Survivor




	ALICIA		AMBER


	ELISABETH		COLBY


	JEFF		JERRI


	NICK		KEITH


	RODGER		TINA


	DEBB		KEL


	KIMMI		MARALYN


	MICHAEL		MITCHELL

RODGER BINGHAM

Married

Teacher

Crittenden, Kentucky

Bible

Rodger's Final Chat
April 23, 2001 11:00 AM PST

CBS Moderator: There are tons of great questions, so let's get started!! If you're just joining us, we're chatting live with Rodger Bingham. To ask Rodger a question, please type it in the space below and click "Ask the Survivor." We'll get to as many of your questions as we can. Let's get started!!!

Hi Rodger. Thanks for being here to chat with us today.

Rodger Bingham: Hello everybody! I would like to thank everyone for their support; it's been very overwhelming. For me, the Survivor experience--and this may sound corny--it truly was an experience of a lifetime!

kentuckygirl: When you first arrived in the Outback, how far did you think you would go?

Rodger Bingham: Well, I always felt that if I could make it to the merge, that I would have a good chance to make it down to the last few people. I went there with the intention of giving it my very best shot.

georgetownKYlovesu: Rodger, first off, as a fellow Kentuckian, you did an excellent job of representing KY while in the Outback, and we are proud of you regardless. What was the one thing that you missed most while in the Outback?

Rodger Bingham: Without a doubt, the thing I missed the most was my family! There was never a day that I didn't think about them. Nick, of course he was the Harvard man, he would always keep a calendar. So when I would ask him, "What day of the week is it?" and if I knew it was a Sunday, my family would be in church. Or if it was a Monday, my wife was doing the wash and my kids were in school.

AlbertoPena: Rodger, what new character trait did you develop during your stay in the Outback?

Rodger Bingham: As far as a character trait that I learned--I learned really that I was not as good at playing the game (the actual Survivor game), in which sometimes you have to lie to make it to the final Survivor. I felt I was not very good at that.

Sheila: Rodger--Way to go! You did an amazing thing out there. What is the most valuable lesson you learned from this whole thing?

Rodger Bingham: The most valuable lesson would probably have been that my survival skills were better than I thought. I thought myself and Mike were the two best of the actual survival part of it. And, it made me feel that if a situation did occur like that, then I would do pretty good!

pogo: Rodger, have you lived in Kentucky all your life? You must have gotten a lot of your survival skills from growing up in the mountains and hunting?

Rodger Bingham: Yes, I lived in Crittenden all my life, as have my parents, my grandparents and my great-grandparents! Where I learned most of my survival skills was growing up on the farm (I lived on the farm all my life) and really, I'm sort of amazed at the things I took for granted, and the things that I knew that the folks that grew up in the city didn't know.

RodgerBstrong: Dear Rodger, What was your strategy--to stick to Elisabeth all the way? What if you two were in the final two, what would you do then? Share the money, perhaps?

Rodger Bingham: My strategy was just to try to make it as far as I could. As far as Elisabeth goes, Elisabeth always reminded me of my daughter in the Outback. We were fishing together, probably anywhere from 3-4 hours together every day, so we had a lot of time to talk, and I know a lot about her family, and she knows a lot about mine. If it came down to me and her, one of the rules was that you can't share the money, so the jury would have to decide between the two.

Biff_Jerky: Rodger, what you did for Elisabeth was the most amazing act of self-sacrifice I have ever seen. Would you say your faith and thoughts of family kept you strong in the Outback?

TGW0501: Rodger--We know your Bible was your luxury item. Why did you choose this? Did you have a certain scripture that motivated you and would keep you inspired throughout the game?

Rodger Bingham: Yes, I definitely would! Of course my Bible was my luxury item, and the first day I read it in the Outback, I turned to 1 Corinthians, chapter 13--and that chapter dealt with Love and love for your fellow man. And I found myself reading that every time I got the Bible out. I was always reading that chapter. And that was either chapter 11 or chapter 13; I don't quite remember.

Razorback: Rodger, you inspired me with your prayers and the fact that you took your bible. How did everyone react to this in the beginning?

Rodger Bingham: I think everyone out there treated me with respect. They really didn't show this on the air, but early on, almost every member of the Kucha tribe would ask me, at one time or another, to borrow the Bible. And they would take it out to the Outback and sit down and read it. And also--they really didn't show this--almost everyone took turns to say a prayer before we ate. And I made it a point not to bring it up, 'cuz I didn't want them to feel that I was pushing religion on them.