Celebrity: Life’s a Beach
It’s 10 a.m. at the Times Square Marriott Marquis, and Gervase is waiting in a long conference room with five other “Survivors” (once you have been on Survivor, the show, you are always referred to as a “Survivor”) to take their turn signing autographs on the faux island CBS has set up, complete with plastic palm trees and jungle noises, on the island in the middle of Broadway. It’s the Pontiac/CBS “Survivor: Search in the City” dual promotion, and General Motors is giving each Survivor a Pontiac Torrent, which they will drive for the next two months while hoping to be photographed even more than usual, since those who take photographs of the Survivors and send them to CBS have a chance of winning five Torrents (“for your tribe”). The buzz amongst the survivors is that the one who is photographed the most in his or her Torrent will get a $50,000 bonus. “It’s just like a reality show,” I whisper, when the publicist is describing the rules. “Everything,” Gervase responds, “is like a reality show.”
The other Survivors present treat him, at 35, like a sage uncle. “I’m actually really surprised I got called to be in this,” says Erin, a thin, tan Texan from Survivor: Thailand. “I mean, with Boston Rob, and Rupert, and you? I mean, people know who you are,” she tells Gervase. Her perfectly lined eyes widen. “People know who you are, too, Erin,” Gervase says warmly. Unlike the other cast members of Survivor: Borneo, who are regarded by the reality community as thinking they are better than everyone else, Gervase is known, in the reality family, as a man of the people. It’s who he is, but it’s also part of his strategy — his likability was what kept him on Survivor, and it’s part of what keeps him in this game, too.
The conversation eventually turns to Kill Reality, the absurdly meta E! Entertainment series, which stars a group of notorious ex-reality stars playing themselves filming a movie of ex-reality stars. “It’s, like, the worst thing ever,” says the publicist.
“Yeah, I was in that,” says Gervase. Although he doesn’t entirely approve of that crowd, he rarely says no to a paid appearance. “Those girls — Trishelle, Jenna Lewis and Tonya? They’re like ho bags. It affects all reality stars. We’re trying to have a career, and they’re peeing on each other. Who’s going to hire you for something real after that?”
“It’s exposure, though,” ventures Erin from Thailand.
“Yeah, it’s exposure,” Gervase sighs, wearily.
In reality world, exposure is a much-valued thing. After all, visibility breeds more visibility. Nothing begets nothing. “To do this business, you’ve got to be a promoter. You have to be seen. You have to be everywhere,” Gervase says. Which is why — talk of ho bags aside — he’ll pretty much do anything, as long as the price is right.
“Playboy, they pay those girls six figures to take their clothes off. I’d do it.” He laughs. “I got the same shit everybody else got, but Playgirl don’t pay no six figures. If you gonna put a staple through my navel, you’d better pay.”
