While Danny Gokey supporters around Milwaukee feverishly vote for their favorite singer to advance on "American Idol," fans of the area's "other" reality contestant of the moment are hoping that she doesn't get "voted off the island."
Erinn Lobdell, a 27-year-old Waukesha native who works as a hairstylist and makeup artist at Glow Salon and Spa Downtown, has made it through the first five "tribal council meetings" on "Survivor: Tocantins," which is the 18th installment of the popular CBS series.
Lobdell is competing on the Timbira tribe, which includes her on-air nemesis, "Coach" (Ben), Tyson, Brendon, Sierra and Debbie. The other tribe, Jalapao, features Stephan, Joe, JT, Taj and Sydney.
The episode Wednesday night was a "highlight" show, so none of the competitors saw his or her torch extinguished. A new episode is slated to air next Thursday.
Because of confidentiality agreements, Lobdell and other contestants are prohibited from talking (especially to the media) about the on-going competition until they are either voted off the show or win the $1 million grand prize.
OnMilwaukee.com did catch up with Lobdell about 10 hours before the show's season premiere on Feb. 12. Here is a snapshot of that conversation, which took place while Lobdell was picking up snacks for a viewing party at her parents' home:
OnMilwaukee.com: You are entering your last few hours of anonymity. In a few hours, you'll be famous and your name will forever be changed to "Erinn from Survivor."
Erinn Lobdell: That's true. This is the last time I'll be able to get away with going out and not wearing any makeup.
OMC: But, there wasn't any makeup in the jungle ...
EL: Definitely not. I was probably uglier on the show than I ever will be in real life. I'm a little nervous about that, especially because it's in HD this year. To see myself in HD with all my bug bites will be a little weird.
OMC: Just how rough was it out there? Are we talking about using leaves for toilet paper? Is it extreme camping?
EL: It was bad. You really don't have anything. The only thing you are supplied with is a machete. Everything you do, you do on your own. If you can't come up with it, you don't have it.
The conditions were harsh, harsh, harsh -- 120 degrees during the day was typical. It would get hotter than that some days. It would get down to 50s and 60s at night and we would be freezing. Then, rainy season started. so, you would have days and days of rain or five days where it was super, super dry.
The conditions were crazy whether you were in the game or out. if you're voted out, you stay the whole time. Even when you had the plush base camp, it was still harsh, harsh weather.
OMC: The people at "Survivor" are pretty good at keeping secrets. How many people could you tell that you were doing the show?
EL: I definitely had ... you can get clearance for some people to know. I have to tell my mom where I'm going, or she is going to flip out. My family knew. My boyfriend knew. There were definitely a few friends that knew where I was.
OMC: What about work?
EL: I had moved away. I was living in Louisville for a year. I had just moved back and i was leaving again to go and do the show. I couldn't say, like, "I'm going on vacation." I was trying to keep clients.
We had to make it something where they knew I was definitely coming back. At work, we told everybody I was doing a reality show. We just didn't say anything about which show it was. A lot of people thought I was doing that haircutting show.
EL: Pretty quickly. I have a different last name than the one I used in high school, and I look really different. Unless you really knew me well, it kind of takes somebody being like "Oh, that's Erinn" to realize it's me. It hasn't been too crazy, but I definitely get a lot of Facebook ads.
OMC: Why did you have a different last name? Were you in the Witness Protection Program?
EL: Going through school, I always used my stepdad's last name. I just never got it legally changed. By the time i was out of school and working and (needed a) drivers license and all that stuff, I had to use my legal last name. We had always planned to have it changed, from the time I was five years old. We just never did.
OMC: How did you get chosen for the show? Did you audition?
EL: I didn't audition. I was recruited. There is a lot of ... among big "Survivor" fans, people hate recruits. People like recruits. There is ... people don't get super-excited about people that were recruited. The difference between me and most recruits is I'm not a model. I'm not an actor.
OMC: So, how did they find you?
EL: I was at the Kentucky Derby. I was eating with some friends and a girl walked up to me and said "Hey, i think you're cute. Do you want to do this show?" I'm a fan of the show. I'd seen enough of it to tell her, "No." We talked about a few other things and she said, "Let me get your number, anyway. Just think about it." She called me a couple weeks later and I said "You know, yeah, I can totally do this."
I'd seen enough of it. There was nothing I couldn't do. So, I decided, yeah, absolutely, let's give it a go.
OMC: While you were living in the jungle, getting eaten by bugs, did you ever think to yourself "What am I doing?" I could have gone on "The Bachelor" and stayed at a nice place ...
EL: A lot of the reason I said no in the first place is that reality TV is not something i wanted to be a part of -- less the bugs and being outside and everything else. I didn't know if I wanted to have my life out there for the world to see.
The thing I came to with "Survivor" is that it's not about my personal life. Yeah, your personal life gets into it a little bit, but it's really about the experience you're going through. I was kind of going through some personal stuff where I needed to do something like "Let me see how tough I am. Let me see if I can do this on my own and by myself. Let's try it out." I would never do "The Bachelor." Are you kidding me?
OMC: When will you be allowed to talk to us again?
EL: When I'm voted off or I win $1 million.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
