Although Taj and Erinn outlasted all of the other women to make it into the round of final four, J.T. and Stephen eventually turned on Taj to send her packing from the game before J.T. won the final challenge, stuck to his word, and took Stephen into the final Tribal Council instead of Erinn.

The morning after J.T. Thomas was voted the winner of Survivor Tocantins in a unanimous decision by his tribe mates, we caught up with both Taj and Erinn on a conference call to learn more about their individual strategies, what they would have done differently, whether they had any worries about Exile Island, and if either Taj or Erinn had their votes set in Survivor stone before they went to the final Survivor Tocantins Tribal.

THE DEADBOLT: If J.T. hadn’t accidently spotted the hidden immunity idol in your bag, were you and Stephen planning on adding him to your alliance anyway?

TAMARA TAJ JOHNSON-GEORGE: Oh, yeah! Actually, when I had placed it in the bag, I went to the bathroom and it just so happened that by the time I came back from the bathroom he had come out of the water and looked in the bag. But when I came back, we had planned to sit him down and tell him all about it. I told Stephen earlier that day that I wanted to tell him [J.T.] about it, because in my mind I was thinking I needed to solidify J.T.’s vote before Joe came back from Exile.

“Survivor: Tocantins” winner James J.T. Thomas Jr. said he wants it known that while he may have some big plans for his million-dollar winnings, he intends to return to his life and job in the Mobile area.

Thomas manages an operation with 112 head of registered Angus cows, along with 70 calves that are a year old and 60 calves just a few months old. He also manages 700 head of cattle in Lowndes County near Montgomery.

 
“I’m going to try to set up some college funds for my nieces and nephews,” he said. “I plan on investing the money wisely and maybe go into business, maybe with Stephen.”

After the show and the reunion, there was a red carpet, where us press-types got to talk to the final four about their experience and either winning or losing, and in some cases what they thought of the larger than life personality known as Coach.

After the hugs and kisses with their family, they were whisked over to the photo station, where the jury and the final four all took plenty of photos. I was across the way and watching, but couldn’t make out any of what was being said. It seemed like the contingent from Tocantins was giving JT some sort of wooden box as a gift. He seemed pretty honored, and Probst made a big deal during the commercial break about the folks from Brazil and how generous they were to let them film there, so that seemed fitting.

The first person to hit my section of the line was Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George, who was accompanied by her husband Eddie George. They are seriously adorable. I hate to say it like that, but how else can I explain Taj (who looked so amazing and was just beaming) and her enormous NFL star husband who was wearing a white and pink t-shirt (that said “team Taj”) to support her? He barely left her side all night, and happily walked the press line, not as a football player promoting his team and career, but as the dutiful husband who happily told anyone that he was so proud of his wife. A colleague and I were saying that we’d love to watch a reality show with the two of them, and would not be surprised if they turned up some place together very soon.

             
Everyone has a crush on J.T.  It’s just the way it is.  He’s one of those rare dudes who effortlessly pulls everyone in by sheer force of personality.  Anyone who claims to dislike J.T. is bitter or jealous or both, and are only masking their own latent crush on the Alabaman cattle rancher.  As great a guy as James Thomas Jr. is, however, he’s not a terribly interesting person.  He’s a simple, down-home man.  Great to have a beer with, not-so-great to psycho-analyze.  J.T. led a blind-side parade throughout Survivor: Tocantins and, yet, did not inspire the usual pettiness from the jury.  Again, it’s just the kind of guy J.T. is that, even after he played a part in orchestrating the elimination of all the jury members, he’s still held in high regard.  He’s a genuine guy, hard-working and pleasant.  It was impossible to be mad at him, and that’s why the jury gave him the unanimous vote. 

You have to give CBS credit – they wrung out about as much drama as was humanly possible out of a finale whose outcome felt more or less predetermined.  Going into the night, J.T. was the favorite.  Everyone assumed he was going to win, and he won easily.  Yet, the two hours stayed entertaining, mostly thanks to the underrated Erinn Lobdell, who played a desperately shrewd game until the bitter end.  Erinn could not have done any more.  She managed to plant seeds of doubt in J.T. and Stephen’s minds without ever coming across as desperate or malicious.  Her performance in the finale makes me wonder if Erinn played a more integral part in her self-preservation (or, in Erinn’s own words, “self-perserverence”) throughout the entire season.  

Last night, on the season finale of Survivor: Tocantins, JT and Stephen continued to run the game by blindsiding Taj and then voting Erinn out at the followin tribal council.  With immunity around his neck, JT stayed true to his word, bringing Stephen to the finals with him.  In only the second time in Survivor history, the votes in JT’s favor were unanimous and he walked away with the million dollar prize.  Today, the two women voted out of the game just shy of the finale spoke to reporters in a conference call.
 
Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Taj, going into the game, how much of you was planning on keeping the fact that you’re Eddie George’s wife and a former pop star a secret from the other players?

A. Taj: You know what was funny?  During that four hour trek in, I decided to be as honest as possible.  The people I was on the tribe with had no idea who I was but I knew that Timbira knew all about me.  I knew that if I lied at that point, it would hurt me at the merge.  As we walked to our camp, my tribe asked me what I did and I said I was an author, and I was.  They asked me if I was married and I said yes.  They asked me what my husband did and I said he worked for Fox Sports, which he does.  I was as honest as I could be at that point.
 
Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Erinn, in that final tribal council, Stephen’s case for the million was that he really grew throughout the competition and learned to survive on his own.  Wouldn’t that have been your case as well, had you made it to the end?

A. Erinn: That was definitely part of my experience there.  I think that JT really said it best.  Growth is irrelevant.  It’s a really great side effect but it definitely would not have been my argument.  I think my argument would have been how I was able to adapt over and over again and how I was able to keep myself in the game as long as I did. 

Read on to see what Taj and Erinn had to say about their experiences on Survivor…

ET talks to “Survivor: Tocantins” runner-up Stephen Fishbach, who reveals his shocking weight loss, his thoughts on “Coach” Ben Wade and his biggest regret.

ET: How does it feel to know all these people have been watching your adventures?

Stephen: It’s such a different experience to watch it and to live it. When I left, I felt more changed by the ’survival’ part — it’s a little weird to see it on television and just all of that stuff has been removed; it’s just a game of pure strategy — but of course that for me was what I was better at, so I’m happy it doesn’t show more of me struggling in the wild. It’s cool, it’s like seeing a photo album of an adventure you and your friends went on.

ET: What did you take from the game?

Stephen: I just realized how resilient I am. Going out there I did not expect -surviving the elements and not eating for a month — I didn’t know I could do that.

ET: I would probably drop dead in about three hours.

Stephen: That’s the thing, everybody says that. If I could do it, believe me anyone could do it. I knew if I wasn’t out early, I could make it. I said to myself if I’m out here for 14 days I’m a success. To be part of the final two, I was obviously thrilled.

“Survivor” was an Emmy also-ran for four years before being dropped from the lineup of nominees two years ago in favor of “Top Chef.” How ironic that a show that starves its contestants was replaced by a culinary competition. And adding to the twists of Emmy fate, last year “Survivor” wrangler Jeff Probst won the first Emmy bestowed on a reality show host while “Amazing Race” leader Phil Keoghan was not even nominated.

“Survivor” took over the time slot of that perennial Emmy champ time on Sunday night. The finale of this one-time ratings juggernaut — which stretched over three hours — proved strong competition for “Desperate Housewives.” “Survivor” is ranked 17th for the season, attracting about half the viewers of top-rated “American Idol.” That musical competition has been bested by the much-lower-rated “Amazing Race” at the Emmys for six straight years. And just as that show is enjoying a critical resurgence this season, so too is “Survivor.”

In a near-repeat of the Survivor Gabon finale, the nice guy won $1.1 million in the finale, winning both the jury’s vote and viewer votes for fan favorite. But unlike Bob Crowley, JT Thomas won unanimously, becoming only the second player in the show’s history to do that (Survivor Fiji’s Earl Cole was the first). It was a good ending and outcome for a strong but not quite spectacular season.

JT did not, however, expect to win unanimously, nor did he expect to win. He just told me that he expected the final vote to be “4-3,” and “thought for sure Stephen would have at least three votes.” JT said, “I was really worried,” and that his decision about taking Stephen to the final two with him—instead of the last-remaining Timbira tribe member Erinn Lobdell—would have been “a lot easier” if he’d had an idea it would be such an easy win.

JT cited his friendships with the jury, although he noted that “Stephen also made really good relationships” and together they were “the two most-liked people, according to fellow cast members.” But JT said “Stephen got more parnoid than I did” and the “final Tribal Council really went in my favor.”

Stephen was the first person JT hugged after Jeff Probst read the votes.

Taj best summed up JT’s victory, arguing that no one ever proposed voting for him and his name “just never came up because he was too sweet,” and said, “you just can’t find anything wrong with him.”

Part of his smart game play was that he never let that manifest itself as cockiness or arrogance — pretty much the exact opposite of this season’s larger-than-life player, Benjamin “Coach” Wade.

Coach was the opposite of shy, always talking himself up, but JT never came close to that. There’s a reason why JT outplayed and outlasted Coach, who never would have won against JT, Stephen, or Taj — or arguably, even Erinn.

Sometimes, the smartest player isn’t the person who constantly says they’re the smartest player, but the one who just shows his true self through his actions.

As always, the final votes are read live from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City. I miss the old days, when Jef Probst would arrive by helicopter or parachute down into the city with the dramatic tribal music playing behind him.

I love the reveal of the Survivors on live TV. Who’s gotten fat? Which ladies look worse with make-up on?

Eddie George in the house. J.T. has gained some weight back, and Stephen is still rocking the beard, looking very nerdy. Here are the votes (remember, the jury voted for either J.T. or Stephen):

J.T.
J.T. (The Warrior)…definitely Coach’s vote
J.T.
J.T.

Wow. That’s all that was needed.

James Thomas, Jr. wins one million dollars. Congratulations, sir, you deserved it.

Survivor is returning to the South Pacific for the eighth time, as its 19th season will be filmed in the island nation of Samoa. It’s in the same cluster of islands as Fiji, the Cook Islands, and Vanuatu, while Micronesia, Palau, and Borneo are not far away.

Survivor Samoa will be taped this summer and air early in the fall, following the show’s typical schedule. At the end of the live Survivor Tocantins reunion, Jeff Probst revealed that it will have 18 cast members, but there were no other details.

Stephen feels an enormous weight taken off him with JT’s win. Stephen says that it would be such a scumbag decision to take Erinn and having that taken away from him is a good feeling. Erinn tells JT that she won’t get any votes from Timbira but she might get one from Taj. He asks her if Stephen would have taken her and she says he did say yes to her. She mentions that he is very eloquent. Erinn says that it would be honorable of him to take Stephen, but if he wants to win, he will take her. JT speaks with Stephen and he says that it isn’t true that he would take Erinn, and sentiment can’t get in the way. Stephen doesn’t think that JT will take Erinn, and he says that he will win this. JT says that his mom told him when he left not to do anything stupid, and to blow something on the trust of someone he has only known for 39 days is stupid.

The three go to the final tribal council and the jury enters. Brendan, Tyson, Sierra, Debbie, Coach, and Taj.  Jeff tells JT he has earned his way to this spot. Erinn says that she told him that the votes would go for him with her, but she won’t go down without kicking and screaming. Stephen says that their long term committment to each other and promises, and their loyalty. JT admits that he thinks that he has a better chance against Erinn than Stephen. JT places his vote.  Jeff reads the vote. Erinn is voted out and leaves. Stephen is in shock. Coach places his fist in the air in triumph and Debbie smiles.

Erinn says that she is glad to have lasted as long as she could and she felt that JT was going to choose Stephen.

JT and Stephen awake on day 39 speaking about their friendship. Since the beginning of the game they spoke from day 2 of final two. They have breakfast of eggs, avocados, fresh fruit, bread, sausages, and they cook it all right and eat it under the big umbrella. They open a bottle of champaigne and toast to the final two. They say it tastes like victory. They discuss first impressions of each other. Stephen thought that they wouldn’t get along because their backgrounds were so different but their minds were so in synch.  They pack up camp and dress for their trip out. They look back at camp and clasp hands.  Stephen says that he is not going to give up without a fight.

The “Survivor: Tocantins” season finale began with three Jalapao tribe members remaining (JT, Stephen and Taj) and only one Timbira tribe member (Erinn) left in the competition. See who got the final immunity necklace, and which contestant became the sole “Survivor,” winning $1 million.
JT got immunity after the four contestants raced through a tarantula obstacle course and completed a web shaped puzzle. Though it looked like Erinn may win the challenge, JT’s head start worked to his advantage.
At the tribal council JT and Stephen turned against their team member Taj and decided to vote her off the island, thinking that Erinn was easiest to go up against in the end. “I lost focus in the game and that cost me the game,” Taj said of her being voted off.

 
At some point, most parents stand by while someone else coaches their children. We don’t always get to choose those coaches which for the most part,  works out fine., But there are times when the kids  (or the parents) have  a problem with the coach:, If they are young you can step in but what about once they are older? I couldn’t help wonder about that as I watched Benjamin “Coach”” Wade on Survivor this season. Watching his arrogance and his joy in manipulating others I wondered just how the parents of the girls he coached were feeling. Had they let this man have any influence on their children and was he really that self absorbed in real life? Sadly, the answer is yes.

While Coach seems to find it hard to distinguish truth from fiction, one thing that was true: he was a coach. In fact he was the head coach of Southwest Baptist University’s women’s soccer team .I say was because his contract was not renewed because he just took off to be on Survivor without getting permission and/or a replacement.

Here we go, Coach is opening his mouth. He asks both men who thinks they played the most honest and noble game. I think Steve’s vote against Coach at tribal will hurt him here. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed that Coach didn’t go off into the nether reaches of metaphysics in his moment on center stage. Is he losing his edge? Sierra questions JT as to why he claimed he was taking strong competitors with him to the end, when Steve, whom she considered a weak competitor, was sitting with him in the final two. JT’s response that he did believe in Stephen’s strength doesn’t seem to satisfy her, and she appears to be voting for Steve.

Tyson, asks JT if he could have made it as far without Steve. JT says that he could have, and Steve is hurt by these comments. I’m not sure which way he’s going to go. Finally, Taj steps up and lets out all her wounded feelings, asking for an explanation. Steve makes an effort to make it look like JT had been gunning for Taj for a long time. And finally, we see the wedge driven between Steve and JT. JT is clearly hurt by what Steve has said, both about Taj, and taking Erinn to the final two. Steve, for his part, feels like JT has been making digs at him all night long. Kind of a boring final tribal council, I think, but it was kind of interesting to see Steve and JT fall out a bit at the end. In my mind, I think that JT charisma carried him past Steve’s rhetoric tonight. My money’s on him for the win.

  For the last time this season, votes are cast, and we flash forward to New York City, where Jeff carries the urn containing them on stage. The assembled final two and jury of seven, await the tally. Again, JT jumps out to his early lead, and never looks back-he is your unanimous winner.

by Jackie Schnoop

(S18E14) Well, tonight was it for Survivor Tocantins. It’s hard to believe that the 18th season of the show is a wrap. Why, wasn’t it just a few years ago that Richard Hatch was the evil fat naked gay guy and all the talk around the watercooler? We’ve progressed a lot during those nine years. This season we stepped up the game to include a naked skinny Mormon crude dude and a delusional coach. So, how did things go down tonight? Read on.

Just the skinny

I want to talk more about how I feel about the season, but I’m aware that some folks might be reading this to find out exactly what happened. So, here are the facts in a nutshell:

Jalapao joy as the Jalapao Three rule the game after voting off Coach.

Bits of betrayal weave their way into conversations. Everyone thinks that JT will win it all with the jury.

The first immunity challenge had them scrambling through a giant spider doohickey and (but, of course) putting together a puzzle. JT won, although Erinn was very close.

Erinn tried to work her mojo with the boys.

Sigh. Betrayal. JT and Stephen vote out their ally, Taj. They think that they have a better chance of beating Erinn in the final immunity and with the jury if it comes to that. Poor Taj.

Stephen and JT realize that Erinn is a chatterbox and they must kill her vote her off.

The final three do the Rites of Passage Walk. I forgot Carolina was on the show. Coach’s bit was still very annoying. He just doesn’t stop.

The final immunity challenge was actually something a bit different and kind of nifty.

It was kind of like catching balls on Hot Wheel track loops. Lots of dexterity and concentration were needed as they built up the number of balls in the tubes. Then it started to remind me of Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate factory.

Erinn was out first, followed by Stephen. Once again, JT wins immunity.

More betrayal was afoot as Erinn tried to drive a wedge between the boys.

In the end, JT remained true to his word and took Stephen to the final two.

By Paige Wiser

The vote for J.T. was unanimous, and there haven’t been many earlier winners as popular. (I still have very fond feelings for Ethan, though.) This season played out like one big “man date” between Stephen and J.T., the city mouse and the country mouse. They dreamed together, they plotted together, they reminisced about the beginnings of their friendship… Yes, Stephen proved to be weaselly at the end, saying he wouldn’t take J.T. to the end, but that would have been the smart thing to do. Who cares about the million dollars? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

By LINDSEY WARD

Immunity Challenge No. 1: Controlling little balls that roll down an obstacle course with one hand tied behind your back sounds like the easiest final immunity challenge ever. Turns out it’s harder than it sounds — but JT obviously had the hand-eye coordination to come out with yet another win. Hmm … now who does the ranch man want to sit next to before the jury?

Tribal Council No. 2: Ha! Stephen’s strongest argument for getting JT to take him to the finale is that they had planned to have breakfast together on the final day — and it would be unfair if he broke their promise and kept Erinn around instead? Ha! JT didn’t seem convinced, making it seem as though choosing to keep Stephen wouldn’t be a wise move (indeed) since he’d have a much better shot at getting jury votes than Erinn (indeed). But in the nature of the game — which is to do the opposite of what would normally make sense — JT ousted Erinn. Breakfast back on.

by MEGAN MASTERS

Alabama cattle-rancher James “J.T.” Thomas Jr. came out on top of the Survivor: Tocantins finale, chosen the unanimous winner at the final tribal council. The million-dollar prize came on the heels of a nailbiting finale that repeatedly played out in J.T.’s favor.

As if a million bucks wasn’t enough, Jeff Probst named the 24-year-old champ the fan-favorite and recipient of an extra $100,000. On top of all of his winnings, J.T. was seemingly untouchable throughout the entire finale, winning the immunity idol twice tonight and earning all seven votes in the final tribal council.
So how did J.T. acquire all of the bragging rights? Here’s what went down during the final days in Tocantins:

The first immunity challenge had the final four battling to put together a 3-D puzzle. It didn’t look like much of a competition as Erinn Lobdell took the lead, but in the last minute J.T. pieced it all together and won the immunity idol.

Erinn seemed to be the odd person out because of the Jalapao tribe alliance between the other remaining finalists, Stephen Fishbach and Tamara “Taj” Johnson-George. To the shock of everyone—especially Taj who just minutes before had said, “I know these guys have my back”—Stephen and J.T. chose to keep Erinn around for the final challenge.

“I got blindsided,” Taj confessed. “If Erinn finds a way to weasel her way into the end she’s got my vote.”

BY ALEX STRACHAN

After all the blindsides, the petty bickering, the behind-the-scenes machinations and the broken alliances, it wasn’t even close.

The title of sole Survivor, 2009 edition, and the winner of $1 million US in Survivor Tocantins: The Brazilian Highlands was James “J.T.” Thomas Jr., an affable cattle rancher from Samson, Ala. who used equal parts charm and physical prowess to earn his place in Survivor’s hall of fame.

Thomas swept the Survivor jurors’ votes in outwitting, outplaying and outlasting his nearest rival, New York corporate consultant Stephen Fishbach, who finished second.