Stephenie LaGrossa
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| Survivor contestant | |
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| Stephenie LaGrossa-Ward | |
| Date of birth | December 6, 1978 |
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| Resides | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Season(s) | Palau Guatemala |
| Finish | 12th voted Out (Palau) Runner-up (Guatemala) |
| Tribe(s) | Ulong, Koror (Palau) Yaxha, Nakum Xhakum (Guatemala) |
Stephenie LaGrossa-Ward (born December 6, 1978) was a contestant in Survivor: Palau and Survivor: Guatemala. In Survivor: Palau, she was the last Ulong member standing before she was subsumed into Koror. She was also one of the most popular players ever to play the game, with her popularity peaking at 97% (her final popularity ended at 92%).[1] Stephenie is currently an In-Arena host for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL.
As the youngest child and only daughter to Stephen and Marguerite LaGrossa, her name was a variant of Stephanie, yet spelled so it would look like her father's name. She grew up in Glenolden, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School in 1998, and she went to Temple University, before transferring to Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. She was a four-year starting varsity lacrosse player at both schools, a multiple Northeast Conference All-Conference and Academic Honor Roll selection, and captain of the team in her senior year at Monmouth. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing and management.
Stephenie is a former territory sales representative for a pharmaceutical sales company and now models and makes personal appearances. On July 7, 2006 she married longtime boyfriend Michael in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, the same town where they originally met. The couple currently live in Toms River, New Jersey. On September 13, 2006 she was named Philadelphia Flyers In-Arena Host for all of their home games for the 2006-07 season.
In addition to her Flyers in-arena hosting duties, LaGrossa serves as a spokesmodel for 2bBrazil Swimear Line and Easy Straight by Haime Munoz hair products. She has also appeared as a guest host for the TV Guide Channel, acted on the soap opera Guiding Light and been featured in People, Us Weekly and In Touch magazines and on various television and radio shows including Opie and Anthony. She also is one of the bloggers on the official Survivor website segment entitled "Survivors Strike Back".
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[edit] Survivor
[edit] Survivor: Palau
She was the last member standing of Ulong when she defeated Bobby Jon Drinkard in an elimination challenge. After receiving instructions to do so, she brought the stuff from Ulong rowing to Koror. She then gave up her Ulong buff and got a new Koror buff. She came extremely close to being voted out in Episode 10 when most of the tribe was conspiring to eliminate her, but she was spared elimination when in a shocking move, Janu Tornell laid down her torch and quit the game.
During the subsequent days, she, along with Jennifer Lyon and Katie Gallagher, floated the idea of an all-female alliance. This did not materialize because of Caryn Groedel, and at the following tribal council (in Episode 11), Stephenie was unanimously voted out, becoming the third member of the jury, eventually voting for Tom Westman for the title of Sole Survivor in the final Tribal Council. In her final words, she said that she was "totally psyched", having made it to the final 7 when she thought she was a "dead man walking" coming into Koror. But despite her seventh place finish, she was considered one of the most memorable and popular survivors, due to her physical strength, likeable character, and the fact that she outlasted an entire tribe.
Stephenie became the second person after Kelly Wiglesworth (Survivor: Borneo) to change her vote in tribal council. She is the very first person to change the vote twice in one season. First, from Bobby Jon to Angie when 5 Ulong members remained in the game, then from Ibrehem to James when 4 Ulong members remained in the game. Stephenie attended all tribal councils in the game (whether as a player or as a jury member) except Koror's tribal council at which Willard was voted out, and the impromptu tribal council at the final immunity challenge, giving her the record for the most tribal councils attended by a single player in one season.
[edit] Survivor: Guatemala
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In one of the bigger twists of the 11th season of Survivor, Survivor: Guatemala, Lagrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard returned as players to the game. As the show progressed, viewers saw a less favorable view of LaGrossa as she took on a harsher strategy that required her to vote out some of her members in her alliance during the merger. These members were Judd Sergeant, Jamie Newton, and Cindy Hall. Many[who?] claim the show was edited to make her look like a more villainous character, a stark comparison to her sweetheart persona in Survivor: Palau, but whether it was true or not, the claims managed to make some justice as her popularity soon became neck to neck with Danni Boatwright in the road to the Final 2. Despite this, LaGrossa remained incredibly popular among the viewers, as her popularity ratings were among the highest, beaten only by Bobby Jon Drinkard and Danni Boatwright in the later episodes.
In the final 3, Boatwright, who had won the immunity during an endurance challenge, chose to take LaGrossa instead of Rafe Judkins. Her decision, it seemed, was swayed by the fact that Judkins let her out of the promise that if Judkins could bring her to the final 3, they would take each other to the final 2. Despite this, Judkins voted for LaGrossa to be the Sole Survivor and his vote turned out to be the one and only vote for her in the sea of votes that came from what people[who?] perceived as a rather bitter jury.
In what was probably the most memorable moment of the season, Judd Sergeant lambasted LaGrossa in his question to her on the 39th day in which the jury members were to ask the final 2 castaways a series of questions before they chose who was more deserving of the one million dollars. He was quoted as saying that he "promise that I (Sergeant) would never vote for you (LaGrossa)", and sticking true to his words, he voted for Danni to win, as did the other 5 jury members.
LaGrossa finished as runner-up, losing by a landslide 6-1 vote to Boatwright in the final 2.
[edit] Post-Show career
Despite a variety of perceptions from viewers on what kind of person LaGrossa really is, almost no one denied that she came across as one of the stronger people to ever appear on Survivor. She quickly became the one to beat during challenges and looked to have formed the dominant alliance right from the start. When she married her longtime boyfriend, Michael Ward, on July 7, 2006, eight of her fellow former Surivor contestants attended. (Tom, Rafe, Amy, Jenn, Caryn, Ian, Cindy, and Gregg.)[2] Currently, she is working on a swimsuit-fitnesswear line with Brazilian-based brand 2B Brazil.
[edit] Quotes
- "So long Ulong!"
- "We had a great lead, we just suck at puzzles," upon Ulong losing the final immunity challenge on Palau.
- "Why can't I be on a great team?"
- "Jealousy will get you nowhere." To Lydia, after Lydia blasted one of the three clay pots in Stephenie's name in the variation on the "coconut chop" introduced in the fourth season.
- "...in Palau I seemed to be the perfect princess, this time I was competitive and sometimes the bad guy. I played competitively both times. I think there is a happy medium to me. I’m not perfect or horrible. I’ve always had to work hard for everything I’ve gotten in life. I went in to bust my butt and I hope people can respect me for that. I played the game the way it was designed to be played..."[3]
- "Coming into the game, I didn’t think I would get far. But when I did, there were only two people who were blindsided on the jury. After Jamie and Judd were in the jury, it became obvious that I was the right person to take to the end – back at Jury camp, one bad seed spoils the bunch. That was when it became obvious I couldn’t win."[3]
- "Be the Best, Beat the best!"
[edit] References
- ^ Popularity Results. Survivor: Palau. CBS.com.
- ^ Survivor's Stephenie LaGrossa Gets Married. People.com (2006-07-12).
- ^ a b "I Played the Game the Way It Was Designed to Be Played": An Interview with Survivor: Guatemala’s Stephenie. Reality News Online (2005-12-12).
[edit] External links
- Stephenie LaGrossa at the Internet Movie Database
- CBS Bio
- Official Site
- Stephenie's Philadelphia Flyer's Job Announcement
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| Text in green indicates that castaway was also a member of Survivor: All Stars | |||
| Borneo | Australian Outback | ||
| Rudy • Colleen • Richard • Sue • Sean • Gervase • Jenna • Stacey • Kelly | Rodger • Amber • Alicia • Colby • Keith • Elisabeth • Jerri • Michael • Jeff • Tina | ||
| Africa | Marquesas | Thailand | Amazon |
| Clarence • Tom • Lex • Ethan | Rob • Neleh • Hunter • Tammy • Vecepia | Helen • Brian • Shii Ann • Clay | Rob • Jenna • Christy • Heidi • Matthew |
| Pearl Islands | Vanuatu | Palau | Guatemala |
| Rupert • Jon • Sandra | Ami • Chris • Twila | Bobby Jon • Katie • Stephenie • Kim • Janu • Tom | Danni • Bobby Jon • Gary • Rafe • Stephenie |
| Panama | Cook Islands | Fiji | China |
| Dan • Aras • Terry • Danielle • Cirie • Misty • Shane | J.P. • Yul • Ozzy • Jonathan • Parvati | Yau-Man • Earl • Dreamz • Rita | Jean-Robert • James • Todd • Amanda • Ashley |
| Micronesia | |||
| Yau-Man • James • Ami • Jon • Cirie • Amanda • Ozzy • Jonathan • Parvati | |||
