Survivor Scandal Update: Who's Pierced?

As has been previously reported at AllyourTV.com and here at RealityNewsOnline, there was an error in the second-to-last immunity challenge of Survivor: Africa which could have drastically affected the outcome of the show. One of the questions at that challenge, which dealt with the previously voted-out contestants, asked which female contestant had no piercings. The only answer thought to be correct by the producers was Kelly. However, Lex answered Lindsey and it has now been alleged that this was also a correct answer, which caused the Survivor folks to pay out a settlement to two of the contestants (which, by our estimation here at RNO, must have been Lex and Tom).

RealityNewsOnline has been following up on this story. According to the AllyourTV.com article, “As you might expect, getting anyone involved with the show to comment publicly on this story has been an exercise in frustration. Thanks to the contract all of the contestants signed before they went to Africa, none of the people most affected by the problem are able to talk publicly.” Well, RNO writer Peggy Keller, who interviewed both Lex and Lindsey (actually, Lindsey twice), decided that frustration or not, she would give it a shot. She contacted both Lindsey and Lex, and Kelly for good measure, in order to see what they had to say about the situation.

As expected, Lex would not comment on anything regarding what might or might not have happened. Survivor secrets are like dealing with the Pentagon – they can neither confirm nor deny anything. However, Lex did note that nobody from the Internet press (or press in general) had contacted him about this before the AllyourTV.com article was published.

Kelly verified that she indeed was a correct answer to the question, as she does not have anything pierced. So Kim J. did get it right – at least that much is certain. Kelly added that she has heard no rumors about settlements, but their contract is so tight they sometimes aren’t allowed to even discuss things with each other.

However, the key issue is whether Lindsey has any piercings herself. While a lot of things may be covered in their Survivor contracts, it seems fair to say that they retain at least some rights to their own bodies. As such, Lindsey verified that she does not have any piercings either. So Lex did get the question right, but was not properly credited in the challenge. (It struck me as odd at the time that Lex, of all people, would miss a question dealing with body art.)

So where does this leave us? We know for certain that the producers were wrong in the basis of the question because two – not one – female Survivor contestants had no piercings. We know that while only Kim was credited with a correct answer, Lex was just as correct in his. Beyond that, we have only speculation. We can speculate that the producers would realize what a major screw-up this was and would therefore seek to pay some sort of settlement to Lex and Tom because things might have gone very differently had Lex been properly credited with his right answer (see our previous article for some thoughts on what might have happened). That speculation is bolstered by the AllyourTV.com article, which cites confidential sources in their discussion of a monetary payoff to those who might have been affected.

Until and unless somebody from CBS or Survivor is willing to explain what happened, that’s where we’re left right now. Tune back in to RealityNewsOnline for more information as the story unfolds.

Be sure to sign up for our e-mail update so you can stay informed about new articles on the site and be registered for giveaways and special offers! You can find all of our articles about this show at the Survivor: Marquesas Page, and take a look at our sections on Reality TV Interviews and Combat Missions. You can even buy reality show stuff at our Reality TV Store!

For even more news about reality TV, be sure to check out RealityTVFans.com, SirLinksALot and the Manly Man!