Post-<i>Survivor</i> Gretchen
The competition is getting down and dirty as Survivor heads into its final two weeks, reports CBS News The Early Show Co-Anchor Jane Clayson. There are only five contestants left on the island -- all of them from the original Tagi tribe.
One of this week's challenges has the castaways carrying volcanic mud out of an island pit. While those five vie for $1 million, many of the castaways that have already exited the island have gone from playing Survivor to playing a real-life version of Beat the Clock in an attempt to somehow extend their 15 minutes of fame.
Gretchen Cordy was clearly stunned when she was voted off the island in episode seven, but even more surprised by life after Survivor.
"I remember being on the island and Joel saying, 'Do you realize they think six million people could watch? Do you understand how big that is?' or whatever," Cordy recalls. "And I'm thinking, 'Six million, yeah, right,' and find out it's 23 million, 24 million people? It's incredible. It's incredible."
Re-entry to real life has proven to be quite a roller coaster. One minute, you're on TV's hottest show, hoping to strike it rich for a million bucks. The next, you're on your knees, cleaning out the vegetable garden. ("No tapioca. I still can't find it," quips Gretchen.)
And just days after a barnstorming media tour and a guest shot on The Late Show With David Letterman, it's back to scrubbing poop out of the birdbath.
Even though Cordy has been home in Clarksville, Tenn., for three months now, she's still puzzled by her sudden celebrity. A routine trip to the grocery store now requires an extra 20 minutes for autographs and chats with fans.
And if she has time between all the interview requests, maybe she'll show you her clippings from the tabloids.
"I think we're all blown away, but in different ways," she says. "I don't think Greg wants to have a lot to do with the whole media thing. And then there's people like Jenna and Sean and Gervase who can't get enough of it."
Indeed, Jenna Lewis is one of the most aggressive former Survivor contestants. She is thriving on her moment in the sun, with paid appearances at radio stations, and autograph sessions with her fans, and she always with an eye out for her next deal. (But she says she is "about 80 percent sure" that she is not going to pose for Playboy.)
Sean Kenniff is already a doctor but may get to play one on TV, if he appears on a daytime drama.
But Cordy has no agent and seems less concerned with cashing in. She says she'd just as soon go back to being a homemaker and preschool teacher.
She earned $15,000 on Survivor, most of which went to pay off bills and a car loan. She hopes to make a few bucks on the lecture circuit, but she claims she'd use that money to start a camp for troubled children.
Of her fellow Survivor contestants, Cordy says, "We all have a bond, even the people that you might have had a spat with or even people that voted you off, or people that voted for you. I think we all share something in common. It's like something that's bonding us for the rest of our lives, maybe."