Survivor winner says she took huge gamble
The latest winner of the CBS television reality show "Survivor" says she gambled when she quit her job in Van Buren so she could be on "Survivor: Samoa."
The gamble paid off for Natalie White, 26, when it was revealed Sunday that she won the competition and $1 million.
"It was a huge gamble," she said by telephone. "It was a scary gamble. it was a job that I loved. but big risks equal big rewards. you get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, you're crazy not to take it.
White won by a vote of 7 to 2 from the panel of former Survivors. Texas oilman Russell Hantz, White's closest ally during the game, grumbled to several media outlets that he was robbed of the castaway crown.
"That's what I hear," said White. "I won fair and square 7 to 2. People will always underestimate me, which is fine. that worked out to my benefit in this game. we will be friends in real life. we really will. you don't share this kind of experience with everybody.
"I killed a rat and ate it," she said. "It's the first thing I've ever killed. I ate lizards. I ate snails."
White said the competition to survive was as strenuous mentally as it was physically. Sleep deprivation was a major obstacle.
But, White said, she's a stronger person for having survived Samoa.
"It'll change your life for the better," she said of the competition, not referring to the $1 million prize.
White said she missed her boyfriend, Justin Thomas of Van Buren, who is also a pharmaceutical sales representative, during her stint in Samoa.
White graduated from Bryant High School and attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro for two years. She earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from the University of Central Arkansas in 2005. She is the daughter of Ken and Diane Powell of Bryant.
White said she's not sure yet what she will do with the money.
"I have the check," she said. "It's in my bag. It's crazy."
White said she doesn't know what the future may bring. "At this point, I'm definitely planning on staying in Arkansas, but if other opportunities arise, I'll look into it," she said.
Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, arkansasonline.com
