Chris Daugherty

Daugherty was born August 29, 1970, and grew up in West Jefferson, Ohio. He attended Madison-Plains High School near London, Ohio, and then attended Kentucky Christian College for two years. Some of the first jobs he ever held include heavy equipment operator, for his father's drainage company, and sporting goods store employee. He eventually went to work for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) as a road builder.

In 2004, Daugherty competed on Survivor: Vanuatu, the ninth season of the American reality TV series Survivor. As part of the all-male Lopevi tribe, Daugherty endangered his position in the game in the first immunity challenge. Daugherty failed to cross the balance-beam in the challenge, which led to victory for the all-female Yasur tribe. The more athletic members of the Lopevi tribe campaigned for Daugherty to be the first to go, but he formed an alliance of unathletic men—sometimes referred to as the "Fat Five"—led by Lea "Sarge" Masters and also consisting of himself, Travis "Bubba" Sampson, Rory Freeman, and Chad Crittenden. This alliance controlled the numbers and targeted the younger players, voting out Brook Geraghty at the first Tribal Council. Lopevi then went on to win immunity in the second episode.

In episode three, both tribes were informed they would be going to Tribal Council. When John Kenney won individual immunity, the "Fat Five" alliance targeted John "J.P." Palyok and he was voted out. When Lopevi lost immunity in the next episode, the alliance once again got rid of another younger male, Brady Finta. In Episode Five, a tribal shuffle resulted in the "Fat Five" losing Sampson and Freeman to Yasur and gaining two women, Twila Tanner and Julie Berry. This new-Lopevi tribe won the next two immunity challenges. This, however, meant the loss of Sampson as the women of Yasur voted him out. When Lopevi lost immunity in Episode Seven, Daugherty, Masters, and Crittenden recruited Tanner and Berry to vote out the last younger male, Kenney (who, in his farewell speech, expressed his desire to see Daugherty win the game).

The two tribes would eventually merge into the Alinta tribe. Daugherty, Crittenden, and Masters reunited with old ally Freeman. This four-man alliance believed that Tanner and Berry would side with them. However, those two ladies joined their old Yasur allies Ami Cusack, Leann Slaby, Scout Cloud Lee and Eliza Orlins to vote off Freeman, when Masters won immunity. The six-female alliance then targeted Masters voting him out next, with even Daugherty casting a vote for him to let the women know he was a team player. The female alliance stuck together once again and voted out Crittenden over Daugherty.

At that point, it seemed like Daugherty's time in the game was over, as he was the only surviving male. However, his performance and determination in the immunity challenge caused Cusack and her alliance to keep him around one more episode while planning to vote out tribal annoyance Orlins. But Tanner and Lee, not happy with their positions in the game, hatched a new plan. Together they approached him about a new alliance. Daugherty, Tanner and Lee lured in Orlins, the next target, and this new alliance successfully eliminated Cusack's closest ally Slaby. The cross-tribal alliance targeted Slaby because Cusack would not surrender immunity.

Cusack, knowing her days were numbered, tried to convince Orlins and Daugherty to join her and Berry in an alliance against Tanner and Lee. While it seemed as though Orlins might defect, in the end she stayed strong and the four voted out Cusack. Daugherty then struck a deal with Berry and Orlins to vote with them against Tanner. However, at Tribal Council, he sided with Tanner and Lee once again to vote Berry out instead, because she was too well liked by the female-dominated jury and because she had previously betrayed him at the merge by voting out Freeman.

In the "final four" finale, Daugherty again convinced Orlins that he was in an alliance with her, despite his obvious alliance with Tanner and Lee. He decided she was a flip-flopper and too much of a risk, and voted her out. Then he won the final immunity, securing him a place in the Final Two. Comments by Lee at the challenge led him to believe that Tanner would not have been true to him and their Final Two pact, had she won. He confronted Lee about the issue, and she said she didn't have a Final Two alliance with Tanner, in the hopes that he would spare Lee instead of Tanner. At Tribal Council, Daugherty voted out Lee, choosing Tanner to join him in the Final Two.

In the end, Daugherty beat out Tanner in a 5–2 vote to become the Sole Survivor.[1] He gained the votes of Masters, Crittenden, Slaby, Berry and Orlins and only lost the votes of Lee and Cusack. Many of his votes came from female jury members who were able to look past his gender and recognize his strong gameplay against the unpopular and controversial Tanner, whom he was well-aware had made many enemies in the game.

In 2007, Daugherty was mentioned by author Lamont Lindstrom in his essay about Vanuatuan life and culture. In it, Lindstrom suggests that Daugherty's victory, despite being outnumbered six-against-one at the Final Seven, has many parallels with particular myths of matriarchy in which women ruled ancient societies until the female ruling class tore itself apart, thus allowing the men to take power.[2]

After his appearance on Survivor, Daugherty returned to his home in South Vienna, Ohio, and his construction job at ODOT.[3] On February 13, 2005, he married his fiancée Lorie Groves (who made a brief appearance on the show during the "loved ones visit") in Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. That same year, Lorie was diagnosed with breast cancer. The Daughertys fought her disease together, and after her recovery, they became involved in various forms of charity work, helping out cancer patients and autistic children.[4]

Also in 2005, Daugherty asked for vacation time from ODOT to participate in a European promotional tour for Survivor. As he had too little vacation time left, he submitted a doctor's note that claimed Daugherty needed one month off from work due to anxiety and depression. He was suspended from work for 20 days without pay after investigators discovered it was just an excuse to appear at Survivor-related activities abroad.[5] ODOT has offered to reduce the suspension to 15 days if he agreed not to file an appeal, but he refused.[6] After disputing the suspension, an Ohio arbitrator ruled in Daugherty's favor and he was reimbursed his pay for the 20-day suspension.

As of 2012, Daugherty was still working for ODOT, as a project inspector.[3][4]

• Official CBS biography page