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'Survivor' beckons two friends

Two Inverness hair stylists say they are ready for the challenge. But what do their husbands and children think?

By SHAWNTAYE HOPKINS
Published June 9, 2005

INVERNESS - She watched last season as Ian cited moral issues and leaped from a pole, relinquishing any chance of becoming the ultimate survivor to leave with $1-million. She watched the first tribal council, before Survivor became a household name.

And she's pretty much watched everything in between.

Now Jill Felthoff, 44, of Inverness wants to break from her role as diehard fan of the CBS reality show and become one of the castaways who endures a primitive lifestyle in a remote location for 39 days.

She and friend Ellen Spratt, 35, of Inverness plan to audition for the next season of Survivor today at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa.

Don't bother asking Felthoff if she's excited. The owner of Jagged Edge, a men's hair styling salon on Courthouse Square, she has been checking the Internet for nearby audition locations since the show's first season. There was just never an audition close enough, she said.

Now, CBS might as well be in her back yard.

"It's isolated. It's a challenge," Felthoff said of the show.

Felthoff is married and has two sons: Kody, 14, and Dalton, 12. Winning money on Survivor could help her send them to college. Still, Felthoff said, if she is selected, it may be hard for her family to cope with her long absence.

But her husband, Brock, supports her decision to audition.

"I think it's great, " he said. "We're reality TV junkies. We'd have Survivor parties if she was on it."

The couple has often rushed from Inverness Little League games to watch Survivor, Jill Felthoff said.

Spratt, who works at Jagged Edge, hasn't told her husband, Rick, about the audition. He'll probably find out after it's published in the newspaper, she said.

She has three children: Marissa, 14, Kaileh, 16, and A.J., 11.

Spratt admits she doesn't follow every season and episode of Survivor, but watches occasionally.

On the show, participants compete in challenges for prizes and immunity as they endure living without many modern conveniences. They build their own shelter and find their own food. Each week, a group called the tribal council meets to vote one of their fellow castaways off the island. When two survivors remain, a jury of those recently voted off decides who takes home the grand prize, $1-million.

Spratt welcomes the challenge.

"It's not really for the money," she said. "I think I just want to see how far I can go."

Spratt said she's persistent enough to win.

CBS officials don't release the location until the season begins.

"I don't care where they go," Felthoff said.

She's learned a lot from watching Survivor: lie low, be real, don't try to stab anybody in the back. She hates the arrogant ones, but said "those are the people you want to pair up with."

Spratt liked Rupert, a well-known Survivor contestant, because "he was true to himself." Felthoff added that he was also kind of cute.

Felthoff said she and Spratt would probably get along better with men because they work around them all day.

If selected, they also plan to fatten up so they have weight to spare on the show.

"I can hang with the 20-year-olds and the 60-year-olds," Felthoff said.

She would also like to be a contestant on other reality shows, such as CBS' Amazing Race and NBC's Fear Factor , on which participants are often asked to partake in repulsive tasks such as eating insects.

"I wouldn't do it on a dare," Felthoff said. But she would do it for the money.

Auditions are being held from 2 to 8 p.m. Only the first 350 people will be interviewed by the Survivor staff. Applicants must be at least 21, a U.S. citizen and in good physical and mental condition.

Applications can be downloaded at www.tampabays10.com

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:17:24]