Gervase Peterson

Gervase Peterson (born November 2, 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was a contestant on Survivor: Borneo, the first edition of the popular CBS reality television series Survivor, which premiered in May 2000, and was the highest rated American series during the summer of that year. Peterson returned in 2013 to compete on Survivor: Blood vs. Water and ultimately ended up in 3rd place, receiving zero jury votes.

Survivor

Borneo

During the original Survivor season, Survivor: Borneo, Peterson worked only when necessary, and was able to successfully preserve much of his strength until the individual challenges in the later rounds. Although at times it made him appear lazy, he claims that this was part of his strategy. As a member of the Pagong tribe, Peterson was one of the first Survivor contestants who was forced by circumstance to eat cooked rat for sustenance. In one episode, he made a disparaging remark about women, stating that "nothing is dumber than a woman, except maybe a cow." However, his teammate Joel Klug laughed so hard that the comment was attributed to him, and the female members of Pagong voted Klug off at the next opportunity. After the two tribes merged into Rattana, Peterson (like all the remaining members of Pagong) did not realize that former Tagi members Richard Hatch, Kelly Wiglesworth, Rudy Boesch, and Susan Hawk had formed a voting alliance until the Pagong faction had been outnumbered and outmaneuvered. The Tagi alliance, along with former Tagi member Sean Kenniff, eliminated Peterson.