Survivor Paschal Relates Experiences to Chamber of Commerce

Paschal English, 58, the Thomasville, Ga., judge affectionately known as "Pappy" during his time on Survivor, spoke last Tuesday night to my local chamber of commerce. How lucky is that? In my second week on my new job I not only get to do a great story for my new paper, I get the scoop on the Marquesas cast for RealityNewsOnline. I didn't have time to speak to the judge afterwards, seeing as how I was at the event with my editor and my publisher and had to hunt down some information for another story as well, but English's speech was worthy of a story in itself.

"I spent 43 days on the island of Marquesas, which is near the South Pacific," English said. "The island was chosen because it's he most remote spot in the world. After spending 43 days there, I have no doubt this is true."

English said he applied to be on Survivor because of his wife Beverly. "It was last summer and my wife, who regularly watches 'Oprah,' saw a show about the importance of making lists," he said. The two of them sat down to make their list of goals and No. 2 or 3 down was to be on Survivor.

"My wife said to be sure and put it on there," he said. "I had seen Survivor 1 and 2 and I was hooked on the show." Because of his age, however, he admits his first reaction was to think he couldn't do it. "We often sell ourselves short," he said. "After being on that island, I know what I'm about. I don't sell myself short anymore."

English said 150,000 people applied to be on his edition of Survivor, 450 were granted regional interviews, and 45 were flown to Los Angeles for the finals. "I had been in the service and the rigorous psychological training we got there didn't approach what we went through with Survivor," he said.

Even though the final contestants were kept together in the VIP lounge of LAX airport before flying to the South Pacific, they were not allowed to speak to each other. "The first talking we did was when we got off the boat," he said. "They didn't want us to do any bonding because they wanted us to create our own society as soon as possible."

English said a lot of people believe that the Survivor casts are being fed off-camera and allowed to use basic amenities, like toilets. That's far from the truth, he said.

"When we got to L.A., we were told what we could bring," he said. "One pair of short pants, one pair of long pants (for use at tribal council), one short-sleeved shirt and one long-sleeved shirt (for use at tribal council). One pair of underwear - for 43 days. One pair of socks and a pair of tennis shoes and a luxury item, which for me was an American flag." The list did not include a toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, a hairbrush, or toilet paper.

"Trees become real good friends," English said. "A lot of rashes developed." Even though the Marquesas season was taped right after September 11, the cast was told they would be notified of nothing unless the world ended or something tragic happened in their family.

English said sleep was a problem - most of the cast averaged about two hours a night. "You slept in the dirt," he said. "I didn't think it was possible to go to bed and wake up dirtier than before."

But worse by far was the food deprivation. "We were the first cast that the Survivor folks denied food to," he said. "We were told to eat what we found." The cast sustained on limes and coconut, which English did not know at the time was a natural laxative. "I think you can ask anyone in the Marquesas cast, and they will say they will never eat coconut again the rest of their lives."

The limes were used not only for food but for deodorant and a toothbrush. The cast also found an edible root growing in the water that was about the size of a radish by the time it was cooked and cleaned - and it was supposed to feed eight people. The cast also ate shellfish, which English said had the consistency of guts.

There was a doctor on the island, but only to make sure no one died. "Other than that you were on your own," English said. "We all became doctors pretty quick." English broke his finger during taping, which swelled up so much that he's now unable to remove his wedding band. He also "blew out" his knee to the point where it swelled up like a grapefruit.