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Lakeland Man Is Trying To Survive In Brazil

CBS

Spencer Duhm. the youngest contestant ever on 'Survivor,' says being on the show is 'a dream come true.'

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By WALT BELCHER

wbelcher@tampatrib.com

Published: February 12, 2009

Spencer Duhm says he has a tendency to obsess on things sometimes.

For much of his childhood and teen years, for example, he was a "serious, hard-core fan" of the Florida State University Seminoles.

The fixation began at age 7 when he happened to catch one of the Seminoles' classic gridiron battles with the Florida Gators.

It subsided when he left his hometown of Lakeland to enroll at the University of Florida in 2007 for "academic reasons." He says UF has the kind of telecommunications courses that he wants.

But Duhm's obsession with "Survivor" - that started when he was 11 - isn't over. And at 8 tonight, he makes his debut as one of the 16 castaways on "Survivor: Tocantins - The Brazilian Highlands."

"This is a like a dream come true," he said in a telephone interview. "I've been watching this show since it started and I was in the sixth grade."

Launched in 2000, "Survivor" was a huge ratings phenomenon during its first few seasons. Since then it has settled in as a respectable reality series, usually ranking in the top 20 in the ratings.

On tonight's 18th round, Duhm (pronounced Doom), becomes the youngest contestant in the show's history. He was 19 when the series was taped this fall. Last year, producers lowered the age for eligibility to 18.

"If nothing else, I will be a future trivia question," he says. "It's an honor to be the first teen on the show and there's some pressure to represent young people."

Duhm is the first contestant from Lakeland and only the second contestant from the greater Tampa Bay area. Jan Gentry, an elementary school teacher from Lutz, was on the fifth edition, "Survivor: Thailand."

A sophomore and former member of the UF rowing team, Duhm also is one of the few openly gay castaways in the show's history.

Duhm, who came out in college, says he doesn't make a big deal about his sexual orientation and his friends and family have accepted it.

Notable gay castaways on "Survivor" include Richard Hatch, who won the first season, and Todd Herzog, who won "Survivor: China" in 2007.

Duhm graduated from the International Baccalaureate School in Bartow and is studying telecommunications at UF. "I would like to go into sports broadcasting and maybe one day work for ESPN," says Duhm, who excelled in soccer.

He had to temporarily withdraw from UF and drop out of the rowing team to travel to Brazil for the taping that began in October. He says he can't reveal anything that happened on the show. He's back at school now and planning a big watching party for tonight.

He notes that the Brazilian rainforest is spectacular. He says he never heard of Tocantins (pronounced "To-can-cheens). His competition includes a Montana soccer coach, a cattle rancher, a former MTV executive, a Los Angeles model, a former rock singer and a multimillionaire.

About his playing style, he says it would be impossible for him to fly under the radar because he is by nature an outgoing, talkative kind of person.

A student of the game, he's all about the strategy and the art of "outplaying" the others.

TUNE IN TONIGHT

"NAACP Image Awards," 8 p.m., Fox

The group honors achievements in literature, theater, film, music and the arts.

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