Who Was the Last Survivor?

N E W   Y O R K, May 3, 2001 -- Tina Wesson, the sweet-talking nurse fromTennessee, joined Richard Hatch in the Survivor millionairesclub on Thursday.

The 40-year-old mother of two from Knoxville outlasted ColbyDonaldson, the heartthrob Texan, to become a future pop-culturetrivia answer as the winner of the Outback edition of television'sfavorite game show.

Wesson watched live in a Los Angeles studio as the votes fromfellow contestants were counted and she was the winner.

"Oh, my God," she exclaimed after winning the 4-3 vote.

She was hugged by Donaldson, whose final miscalculation — picking Wesson to be the finalist with him — ultimately cost himthe million-dollar prize. Donaldson won $100,000.

Keeping the Winner a Secret

While not the phenomenon the original Survivor was lastsummer, the series has been a ratings giant again — and agiant-killer against NBC on Thursday nights. CBS already has plansfor a third edition to air in the fall.

Once again, the network managed to keep the show's winner asecret, despite filming last fall.

This time, fewer people were trusted with the secret. The finalvotes were to be counted live on the air Thursday; even thecontestants weren't sure who would take the $1 million prize.

Host Jeff Probst carried a container with the final votes into aLos Angeles studio for the count.

"I never thought I could get this far," Wesson said when shewas one of the three remaining contestants with Donaldson and KeithFamie, the chef from West Bloomfield, Mich.

Her fellow contestants knew better, praising her strategy insurviving although Donaldson won five straight immunity challenges.

"She really played the game," said fellow contestant AliciaCalaway. "It wasn't winning seven or eight challenges to get thisfar. It was using her brain. She's a smart woman and I think shedeserves it."

Oddsmakers had installed Wesson as the slight favorite goinginto the final night. She smiled sweetly, spoke with a twang butmanipulated quietly until she was the last woman standing.

‘Naked Fat Guy’ Missing

Macho Texan Donaldson, 27, said he enabled Wesson to join him inthe final two because they became very close in the Outback. Famie,the chef who couldn't cook rice to anyone's satisfaction, was votedout after losing the final immunity challenge — a trivia quiz aboutthe ousted contestants.

None of the three made quite as indelible an impression asHatch, the "Naked Fat Guy" from the original Survivor whoschemed his way to victory.

Nor was the final show as dramatic as the summer's ending, withSusan Hawk's now-legendary "rats and snakes" speech. The closestwas when Jerri Manthey said both Wesson and Donaldson hadmanipulated others to get to where they were.

"I want them to look at what they've been forced to become inthis game versus who they claim to be in their real lives," shesaid.

Back in Knoxville, Wesson's grandparents, uncles, aunts andcousins gathered at a Mexican restaurant with other fans to watchthe finale on a big-screen TV.

Wesson's aunt, Gail Woods, said her niece has "the sweetestpersonality. Her nickname is Sunshine. She has just always had asunshine disposition. She could make lemons into lemonade."

Actually, Hatch and Wesson aren't the only Survivormillionaires. So is executive producer Mark Burnett, likely severaltimes over.

Celebrity Survivor in the Works

Burnett revealed that the third Survivor, which will beaired this fall, will be set in Africa.

CBS is also considering a celebrity edition. Comedian RayRomano, actress Kate Hudson and Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant haveexpressed interest, CBS President Leslie Moonves told AccessHollywood.

Fifty-one million Americans tuned in to watch the finalSurvivor episode last August, second only to the Super Bowllast year. Survivor: The Australian Outback wasn't likely tomatch that number and, unlike last summer, viewership slipped asthe weeks went on.

Still, Survivor has usually been the week's most-watchedprogram, even though it usually competed against first-run episodesof NBC's hit sitcom, Friends.

Coupled with CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, scheduledimmediately after it at 9 p.m. ET, Survivor made CBS the firstserious challenger to NBC's dominance on Thursdays in almost twodecades.