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Brad Virata

The TVClubHouse: Survivor ARCHIVES: Survivor XIII - Cook Islands: Contestants: Brad Virata users admin

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Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 7:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kaili a private message Print Post    


29
Los Angeles (Originally From Seattle)
Fashion Director

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 2:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kaili a private message Print Post    
Brad Virata was raised in the small town of Oak Harbor, Washington, just outside of Seattle. The youngest of five children, he excelled at track, football and volleyball during his teenage years.

Virata received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in international communications from the University of Washington and was an active member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Shortly after graduation, Virata traveled throughout Europe and Asia working as a model. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion and attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He began working in couture clothing sales and clothing design merchandising for Guess? Men's Division. He spent five years with the company and helped launch the clothing line "Los Angeles Denim Atelier." He currently works as the Director of Men's Merchandising for Lucky Brand Jeans.

Virata is an avid beach volleyball player and surfer. His hobbies include weight training, running, rollerblading, power yoga, beach volleyball and international travel. He is most proud of giving back to his community through work with organizations such as AIDS Project Los Angeles, Project Angel Food, Starlight Foundation and the Big Brothers Program of Los Angeles.

Virata is single and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with his Boston terrier named Maxx. His birth date is November 23, 1976.



Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Friday, August 25, 2006 - 8:07 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Another cute one.

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Friday, August 25, 2006 - 12:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kaili a private message Print Post    
Ffavorites

Colors- Kelley Green
Scents- Lavender, vanilla, orange
Flowers- White phalaenopsis orchid
Board Games- Pictionary
Video Games- No favorite
Sports to Play- Beach volleyball
Sports Teams- LA Lakers
Outdoor Activities- Rollerblade, volleyball, hike
TV Shows- Will & Grace, Project Runway, Queer Eye, American Idol
Movies- The Shawshank Redemption, Finding Nemo, Chocolat
Actors- Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Adrian Brody
Actresses- Charlize Theron, Meg Ryan, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore
Music- Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, Madonna, 50 Cent, Bloc Party
Magazines- Details, GQ, Men's Health, Angeleno, New York Times
Books/Author-s No favorite
Cereals- No favorite
Fruits- Pineapple, orange, blackberry
Snack Foods- Soy chips, apple chips
Cookies- White chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Candy Bars- Boule on La Cienega chocolate
Alcoholic Drinks- Cristal
Non-Alcoholic- Fresca Pomegranate

Kaili
Member

08-31-2000

Friday, August 25, 2006 - 12:28 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Kaili a private message Print Post    
I think that he's either gay or a very feminine straight guy- not the typical man's man answers. Specific orchids, his favorite shows and music are NOT the typical male interests...I get that he has a career in fashion- that may explain some of the magazines he's into. Just the stuff listed here is very kind of (hard to explain) I don't know- what guy lists "Boule on La Cienega chocolate" as a favorite candy bar?? I never even heard of it! The open shirt in the picture too- but then maybe it's just the whol fashion industry thing.

Tntitanfan
Member

08-03-2001

Sunday, September 03, 2006 - 3:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tntitanfan a private message Print Post    
Most gay guys nowadays are out of the closet - I would think especially in CA! However, my gaydar went off as well - we shall see!

Alittlebirdie
Member

09-08-2006

Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 3:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alittlebirdie a private message Print Post    
Gaydar?! I'm dying!

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Thursday, September 14, 2006 - 10:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
ROFL!! My gay friends say I have EXCELLENT gaydar and it's going "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!" teehee Plus, his answers are ummmm... quite interesting if he is a str8 guy. :-)

Chy
Member

07-19-2003

Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 11:02 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Chy a private message Print Post    
It's not easy for Asian gays if your parents are not willing to face it. They could ask you to move out of town and not to talk about it, or just preened they have no idea till the day they die.

Chy
Member

07-19-2003

Sunday, September 17, 2006 - 11:33 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Chy a private message Print Post    
Sorry, shoulda say, just my opinion. I don't know the man. Think he's gayish, but I have no clue.

Ah, there's a misspell in my previous post.
preened is pretend.

Lycanthrope
Member

09-19-2002

Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 10:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lycanthrope a private message Print Post    
He is gay. I saw or read something that confirmed it. Not that that really matters, unless someone here is thinking about hitting on him.

He seems very intelligent, and very much a gameplayer. I think he can make it a long way, and until he does something that I don't like, I'll root for him.

Alaginger
Member

07-11-2002

Saturday, October 21, 2006 - 6:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Alaginger a private message Print Post    
Will Survivor's Brad Virata Outplay, Outwit, and Outlast?

by Josh Aterovis
AfterElton.com - 10.18.06

Throughout Survivor's long run, the reality show has never shied away from gay contestants. Over the years, five openly gay men have schemed, struggled and battled it out in the tribes competing for the million-dollar prize. Indeed, Richard Hatch, the openly gay — and oft naked — schemer from Season 1 walked away with the show's first grand prize. (Of course, he later failed to pay his taxes on the prize and is now trying to survive in jail, but that's another story.)

The current season continues to be gay-friendly. This time around, it's 30-year-old Brad Virata, a fashion director from Los Angeles, for whom many gay men are cheering. Raised in Washington state as the youngest of five children, Brad is fit and athletic — the hallmarks of many successful Survivor contestants. "He's always been that way,” his brother, Chet Virata recently told AfterElton. "What's cool … is that it's always been like that with everybody in my family."

After graduating with a degree in international communication, Brad traveled throughout Europe and Asia as a model before settling in Los Angeles, where he attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He worked for five years in couture clothing sales and clothing design merchandising for Guess? Men's Division, and currently he is the Director of Men's Merchandising for Lucky Brand Jeans.

Brad came out to his family about seven years ago, and they've always been supportive. "Filipino culture in the Philippines is not as accepting as the Asian community is here in the States," his brother explains. "There's a very strict Catholic background over in the Philippines. Here in the States … I think it's a lot more accepting."

The family is also supportive of his appearance on Survivor and his decision to be open about his sexuality on national television. "In general, we really don't care," Chet says. "There's never been any embarrassment at all or anything like that. My brother's personality is that he doesn't really give a rat's ass about what other people think about him. That's one of the beautiful things about my brother."

The big twist for Survivor: Cook Islands was the much talked about division by race. The racial segregation generated a lot of controversy in the media, but so far has not affected the game much. "I think, personally, it was a brilliant move, strictly for marketing purposes," Chet says. "I'm sure a lot of people watched the first few episodes just because of the whole race thing. I don't think it bothered Brad at all."

As a Filipino-Hawaiian, Brad started out on the Asian team, which dominated the early challenges. After the tribes merged, he ended up on Raro. Despite being the physically stronger of the two new tribes, Raro has struggled to work together during challenges, but so far Brad has played well and managed to avoid the chopping block.

“Brad, by definition, is a survivor,” says his longtime best friend Mike Nekahi. Nekahi was the first person Brad ever came out to, back in their freshman year of college. “You can put him in any situation at any time, and he can adapt.”

In the first five episodes, Brad has lived up to that statement. In the third episode, when the four tribes merged into two, Brad showed that unlike some past gay contestants, he's equally adept at fitting in with the boys and the girls. He formed an alliance with the other young men on his tribe, but then sided with the women to vote out one of his own at tribal council. Some viewers have questioned the wisdom of that move, but Nekahi disagrees: “He knows where his best interests lie. I think he had to make the decision and go with the masses.”

Brad's brother sides with Nekahi. “I think it was part of his strategy. My brother's more of a Will gay than a Jack gay [from Will and Grace]. It's often hard for people to even figure out that he's a gay man because he can adapt to anything. I think it was a good move on his part to try and get an alliance with the guys. It could help him out later down the line.”

Whether the switch will help or hinder him remains to be seen, but for the time being, Brad seems to be playing a smart, strategic game. Chet believes that's one of his strengths. “My brother is very good at thinking under pressure,” he observes. “He has a lot of natural leadership skills.”

To Chet's list of Brad's strengths, Nekahi adds: "He's very charismatic and easy to get along with. He's a very sincere person. He's not totally cutthroat, which could be his downfall, too. He's not afraid to get his hands dirty. He can be a guy's guy or a girl's guy."

According to his bio on the CBS website, Brad is single. So which other castaway is most like Brad's type? According to Nekahi, that would be Adam, "the good-looking blond guy. Brad likes that whole Abercrombie and Fitch type of guy."

Nekahi also believes that Brad would be willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if that means using his sexuality to his advantage. "He's very savvy," Nekahi says. "He can feel those things out. He's very receptive. He knows how to play that game, so he'll do — to the best of his ability — what it takes to make him successful or form the right alliance at the right time. He's pretty perceptive to that kind of stuff."

Both his brother and his friend fear Brad's weakness could be the reality of life on the island. "I hope he doesn't give up," says Nekahi. "I hope he doesn't end up saying, ‘I'm over this. I don't need this. I don't need to suffer.' I don't know what his tolerance level will be. Things have always come easy for him because of his personality. I hope that when it gets rough he doesn't just decide that he doesn't really care anymore and he wants to jump ship."

Chet adds, "He has told me it's one of the hardest things he's ever done in his life, because you don't have the certain luxuries that we take for granted."

We're only a few weeks into the current season, so he still has a long way to go to win, but so far Brad has been a welcome addition to the lineup of gay reality show contestants. Despite the fact that he works in the fashion industry, he is an athletic, masculine contender and is breaking many of the media's gay stereotypes. For that alone, he's already won the respect of many. Only time will tell whether he can also outplay, outwit and outlast to win the million-dollar prize.

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, November 16, 2006 - 5:17 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
Apparently, Brad and JP may be a couple

http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/index.php?page=2

Survivor Cook Islands
Brad may be dating fellow Survivor Cook Islands cast member J.P.


Brad Virata, who was kicked off Survivor Cook Islands last week, may be dating another male contestant on the show, J.P.

In an interview with AfterElton.com, Brad responds to a question about rumors that he and J.P. are dating by laughing and then saying, “Um, it’s all about timing in life. I can’t answer that. JP is a great guy. You’ll have to wait for the finale.” That’s largely a non-answer answer, but if there was no truth to those rumors, or if J.P. was straight, Brad probably would have just said so.

J.P. Calderon, by the way, works part-time as a bartender at a gay bar, The Silver Fox, in Long Beach, according to the Long Beach Gazette.

Working at a gay bar doesn’t make him gay, of course, but it’d be interesting if this diverse season had two openly gay male contestants who both left the show without any mention of their sexual orientation, especially if they had some sort of relationship during production.

Speaking of, Brad says he’s “surprised” that the series didn’t include conversations about his sexual orientation because “everyone knew” that he is gay. He says, “I’m surprised that CBS didn’t show my whole coming out story. We had a powwow, sort of a roundtable campfire discussion when we merged, and that’s when I told my story.” That story includes that “I grew up athletic, I grew up playing football, I grew up running track,” he says. “Over all, just from a physical standpoint, I kept up with them. I kicked some straight boy booty.”

As to Nate, his fellow cast member “apologized to me after the fact” for calling him a “nancy boy” in an interview, Brad says. “I don’t think he meant to call me nancy boy in a bad way. I think it was a stress factor, and it was pissing rain, you know? You take everything with a grain of salt. He apologized to me after the fact, and it is what it is, but I know a lot of people are pissed off about it.”

Tntitanfan
Member

08-03-2001

Friday, November 17, 2006 - 7:23 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tntitanfan a private message Print Post    
How could they have a campfire discussion after the merge when Brad left before the merge? Just wondering -

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Friday, November 17, 2006 - 9:32 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
I'm thinking he means when they went from four tribes to two tribes?

Tntitanfan
Member

08-03-2001

Friday, November 17, 2006 - 11:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Tntitanfan a private message Print Post    
Ahhhhhhhh so!