' Michael said. 'A couple family members started wising up.' Many of them will be at the Morasca home tonight for a viewing party."
- "Probst said Survivor: Amazon will differ from the widely panned Thailand edition. 'There are going to be some people that, unlike Thailand maybe, you will root for. There are some likable people,' he said. 'Jenna is likable from the very beginning. ... She is a lippy girl with a pretty decent vocabulary. She can put a thought together in a biting way.'"
- By Rob Owen, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
January 22, 2003 - "The results are kept secret, and the contestants are kept under lock and key until the show airs and they're voted off of the island, or riverbank, or whatever they live on in the Amazon. Thus, Morasca couldn't comment for this article, nor could her family." (Odd that her family couldn't talk...).
- "But unlike the eventual "Survivor" winner, Morasca's career is no secret. A 1999 South Fayette High School graduate, she was studying psychology at Duquesne when she entered a Stuff Magazine contest to be "College Girl of the Month." She won, and eventually did some other photo shoots for the magazine. She has also appeared in Maxim. As her print modeling career was taking off, she entered the 2001 Venus Swimwear competition and took first place in Pennsylvania. She won again in 2002. She transferred to the University of Pittsburgh to study zoology, and in her spare time became one of the 20 finalists in the contest to be the new host of E! Wild On, the popular travelogue program featuring scantily-clad beautiful people carousing in beautiful places."
- icdus.com (prompted by a link from SurvivorFever).
January 14, 2003 - "In clips shown to critics, members of the men's team strut, proclaiming their superiority. 'It was so annoying,' Morasca says in the show. 'I just want to beat them to just kind of, like, shut them up.' In the first immunity challenge, the women's team falls behind, but when one member of the men's team shows no aptitude for walking across a fairly wide balance beam, the women have an opportunity to come from behind."
- " Host Jeff Probst said two members of the women's team traveled to the Amazon expecting to use their bodies to their advantage but quickly discovered that 'this is not the place you want to put on your bikini to show off your big boobs.' Morasca quickly changed her strategy. 'She immediately said, "I'm not going to wear a bikini around women. Women will judge me; they won't like it. But if I ever get around guys, I know how to use my body,"' Probst said."
- "'Her pageant background made it very fascinating,' said Burnett. 'She thinks that the way the pageant girls deal with each other behind the scenes is far more ruthless than you ever get on Survivor.' Probst said Morasca was at home with the competitive spirit of Survivor. ' She made a lot of analogies throughout the interview process that this is no different than what I do for a living, going to pageants and trying to figure out how to get a leg up,' Probst said. 'She's really smart, especially when it comes to men.'Although past Survivor seasons have never seen much in the way of romance, Burnett hinted at what to expect in the new season. 'There's sexier stuff in the Amazon than we've ever had,'he teased."
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
January 13, 2003 Manuel Mendoza's pre-game quotes and impressions:
-" Initial impression: Cute and strange. Distinctions: Has competed in beauty pageants. Played volleyball and was a cheerleader in college. Animal lover."
- "Who are you? 'I tend to put a positive spin on things that are negative. If something's bad, just chill. It happened, let's find a way to get over it.'"
- "Why was she cast: 'I think I'm a good character. I have a really good personality, and maybe because I'm a swimsuit model. That doesn't hurt you. But you can be the cutest girl in the world with the biggest boobs but if you're not tough you're a liability.'"
- "Post-Survivor show-biz prospects: 'If it helps me, that's great, but I already have a lot of connections. I'm not just someone from Survivor who's trying to play the role of a model. It would be wise to hire me. I know what I'm doing.'"
- Dallas Morning News.
January 11, 2003 - TV Guide (hard copy) synopsis (notable, because Burnett and Moonves were praying this would work out when they cast her, allowing them to fill the S7 cast with swimsuit models): "Strengths: 'Pageants are like Survivor with heels. You have to know the good people from the bad people.'" - TV Guide.
January 1, 2003 - Pageant News Bureau says (amid many pictures): "On television, Ms. Morasca reviews night spots in Pittsburgh. (We've heard that when she walks into a club, everything gets very quiet. Except for the loud music.) She also conducts interviews for the local Fox sports affiliate. Because she loves animals so much, Ms. Morasca is still considering becoming a zoologist." - Pageant News Bureau.
December 20, 2002 - Finalist in a $5000 scholarship through Stuff Magazine. For her talents, of course. - Stuff Magazine. (More here).
January 12, 2002 - "NATPE is a stop on a road that started in Pittsburgh with the one-hour weekly show called 'Nitelife' on WCWB. Now, its focus will shift to a national audience -- with spots for local stations to insert their own features -- with hosts Angie Corley, Charlie Eddy, Melissa Papa, Michel Wall and Jenna Morasca, with Falcon Hale doing a gossipy 'Off the Record'report." - Pittburgh Post-Gazette.
November 11, 2001 - Second runner-up in Miss Pennsylvania USA pageant. Actually correctly listed in her CBS bio. - TFTJ.
September 29, 2001 - As a finalist, Jenna wins a $1000 modeling contract through a Venus Swimwear pageant. Didn't actually win the pageant, despite what her CBS bio says. - Venus Swimwear. (More here).



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