Survivor

ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER VOTED OUT
February 1, 2001

In a tense night at Tribal Council, 32-year-old Kel Gleason, an Army Intelligence Officer from Ft. Hood, Texas, was voted out of the Ogakor tribe in a unanimous 7-1 vote. Done in by a tribe that didn't trust him, Kel acknowledged that his military background may have been an obstacle as he tried to adjust to the group dynamics of his non-military tribemates.

Jerri Manthey, the fiery actress from Los Angeles, got the ball rolling against Kel when on day 5 she accused him of cheating at the game of Survivor. Jerri suspected that Kel had smuggled beef jerky into the Outback and was eating it behind his fellow tribemembers' backs. "Quite frankly, I believe her," stated seven-foot-tall singer/songwriter Mitchell Olson, even after they searched Kel's bag and found no evidence supporting Jerri's indictment. But Maralyn "Mad Dog" Hershey did not agree, and felt an apology was in order. (

Whom doesn't Mad Dog trust? ) For his part, Kel vehemently denied eating anything but blades of grass that he had picked up along his hike. Trying to make peace, he confessed to having a quiet personality, which may have made it difficult for the tribe to get to know him, and offered them the use of his luxury item, a shaving kit. The skeptical tribe accepted his offer, but it was too late: right or wrong, their fragile trust in Kel had been splintered.

After he was voted out, Kel confessed, "I knew from day one it was going to be hard for me to fit in. I tried, I really did."