S36: Bradley Kleihege

[Whimsy]

Bradley Kleihege (Naviti Tribe)

Age: 26
Hometown: Haslett, Michigan
Current residence: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Law student

Three words to describe you: Ambitious, impatient, and astute.

Why do you think you'll "survive" Survivor?
I like to lead people and take initiative. Plus, I like to roast people and what doesn't build tribe morale more on Survivor than a few laughs from roasting the other tribe? I can also cook a mean batch of rice.

Bradley Kleihege’s Full Bio

[LanceM]

Josh Wigler interview

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-ghost-island-bradley-kleihege-preseason-interview-1079624

[LanceM]

Interview with Gordon Holmes

https://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2018/02/16/survivor-castaway-bradley-keep-dream-win-final-immunity-challenge/

[Guest]

He's getting paid to sit on a beach in Fiji, and he complains about the dirt and grass and view.  I don't think he made many fans with this ep.  

[LadyChatts]

I was surprised by Morgan's description of him being funny and hilarious.  She must have a different definition of that.

I wonder if he'd survive in the BB house with the ants?

[peachmangosteen]

5 hours ago, LadyChatts said:

I was surprised by Morgan's description of him being funny and hilarious.  She must have a different definition of that.

Oh, I think his whining was pretty hilarious, but I'm pretty sure Morgan didn't mean it that way.

[LadyChatts]

So some of Brendan's (aka Mr. Shapiro) students were trolling Brad on his IG, to the point where Brendan stepped in and told them to go to bed.  

I don't see how anyone can call this guy a villain.  He's just a little whiny spoiled brat.  And Boston Rob he is not.

[Hera]

I agree that he's neither a Boston Rob type nor a villain, but it seems like this cast doesn't really have anyone else who might qualify. I have to say, he doesn't come across as very self-aware or very secure. From his CBS bio:

Quote

Pet peeves: Stupid people and people who think they know everything.

[...]

What's your personal claim to fame? Getting on Survivor. But really, I am most proud of getting into UCLA Law, one of the best law schools in the country [emphasis mine]. Additionally, making it through the first year of law school taught me a lot about drive and perseverance.

I think it's telling that being accepted to a particular school is his proudest achievement. To me that says that he values outside validation (both being accepted by the school, and the fact that the school is highly ranked nation-wide) more than he does any of his actual accomplishments, like completing his undergraduate degree, helping others, or overcoming any kind of adversity. I suspect watching his thus-far unsympathetic edit in the game has been a bitter pill for him to swallow, however much he acts like he's in on the joke on social media.

Furthermore, people who are secure about the quality of their education don't need to clarify that their school is one of the best in the country. I'm sure that Bradley is aware that while UCLA Law is well-regarded, of the law schools in California, UC Berkeley and Stanford are generally ranked above it. Incidentally, so is University of Pennsylvania, which is where Wendell got his law degree. I wonder if Bradley knew about Wendell's background while they were playing. If it comes up in a later episode, I hope we get a shot of Bradley's face when he finds out.

For the record, I'm not a huge supporter of college rankings. However, if Bradley's going to bring up the reputation of his school unprompted, it's fair to point out the reputations of the schools other players attended.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Hera
Fixing a grammar-related typo

[Guest]

I'm ok with him being proud of his college and even saying he strives to play like Rob and Kim.  I didn't hear it as he thinks he is LIKE them, just that he wants to emulate their strategies, which sounds smart to me.  

I don't like him much, though.  The whining was enough for me.  

[marys1000]

I think he might be playing up the villian bit.  

I'm down with being proud of the 15th Law school in the country too.  The personal part is relative.  Randomly curious about whether he was targeting California schools only because of the sailing thing.  He's from Michigan, could have tried for U of M which is 8th but not much sailing there.  

I do hope I hear as much about how smart Wendell is though as much as I'm hearing about Brad. 

Edited March 18, 2018 by marys1000

[4N6MAL]

Anybody think that Bradley looks a little like a young Gilbert Gottfried?

[marys1000]

Saw this on BK's twitter.  Yea, they are a thing.

BRADLEY KLEIHEGE‏ @bradley_r_k Mar 31

More

I want to keep commenting on reddit but @ksbechto has cut me off. She says “I’ve done enough for one night.”

[Special K]

1 hour ago, marys1000 said:

Saw this on BK's twitter.  Yea, they are a thing.

BRADLEY KLEIHEGE‏ @bradley_r_k Mar 31

More

I want to keep commenting on reddit but @ksbechto has cut me off. She says “I’ve done enough for one night.”

Ugh Bradley and Kellyn.  I guess it's good for them -- and gets them both out of the dating pool.  :)

[laurakaye]

59 minutes ago, Special K said:

Ugh Bradley and Kellyn.  I guess it's good for them -- and gets them both out of the dating pool.  :)

Wow, didn't see that coming.  Actually...it kind of makes perfect sense.  They're both in love with themselves.

[ByaNose]

I just read his exit interview with Gordon Holmes. I like him even less then I did before. If that's at all possible. He trashes everyone and said they are "getting really unrealistic edits". He seems like the biggest jerk. I can't imagine anyone wanting to be his friend let alone date him. Ugh!

Edited April 5, 2018 by ByaNose

[Special K]

59 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

What makes them a thing?  That Bradley said Kellyn cut him off?  A friend could do that.  ?

See here on Instagram:  "Separated by tribe, but not much else."  The ensuing discussion is about their relationship and the other two purportedly from this show (Jenna/Sebastian; Libby/Michael).

 

[Special K]

OMG from that interview regarding complaining about the "bad" beach:

Quote

My complaining, there was a strategic bend to it. I wasn’t complaining to complain. My strategy didn’t work, but I was trying to say, “It’s not your fault that you’ve been losing. The other place is like the Four Seasons.” They couldn’t sleep. It was so cold and windy. It was me being frustrated with the producers that it was so uneven. I was trying to complain to the producers. I’d say, “Don’t feel bad, this is why you’re losing.”

I imagine if you invite him over to your house, he'd be like, "wow, you live in such a crappy neighborhood, cheer up, that's why you're such a failure!"

https://my.xfinity.com/blogs/tv/2018/04/05/survivor-castaway-bradley-i-was-perceived-as-a-big-threat-in-the-game/

[ProfCrash]

Oh my god, he is even more awful then I thought. Although the idea of Chris being even worse then we think is slightly scary.

[LadyChatts]

I was dying for his exit interviews to come out and he didn’t let me down.  That reminds me of a contestant on TAR many moons ago that called one of the African countries they visited wretched and disgusting, but said she was actually talking about the government letting people live like that.  So kicking them when they’re down was his way of showing support while they tried to be hospitable?  What would have happened if Bradley wound on Malolo?  Walk off in protest?  How in the world is that strategy to trash talk their beach.

And he seemed fine with his edit last week when people were calling him out.  Can’t wait to hear Kellyn’s take on her edit!  Those two plus Chris have probably gotten edits they likely weren’t expecting.  It does warm my heart a little that he didn’t get the big threat edit and was perceived as an annoying little mosquito instead.  

Also his comment about Chelsea coming after him, I had a feeling she wasn’t as tight with Naviti over at NuMalolo.  I believed she was probably going along for the sake of numbers then.  Really curious to see what happens with her game.

Edited April 5, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

17 minutes ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

In his EW exit interview I was kind of starting to like him.  Then he said there was one person out there not playing at all and when asked who he lists 5!   Donathan, Libby, Jenna, Sebastian and Chelsea.   

I always hate the "s/he's not playing" complaint.  Thanks fer nothin, (Cutlass) Ciera.  Did it ever occur to the complainers that perhaps s/he is just not playing with you?  OR, probably even more likely, s/he is not playing the way you want them to.  It's such a self-serving complaint, goes right along with "they voted me out because I'm such a big threat."

He really does not like Donathan.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Special K

[LadyChatts]

He’s just a whittle bitter Betty who didn’t get his own way so he had to take his ball and go home.  I love it.  Morgan was as bad complaining about Angela, Chelsea, and Des, and I thought the same thing.  Maybe they just didn’t like her and didn’t want to play with her?  I actually think both Chelsea and Des have got game.  But since Chelsea was gunning for the royal prince, I can see where he’d say that about her.  See, you only have game if you do what Brad says.  

[Hera]

2 hours ago, Special K said:

He really does not like Donathan.

I noticed that, too (and agree with the entirety of your post). He seems offended by the woobie edit that Donathan is getting so far. And the thing is, Bradley might have a point—Donathan's background and lack of experience of other places don't automatically mean he's a nice person or that he's in any particular need of protection in the game. But the examples he uses—where Donathan was reluctant to go in the water to pull the lever after James struggled to do it, and then something about "doing stuff" to rice while Bradley was cooking it, which I didn't fully understand—don't really paint a picture of an "awful" person. The first one is a weird thing for Bradley to complain about in the first place. Donathan's reluctance to get into the water cost Malolo time and allowed Naviti—the tribe Bradley was on—to win the challenge. I cannot for the life of me figure out how Donathan sucking at a challenge in a way that probably helped Bradley (or, at worst, had no effect on him at all) would make him dislike Donathan.

[Special K]

1 minute ago, Hera said:

I noticed that, too (and agree with the entirety of your post). He seems offended by the woobie edit that Donathan is getting so far. And the thing is, Bradley might have a point—Donathan's background and lack of experience of other places don't automatically mean he's a nice person or that he's in any particular need of protection in the game. But the examples he uses—where Donathan was reluctant to go in the water to pull the lever after James struggled to do it, and then something about "doing stuff" to rice while Bradley was cooking it, which I didn't fully understand—don't really paint a picture of an "awful" person. The first one is a weird thing for Bradley to complain about in the first place. Donathan's reluctance to get into the water cost Malolo time and allowed Naviti—the tribe Bradley was on—to win the challenge. I cannot for the life of me figure out how Donathan sucking at a challenge in a way that probably helped Bradley (or, at worst, had no effect on him at all) would make him dislike Donathan.

It seemed like he was resentful of someone getting praise or credit for something he (Bradley) didn't think was hard or a big achievement.  Clearly he has no empathy for other people's struggles. 

And then the whole rice thing seems like a garden-variety control freak thing - just really petty.  The kind of thing that you hear couples bickering about and cringe.

[ByaNose]

He also doesn’t seem to like or care about Jacob either. He said all of the pre-merge is really close and they text 100 times a day except  for Jacob. Apparently, he’s not apart of the cool kids club. Someone had posted a picture of the 6 of them face timing with each other.

I’ve read his exit interviews and with RHAP. According to him only he & Kellyn were playing the game. Some of these players and their revisionist history drive me up a wall. Did you ever think “they weren’t playing the game” with you? He’s such an ass. I still think how he was on the show is probably how he 90% of the time in real life. 

[LadyChatts]

If Bradley was playing the game he'd still be in it.  Seriously, he got blindsided, he sucked, he'll forever be pre-merge.  Jacob does seem to have ostracized himself from the season.  He really didn't have a good experience.

[peachmangosteen]

4 hours ago, Special K said:

He really does not like Donathan.

Add this to the list of reasons to like Donathan!

1 hour ago, Special K said:

It seemed like he was resentful of someone getting praise or credit for something he (Bradley) didn't think was hard or a big achievement.  Clearly he has no empathy for other people's struggles. 

Honestly a lot of people here expressed this very sentiment, so I don't know if we can get on him too much for that. But naturally, he was more dick-ish than he needed to be about it.

[LadyChatts]

From that above interview:

Quote

Kleihege: I think Chris is getting a softer version of himself.
Holmes: He was more abrasive?
Kleihege: Yes…maybe more ridiculous.
Holmes: (Laughs) More ridiculous? I don’t buy that.

I'm kind of disappointed we aren't seeing the full egotistical comedy gold of Chris.

Here's another interview:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/survivor-ghost-island-bradley-kleihege-exit-interview-1100040
 

Quote

 

Michael was part of your plans? Was your rivalry overblown, then?

It was not overblown at the time. Michael and I did not get along at all in the beginning. It was so weird how strange the dynamic was at Malolo when we first got there. The original Malolos wouldn't sleep in the shelter with us. They wouldn't talk to us. The four of them went to the beach after the swap and cried. Me of all people, who isn't the most empathetic person in the entire world, went down there and said, "Guys, we haven't even lost yet! I just want to get to know you! Let's work together! Kellyn and I are very good at puzzles, so chances are good we might not even have to go to Tribal Council! Let's not be devastated with two days to go before we have an immunity challenge!" As a viewer, it looks like we shut them down and wouldn't talk strategy. We worked the four of them, day and night, trying to get one of them to flip with us. They just wouldn't. They wanted to stick together, the four of them.

 

Considering Bradley "strategically" was dissing their beach and Naviti made it clear they were sticking together, I kind of can't blame the Malolo's for not wanting to be one of Brad's stupid puppets.  This guy really has no self awareness and is a legend in his own mind.

Edited April 5, 2018 by LadyChatts

[LanceM]

Donathon addressed Bradley's comments about that challenge on reddit:

 

"I think it was more of I was never supposed to go down according to the Malolos when we were strategizing, I was never supposed to go down that deep. They called me to the dock, I was out of breath from just quitting smoking and taking in water, so if I would have went back in without catching my breath, it would have been useless anyways. To me, it felt like 2 seconds between getting out and going back in. It’s all about perspective and Bradley was not involved with any of the decision making and has no right to chime in on Malolo things."

[LadyChatts]

I can just picture Bradley at the reunion and questioning how the jury got the vote so wrong and start grilling the final 3 as though he can somehow change the outcome.

I’m thinking Brad hated his edit (regardless of what he says) and can’t think of anything else to say so he’s just criticizing anything that he can think of.  He does seem to like to butt in.  Still trying to play a villain?

Edited April 6, 2018 by LadyChatts

[Special K]

9 hours ago, LanceM said:

Donathon addressed Bradley's comments about that challenge on reddit:

 

"I think it was more of I was never supposed to go down according to the Malolos when we were strategizing, I was never supposed to go down that deep. They called me to the dock, I was out of breath from just quitting smoking and taking in water, so if I would have went back in without catching my breath, it would have been useless anyways. To me, it felt like 2 seconds between getting out and going back in. It’s all about perspective and Bradley was not involved with any of the decision making and has no right to chime in on Malolo things."

That explains a lot,

[mikewho]

Quote

That reminds me of a contestant on TAR many moons ago that called one of the African countries they visited wretched and disgusting, but said she was actually talking about the government letting people live like that.

I think you're talking about Kendra (who wound up winning). She was complaining about being in a third world country, how dirty it was, how it smelled, and regarding all the children around, said, 'And they keep letting them go on breeding and breeding!'

I was at that season's TARcon. Freddy and Kendra were the only team to not show up. One other racer, who I'd rather not name, said that they felt it was beneath them, and were 'not only elitist, they were racist.'

Bradley admitted he's not the most empathetic person around? What a shocker. Gee, ya think the others picked up on that? I've read here that Dom had to get rid of Brad because he was in cahoots with one of the women, but I just can't shake the feeling that just not liking him was a big part of his being voted out.

[ProfCrash]

I suspect that Dom knew that it would take a lot of work to manage Bradley and that it was only going to get worse as the season progressed. Toss in a tight connection with Kellyn and Des and Dom knew that Bradley was a danger to Dom's game, both in terms of a rival alliance and a general pain in the ass make everyone miserable.

[ByaNose]

Also, Bradley says that Jeff Probst told him he was voted out because he was a threat. Um, I hate to tell you but Jeff says that to everyone. This kid annoys me to no end. I just watched his Day After video and he’s even annoying there. He talks about how great he & Kellyn were at puzzles and the others were just there. That said, those two really must have hoooked up fast. The day after he’s voted out he’s still talking about her. It’s odd because they hardly worked together. 

[marys1000]

On 4/6/2018 at 6:02 PM, ByaNose said:

Also, Bradley says that Jeff Probst told him he was voted out because he was a threat. Um, I hate to tell you but Jeff says that to everyone. This kid annoys me to no end. I just watched his Day After video and he’s even annoying there. He talks about how great he & Kellyn were at puzzles and the others were just there. That said, those two really must have hoooked up fast. The day after he’s voted out he’s still talking about her. It’s odd because they hardly worked together. 

They worked together a lot.  It has been mentioned by other bootees in several exit interviews. 

 And they are really tight, probably romantically, in aftershow real life.  So yea, probably talking about her.  

[jay741982]

On 4/5/2018 at 1:43 PM, Special K said:

I always hate the "s/he's not playing" complaint.  Thanks fer nothin, (Cutlass) Ciera.  Did it ever occur to the complainers that perhaps s/he is just not playing with you?  OR, probably even more likely, s/he is not playing the way you want them to.  It's such a self-serving complaint, goes right along with "they voted me out because I'm such a big threat."

He really does not like Donathan.

I don't like what he said/Insuaited about Libby. It was Bascially "Hot women only know how to play by using their looks she got to go cause of her hot bod it's distracting"