S31: Jeff Varner

[cooksdelight]

Varner is a judge at the N.C. Miss USA/Teen USA pageant this weekend. He's been posting prelim competition photos all day. Looks like he's having a blast.

[NutMeg]

I really don't understand how Abi is considered stronger in challenges than PG.

 

No shit, PG was giving it her all in China and even managed to win some (as least one, but could have been more) immunities over Amanda, who was the challenge beast that season.

 

Some of these impressions of who is good or not in challenges always puzzle me: why again was Parvati targeted because she was "weak in challenges" at the begining of FvF? And again, by some, in HvV? I'm sure it was not the real reason in either case, but why didn't anyone laugh at that rationale? (I can kind of understand it in the game, but even in the forum - that wasn't this one yet, you guys :-) - there seemed to be an agreement about it, which never made sense to me. And for once my opinion turned out to be validated! 

 

  

[Guest]

I wondered how Abi's back problem she was complaining about in the first ep affected challenges.  Also, how Jeff's multiple health issues did.  It seems like he should've been first to go, from a challenge strength perspective.  They barely cleared him to play.  No wonder the other tribe gasped when they heard Vytas was first to go.  

 

I don't recall people calling Parvati weak in challenges.  That was in the game or in the forums?  

[wonald]

 

I don't recall people calling Parvati weak in challenges.  That was in the game or in the forums?  

 

It was as Nutmeg stated - said in E1 of S16. Time for a rewatch?

[Guest]

I just watched that season for the first time in like Aug.  I don't remember that, not that it didn't happen.  But was it a recurring theme?  I thought people recognized she's tough.  

 

ETA: I just rewatched ep 1.  It wasn't then.  Though "the beginning of FvF" doesn't necessarily mean ep. 1.  I just don't recall it happening, though maybe it was in the forums.  I wasn't there for that season. 

Edited October 12, 2015 by Guest

[Way Wes Jr]

I get extremely frustrated with Southerners who wallow in Southern Pride and propagate the myth that southern and redneck are synonymous.

I could drop guys like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy into a deep fryer.

 

Not for nothing, but that seems like a stereotypical Southern Dr Evil way to do folk in...  ;-) 

[LadyChatts]

So long Varner.  Sad that it took all these years to finally bring him back.  It likely was the right decision, because he was physically weak and I fully believe he would have ditched Savage and Tasha in a heartbeat.  He's a more dangerous game player than Woo.  Still, I wish it hadn't been him.  He was a highlight for me during Outback, and my interest went down drastically when he was voted off there.  I've enjoyed him the most this season so far.  I wish he had at least made it to Ponderosa/the jury.

[NurseGiGi]

How ironic that he gives the TH about saving Abi in 2 TCs.  How'd that work out for you, Jeff?

 

I'm sad he's gone, too.  I found him very entertaining.

[BigRedCheese]

Too bad he didn't make the merge, it would have been fun to see Probst try to tempt him out of a challenge with peanut butter again.

[KimberStormer]

 

can't figure out how to embed

[Nashville]

I get extremely frustrated with Southerners who wallow in Southern Pride and propagate the myth that southern and redneck are synonymous.

 

Hey now - there's rednecks, there's good ol' boys, and there's a difference.  :)

[kikaha]

At first it looked like Jeff had done a great job making his case to Abi during tribal.  But by the end of what they showed, it seemed to me he had protested too much. 

 

Often fun to watch.  Too many unforced errors, though.  I was glad Woo survived and Jeff got the boot this week. 

[Daisy]

I am totally bummed out. all I wanted was Varner to make the Merge. and be on the Jury . I don't ask for much on the show. :(

[ProfCrash]

I think that Jeff's pregame alliance making sunk him here. I think Tasha and Andrew knew that Jeff was working alliances before the game, saw how he could work with Abi and knew that Jeff was dangerous.

[ByaNose]

I wanted to see if Jeff & Kimmi were going to work together. There was so much potential with Jeff but he played a little too hard. Also, he didn't have a chance with this new tribe with no food or shelter.

[laurakaye]

Oh, Jeff.  *sniff*  The rest of this season will be sad without you, but I take comfort in the fact that Ponderosa will be one long party under your watchful eye.

 

As for his swoony accent?  I find it soothing and comforting.  When he was the anchor for WWMT Kalamazoo, Michigan, I don't remember his accent being as pronounced when I'd catch him on the news.  Or maybe I was distracted by his pretty eyes and devastating smile, who knows.  Either way, I hope he comes back to Michigan when he's done starting the second half of his life...and as someone who is nearly there myself, he is so cool for wanting to go on Survivor again to give turning 50 a nice kick in the ass.

 

Oh, Jeff.  *sob*

Edited October 15, 2015 by laurakaye

[ljenkins782]

I am totally bummed out. all I wanted was Varner to make the Merge. and be on the Jury . I don't ask for much on the show. :(

Yeah, he would have been great on a jury, this is a bummer. 

 

I think that Jeff's pregame alliance making sunk him here. I think Tasha and Andrew knew that Jeff was working alliances before the game, saw how he could work with Abi and knew that Jeff was dangerous.

 

It was just a no-brainer vote for Savage/Tasha and since Woo's head was on the block too, his vote was a lock as well. I held out hope as long as I could in the episode but it just didn't make sense any other way, unfortunately.

 

Woo has no ability to work with Abi on any level, she will hold those 2 votes against him forever and they just don't have any personal connection. Jeff could have swung her crazy ass back his way, but Woo and Abi are not a pair so Savage and Tasha officially have a majority either way now that Varner's out. 

 

This tribal swap really sucked and I'm bummed that I won't get see Varner mix back in with the others on a non Camp-of-the-Damned tribe.  

[Daisy]

Oh, Jeff.  *sniff*  The rest of this season will be sad without you, but I take comfort in the fact that Ponderosa will be one long party under your watchful eye.

 

As for his swoony accent?  I find it soothing and comforting.  When he was the anchor for WWMT Kalamazoo, Michigan, I don't remember his accent being as pronounced when I'd catch him on the news.  Or maybe I was distracted by his pretty eyes and devastating smile, who knows.  Either way, I hope he comes back to Michigan when he's done starting the second half of his life...and as someone who is nearly there myself, he is so cool for wanting to go on Survivor again to give turning 50 a nice kick in the ass.

 

Oh, Jeff.  *sob*

 

 

I remember him talking to Rob (on RHAP) that when he did teeve work, he really worked hard on not sounding like a country bumpkin.  I will sob with you.

 

Like. i'm still not over this, There are only a few players i've been honestly gutted that they lost, and Jeff is one of them. 14 years 2 BvWs, 2 FvFs and 2 full allstars, and i FINALLY get him on the show, and he's out 4th. boo. 

[KimberStormer]

In Tasha's thread someone posted an exit interview with Varner and his feelings on people pretty much track mine, except he likes Terry for some reason wtf.  I don't feel as strongly as he does of course, he knows these people and I just watch them on TV, but he pretty much likes who I like and dislikes who I dislike.  Which is probably why I like him--some deep sympathy somewhere!

 

Not sure if Andrew has noticed that Varner was approximately as screwed by the 3-tribe twist as he was by the Outcasts.  Something that certainly sucks and is unfair, but should have been possible to recover from.  I wish he could have done it.

[Bryce Smith]

Jeff got burned for trusting Abi just as badly as Shirin and Peih-Gee got burned for it.  AFAIC, that, plus so readily and gleefully turning on his own initial alliance so soon, makes me giddy and think that he got what he deserved.

[Zuleikha]

I read an interview with him that confirmed what I suspected: he voted PG out instead of Abi because he was scared of ties. That was fearful play and also bad play. To his credit, he acknowledged that it was a bad move that he regrets. He also sounded overconfident in his ability to control Abi... it's weird he STILL seems overconfident in his ability to control Abi even as factually, he wasn't able to do it.

 

So I'm glad he's out. He was good TV, but not a good Survivor player. 

[marys1000]

It sounds like they almost didn't.

http://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2015/09/11/survivor-second-chance-jeff-my-alliance-had-a-conference-call-before-we-left/

 

Kind of interesting who his pre-game alliances were with.  

Thanks for that, lots of info about the other players, like  Kimmi life troubles etc. But no hints as to what Wigglesworth "story" is that Probst mentioned.

 So Varner had not only COPD but also dislocated his shoulder first night in Cambodia?  And had the flu right before the show?  Yikes. 

[LadyChatts]

What is it with this season and people getting sick before hand?  Jeff had the flu, Stephen was sick, Ciera was sick (and I'm sure we will be hearing more stories).  Jeff was a mess at the end of the day.  I love him, am sad he is gone, but I also worried about him.  He looked done, physically, after the first 3 days.  I think the game got away from him.  He played too hard, too fast.  I know he had a bad experience with ties the first time, but that is a risk with Survivor.  Maybe had he gone for the tie head on, either in the vote against PG/Abi or even in the first vote, it would have worked out and made all the difference.  

[ProfCrash]

I think the acclimation process was really hard this time. The weather was so totally different in Cambodia then it was any where in the US that I think it caused a fair amount of problems for the contestants.

[Special K]

The weather was so totally different in Cambodia then it was any where in the US that I think it caused a fair amount of problems for the contestants.

 

Is it really that different than Thailand or the Philippines (where they filmed multiple seasons)?  Or is it a different time of year this time?

 

ETA:  Honest question. :)

Edited October 16, 2015 by Special K

[ProfCrash]

From everything I read it was far more brutal then any place they have filmed. Season 32, filmed before 31, saw crew members being medivaced and people seriously compromised because of the weather. Most of the people booted this season are discussing how much harder it is this season then their season. Cierra had a bonus clip where she said she felt guilty sitting out because it was brutally hot just sitting there, she can't imagine playing. Jeff Probst commented that he was wiped out filming the last challenge and he was drinking water during it. He went back to camp, cooled down and needed a nap after the hour of filming.

 

So yeah, it is brutal this season. Far worse then most other places they have been.

 

Jeff Varner mentioned that he has had COPD for 6 years but has not needed an inhaler or any medicines since her was diagnosed but that he immediatly had problems when he landed in Cambodia.

 

Brutal is the only way to describe it.

[Special K]

Yes, I've heard many of those things but I was wondering if anyone knew why.  Meteorological question, I guess.  Higher temps, say?  Combo of heat/humidity?  It's farther from the equator than at least one of the Philippines locations, so sun should be a bit less strong.  Just curious.  I'm guessing they are filming in the worst part of the year? 

 

Wondering if anyone knows about the climate patterns there.

[ToastnBacon]

Coastal Cambodia is just under 12 degrees north of the equator so the Sun is more intense than what we are used to in the U.S.

Southern Florida is about 20-22 degrees north of the equator.

I've been to coastal Thailand in June and July and it is the hottest part of the year there.

If you are coming from an arid location in the U.S. it would be a much harder transition than coming from the Gulf Coast or Mid-Atlantic.

The coastal regions of Thailand, Cambodia, and Phillipines are comparable.

However, wasn't Survivor Thailand in the mountains?

Edited October 16, 2015 by ToastnBacon

[ProfCrash]

Survivor Philippines was in the North of the country, they would not have been able to play in the South for security purposes.

[Special K]

Thank you all.

[Hera]

Coastal Cambodia is just under 12 degrees north of the equator so the Sun is more intense than what we are used to in the U.S.

Thanks for sharing this. That explains why this most recent challenge seemed to end in broad daylight, and then it was pitch black once everyone got back to camp (or the first episode, where they went straight to tribal council, which took place in the dark). Close to the equator means the sun sets faster and with minimal twilight.

[Oscirus]

I think a lot of Jeff's interviews sound ridiculously rehearsed. Also, if Jeff's whole plan was to vote out Tasha then reveal the pecking order of Bayon then why not do that right after they lost the first IC.  It comes across as something he's saying for shock value.

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing this. That explains why this most recent challenge seemed to end in broad daylight, and then it was pitch black once everyone got back to camp (or the first episode, where they went straight to tribal council, which took place in the dark). Close to the equator means the sun sets faster and with minimal twilight.

That makes sense.  I know they had the immediate TC in the first episode because they wanted to run the first challenge at sunset like they did in the first season.  It didn't much look like sunset there, though, so everyone thought it was baloney that they really went straight to tribal.  

[SnideAsides]

However, wasn't Survivor Thailand in the mountains?

Thailand was filmed on an island in the Andaman Sea, right near the Malaysian border.

[Bryce Lynch]

I don't find a Southern accent particularly attractive. When I hear Jeff speak I don't hear 'southern' so much as I hear 'effeminate'. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I don't think it has anything to do with his accent, but I find Varner's voice to be effeminate. In general, I don't think southern accents are at all effeminate.

I am from New York. Personally, if anything, I find people from the South to be generally more intelligent than people from my region, who THINK they know everything but are largely misinformed and barely capable of independent or logical thought.

[phlebas]

I am from New York. Personally, if anything, I find people from the South to be generally more intelligent than people from my region, who THINK they know everything but are largely misinformed and barely capable of independent or logical thought.

We only let the smart ones talk to the damned yankees.

[rose711]

I'm not sure why people think he will be back again. He is entertaining,but he isn't a good player. He got bad luck to not be with the group that will probably make the merge without going to tribal, but he had a majority position he lost when Abi dumped him for a better alliance, and feared going for a tie.

I don't see any sign (outside of better luck with his initial tribe) that he would play any better if he had another chance. He will be older too.

I think he had his second chance and that's it.

[ratgirlagogo]

 

I am from New York. Personally, if anything, I find people from the South to be generally more intelligent than people from my region, who THINK they know everything but are largely misinformed and barely capable of independent or logical thought.

Sadly I do have to admit how true that is.  But it's always so hard for me to accept that reality,  given that I am one of those New York transplants from California who's been in love with NYC accents her whole life, the way some people are with English accents. 

[BigRedCheese]

 

 He is entertaining

 

Bingo! That's why he will be back again, the same reason they kept bringing Rupert back (he wasn't entertaining to me, but he was popular with the general public).

[ByaNose]

Next season is already done. So, if they want Varner back it will need to be Seasons 33 or 34 in 2016. That seems so far away but it's doable. Whether it's a full on All-Star, BVW or FVF remains to be seen. I think they would bring him back. It's amazing the edit & airtime he got for being voted out 4th. Pretty impressive.

[rose711]

Next season is already done. So, if they want Varner back it will need to be Seasons 33 or 34 in 2016. That seems so far away but it's doable. Whether it's a full on All-Star, BVW or FVF remains to be seen. I think they would bring him back. It's amazing the edit & airtime he got for being voted out 4th. Pretty impressive.

What happened to the idea that people should take at least a year off that was being promoted after Shirin imploded?

It's ridiculous to ignore him for 14 years then bring him back again. I can see the producers doing it because they love to suck the life out of any popular contestant. He won't do better though.

I don't think he would have been featured as much if he wasn't in every tribal council and wasn't the swing vote in two of those.

The positive thing about his bad game play that lead to his elimination is that we can start to hear from other people. We heard from Abi a lot too. Ill be happy to hear from the 8 Bay on players who have never been to tribal council.

[marys1000]

Bingo! That's why he will be back again, the same reason they kept bringing Rupert back (he wasn't entertaining to me, but he was popular with the general public).

His COPD almost got him kicked off the beach.  Not sure they or he would deal with that again.  Though I would love seeing him again.

[LadyChatts]

I still say get Varner for Big Brother.  That game would be better suited for him (and I think he'd be a riot to watch on the feeds and in the DR).

[wonald]

If u get a chance, check out his latest Periscope. It will expire in 6 hrs or sooner. He was having dinner with a bunch of reality TV peeps and it's good to see Alicia still looking hot.He says that he lost 23 lbs in 11 days. Wow!

#FYAS #FYTF

[ByaNose]

I watched the Periscope show. He looks like he's happy & having a good time. He looks great with the salt & pepper scruff. It also neat to Alicia. The Outback seems like such a looooooong time ago.

[LadyChatts]

I loved Alicia during Outback.  Absolutely hated her and her bitterness during AS.  She was someone I hoped would never grace my TV again.  But, in doing my re-watches, seeing Jeff again and hearing him talk about her, it made me remember how much I did like her the first time around.  AS was just an awful season, and certainly wasn't short on bitterness.  I do wonder, should they consider anyone else from Outback in another second chance season, who else might return.  8 of the original 16 have already returned (some more than once).  Elisabeth has repeatedly declined and really has no reason to come back.  Debb was a first boot but said she would never do it again (I think she came on during Jeff's RHAP during the campaign process and thought he was crazy to want to come back).  Nick seems pretty accomplished in his life and wasn't all that memorable, even if I remember him better than people from 2 seasons ago.  Not sure if he would return but he doesn't strike me as someone that would.  So that would leave Kel, Keith, Rodger, Mitchell, and Maralyn.  Personally, I would love to see them do a season of people that were either all pre-jury boots, or just from the first 15 seasons or something.  Kelley is intriguing to me this season because she was out so early last season, and we never got to really see her game play or whether she really would be a threat or not.  It'd be interesting to get a bunch of pre-jury boots who didn't have a chance to play the game and see what they could do.

[rose711]

I'm still bitter that Varner protected Abby and now we're going to be stuck with her for a while, given the ridiculous amount of air time being spent on her emotional breakdowns. Varner could Have Easley voted out Abby on day one and we wouldn't be stuck with her. I'm really happy she's the one who screwed him over and ruined his game. It's just karma that he brought himself.