Gareth

Written by charmed_dude from the blog Tribal Talk Party on 23 Nov 2006
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Gareth:

dane and gareth

Gareth... truely an amazing guy and amazing Survivor Contestant!

Gareth is the warm and friendly guy you see on Survivor; looks wise, he was no Archer’s Aqua model tonight, instead he was friendly and trendy Gareth enjoying the night and adjusting to his new found celebrity status.

Immediately upon meeting the Survivors I targeted down Gareth for a quick and impromptu photo and went off to the bar with him and ordered some drinks. There we chatted for a bit.

I tried to pose my questions as friendly questions and not sort of interview style format. So I introduced myelf, “Howzit, I’m Dane”. “Howzit, I’m Gareth,” he replied, “We’ll of course you know that!” It was quick chit chat before we launched into some Tribal Talk. He asked what I was here for, “are you from the press?” He asked. “Hell no! Me?” I replied, I smiled. “No, I’m the winner of the TVSA Survivor Competition.” Gareth smiled and congratulated me. We quickly spoke about each other giving each other a quick update on one another and become more familiar with him and him with me. I told him what I did and he informed me that his a doctor in Sunninghill. I told him I went a private school in Suninghill for my last two school years. We chatted about Joburg for a while and him being a doctor.

The conversation flowed with ease. There were no tense moments, awkward silences or attitude from Gareth. Gareth was able to really engage in conversation and just kept smiling! Something very few celebrities have, In fact Gareth doesn’t even regard himself as a celebrity he told me, “This whole thing is actually all new to me.” Despite telling me that it’s been three months since his been on the show, Gareth informed me that once he returned to Johannesburg he was back to his normal life with his job and experienced no real difference compared to prior-to-Survivor-life. He admitted that there were certain differences, but nothing hectic which made him regard himself as a celebrity or achieve celebrity status! Boy is this guy modest! Prior to being on Survivor, Gareth also boasts being an Archer’s Aqua Model and guest starring in Egoli in May 2006. Gareth informed me that this is his first actual ‘Public Publicitised Appearance’ before that his just been himself, good ol’ Gareth! Gareth told me that according to instructions from the show and show producers, Gareth was instructed to actually keep a ‘low profile’.

Gareth was very modest. He admitted to feeling weird and uncomfortable in this situation- as it was his first. I friendly reminded him that as the evening progressed he would become more comfortable with it. He smiled and said, “You right I probably do have to get used to it.”

We started talking about the show, by now Gareth’s drink had arrived and so had mine but we continued to very informally chat. We spoke about the show. Gareth asked what do I think about the show… A question all three Survivors asked me. Could M-Net have stipulated this question into their contract for marketing purposes to improve on next season’s Survivor? I again congratulated him, on always winning immunity and many other challenges. I told him that I really and truly believed that he was going to be the Survivor and the episode he missed the reward and immunity challenges, I missed aswell. I expressed my condolences and assured him that I thought he was a fit sole Survivor and displayed characteristics throughout the show that entitled him to that tile;) In my mind Gareth got voted off on Sunday evening, but for Gareth it was a while back- three months. However the memory remained fresh and later when I asked him “How did you feel when you were voted off so close to the end?” Gareth replied, “Horrible! It was a really horrible feeling.” The guy was genuinely upset by this but I assured him that you are, just like all other Survivors a survivor by just partaking in the show for so long!

Gareth was then whisked off for a picture by the lovely Sharon Bezuitenhout, and told me that we would chat later.

The VIP area in 80s was very small, in fact a small sundeck and we kept running into each other and taking various pictures and Gareth was always willing to smile and make quick chit chat before being taken away by another fan.

We kept chatting throughout the evening and later taking more and more pics. The conversation varied from Survivor to other topics such as myself, what do I do, what does he enjoy doing and this whole night itself. Gareth admitted he was tense and could be seen but Gareth was a natural and begun easing into it as he met and spoke to more and more people throughout the night.

We sat, very informally on the outside tables (so was half the VIP’s there) and chatted again. Gareth had always struck me as interesting person on Survivor. However I felt more comfortable and I could tell him too talking about other things as well such as his surfing and him being a doctor. His life, has it changed has it not changed. Gareth believes to some extend he is the same person that he was prior to Survivor but later admits that he has learnt a lot that Survivor has taught him that he will take on with him forever. Aspects of the show have shaped and changed him, not too much though!

Gareth’s worst moment no doubly had to be him being voted out of Survivor SA he told me. I told him that I was unfortunately not to see it as I had missed that episode, he replied, “I’ll tell you Dane, it was Horrible and awful. Horrible, a real horrible feeling.” I asked him had he regretted the game and how he played it. Gareth had played the game to the best of his ability and told me that his weakness was alliances which shot him in the foot and resulted in his demise of the game. No doubt Jacinda’s name emerged in the conversation, but Gareth managed to pull it off without any hard or tough feelings. He knew it was only a game and knew the rewards consequences and the actions involved. I gently reminded him of a quote he said in the an earlier episode, “When we get to the final four, we agreed that all bets were off.” He smiled and laughed.

Gareth seemed to be very comfortably only when really talking to Brigitte and Lezel opposed to meeting many strangers although the VIP areas wasn’t overcome with only Survivor fans, there were other VIPS and Gareth, Lezel and Brigitte weren’t worshiped, idolised, followed and irritated by fans. It was a relaxed environment. Gareth went to different groups of people and opened up conversation, it was really easy to strike up a great one with Gareth. I enjoyed chatting to him and never thought chatting to a “celeb” would be that interesting.

The rest of the evening I photographed Gareth, Lezel and Brigitte together as well as Gareth chatting with fans in and out of the VIP areas and all around.

Gareth fans enjoy Gareth’s pics. The guy is an awesome guy, someone who if I was stuck on an Island would become big friends with and meeting Gareth was really a great opportunity. Thanks TVSA!

*This is the edited version of tonight* There is a longer and extended version in my memories and experience but there is only so much that I can remember and type as well! There were times I wanted to play Veronica Mars and whip out the pen and pad but thought that it would ruin the social conversation by turning it formal!

*?* Got any Q about meeting Gareth? Does he smoke? What Does He Drink? Is he a ladies man? Etc
P.M Me and I’ll gladly answer it and add it to this post!