Neleh
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Grooch | Friday, May 17, 2002 - 12:06 pm     Layton's 'Survivor' Gets to the Final Friday, May 17, 2002 BY VINCE HORIUCHI THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE LAYTON -- She may be nicknamed "Sweet Pea," but Utah's Neleh Dennis is proving to be one tough cookie on the hit television series "Survivor: Marquesas." The 22-year-old Layton woman, a department store makeup artist and Weber State University psychology major, survived a close call in Thursday night's second-to-last episode, when she received two of the five votes for ouster. Instead, Sean Rector, a teacher from Harlem, N.Y., who frequently criticized Neleh, was booted with three votes. (He had a consolation prize, a new sport utility vehicle won in the "reward" challenge.) Now, Neleh joins Paschal English, Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Vecepia Towery in the final four vying for a $1 million prize. The show, the fourth in the "Survivor" series, began with 16 contestants and expelled one each week; the winner will be chosen in the season finale Sunday night, televised live from New York City's Central Park. Here in Utah, when Neleh's mother Becky Dennis saw the final vote, she said, "I just jumped 10 feet into the air and screamed my head off." She and Neleh's father, John Dennis, said nobody in the family knew the outcome ahead of time. "When she first started out with this," her father said, "we had no idea she would get his far. . . . Whether she gets to the end is irrelevant. She has done so well, and we're so proud of her abilities. She has been so honest." Neleh's 17-year-old brother Nathan said, when he saw his sister make it through, "I was wiggin' out in the corner and hugging everyone around me. I never thought anything like this could happen to her." More than 80 family members, friends and neighbors were cheering Neleh on after a potluck at the Dennis' home (in a family room decorated in a Marquesas theme with "palm trees" and fish), and the crowd was ecstatic about her chances to take home the top prize on Sunday. (Because of her television contract stipulations, Neleh had to leave the party before reporters could talk to her family and guests.) The entire family -- the Dennises have eight children -- will head to New York City for Sunday's conclusion. "We couldn't consider leaving anyone home," Becky Dennis said. Many at the party were sporting T-shirts emblazoned with an image of Neleh's earlier "Survivor" triumph choking down rotten fish in an immunity challenge. The shirts say "Oh my heck" [Neleh's favorite phrase on the show] and "Survivor's No. 1 sushi lover," and are among 500 made by her brother, John, 36, of Clearfield, and his wife. When John saw his sister make the cut on Thursday, he said, "My heart . . . well, I about needed them to call 911 for me." On Thursday, as the remaining five players in the "reality" game show fought against hunger and fatigue, nerves also were fraying. Before being voted out in the tribal council, Sean made a last, angry effort to save himself, but wound up only irritating his companions. When voting against Neleh, Sean testily said, "The girl-next-door act don't work on me," and added he thought she was just trying to win the $1 million. Vecepia also voted against Neleh. Paschal voted against Sean, and Neleh, when casting her ballot, said, "Sean, [it's] just too much drama. I can't stand it." Kathy, who had immunity against being voted out, apparently agreed when she cast her deciding vote. Back in Utah, John Dennis Jr. said of Sean, "He's probably a really nice guy, and he's really funny. But he knows how to push people's buttons, and there were times I couldn't stand him." As for his sister, he had only praise: "Words can't express how proud we are of her. All of Utah can be proud of her. She has represented the state well and, of course, our family." |
Grooch | Friday, May 17, 2002 - 12:16 pm     Layton 'Survivor' off to New York City Thr, May 16, 2002 By NANCY VAN VALKENBURG Standard-Examiner staff LAYTON -- Tonight"s the last big, boisterous "Survivor: Marquesas" party at the Layton home of contestant Neleh Dennis. After tonight"s episode (and regardless of the outcome), the guest of honor and a dozen or so of her closest friends and family members board airplanes for New York City. Neleh and the other 15 "Survivor" competitors will meet at a Central Park set for a live reunion show, to be hosted by Rosie O"Donnell. The reunion show, to air at 9 p.m. Sunday, will immediately follow the final two hourlong episodes of the series, which begin at 7 p.m. on KUTV Channel 2. "We still have some family and friends gathering here (the Dennis home) for Sunday"s finale, but this will be the last time the whole family will be here watching together," said John Dennis, father of 22-year-old Neleh. Definitely making the trip will be Neleh, of course; John Dennis and Neleh"s mother, Rebecca; Neleh"s grandfather; one of Neleh"s co-workers the family calls Grandma; most of Neleh"s seven siblings and some sibling spouses; and Neleh"s boyfriend. Yes, Sweet Pea has a beau: a returned missionary three years her senior, who studies business at Utah State University. The mystery man also has worked as a Lagoon performer in recent years. "Neleh has a myriad of friends," her father backpedaled. "This one is probably more prominent than the other boys. There"s nothing happening in terms of marriage or engagement. Right now, they"re just very close friends. He loves what is happening in Neleh"s life and is proud to be associated with her, and he shares her high moral values." The Dennises are unsure what demands will be put on their time, but they hope to squeeze in some sightseeing before they return to Utah late next week. "We want to see the Statue of Liberty," Dennis said. "We want to visit Ground Zero and spend some time. That is important to us. There are a lot of places we want to go and see." But first, the Dennises must survive Neleh"s next "Survivor" challenge: making it through the live reunion show, the masses of frenzied entertainment reporters and a slew of talk-show appearances. "It"s going to be an exceptional adventure for us all," Dennis said. "We can hardly wait." |
Grooch | Tuesday, May 21, 2002 - 11:51 am     Oh my heck! Neleh comes in second By Scott D. Pierce Deseret News television editor NEW YORK You might think that missing out on a million dollars would leave Utah "Survivor" contestant Neleh Dennis at least a bit blue. But, on the contrary, the 22-year-old Layton woman was as bubbly as ever after she learned that she finished second in the TV competition. Chad Rachman, Associated Press "I'm feeling relieved," Dennis said in an interview Sunday with the Deseret News her first after the "Survivor: Marquesas" finalAdditional information: Related e. "I've been hiding this little secret for four months. It's nice to know what the outcome was and just kind of move on. And it was a great experience." If a bit nerve-wracking. After surviving two more eliminations in Sunday's two-hour telecast to make the finals, she lost by a narrow 4-3 jury vote to Vecepia Towery, a 36-year-old office manager from Portland, Ore., in a show telecast live (taped-delayed in the Mountain Time Zone) from Central Park in New York City. But it's not like Dennis went home empty handed. She won the $100,000 second prize and, along with the other 15 contestants, was given a car. Not bad for someone who had never seen an episode of "Survivor" when she sent in her audition tape for the fourth edition of the series and she sent that in "on a whim." "I did it, seriously, just thinking it was going to be fun," Dennis said. "I never expected to get a call back." Let alone become a contestant, travel to the Marquesas Islands and set off a new catch-phrase that seems to be sweeping the nation. Well, not exactly new, but the Utahism "Oh my heck" is now being heard even in this distant land of Manhattan after Dennis used it repeatedly on "Survivor." "I think they showed every single one of my 'Oh my hecks,' " she said with a laugh. "I didn't even realize that I say it so much, but since I've been home from the show, I've really picked up on everybody saying it, and how much they say it." But Dennis' 13-year-old brother, Lanvon, said Neleh hasn't let her newfound fame and pop-culture influence go to her head. "No, she's just gotten nicer," he said, "She paid for all of us to come here." (CBS paid for four members of the Dennis clan to come to New York; she paid for the other nine who also made the trip.) But she sparked at least a bit of a national debate about whether she could be the sweet girl-next-door and a player in a cutthroat game like "Survivor" at the same time an issue raised repeatedly by fellow contestant Sean during the playing of the game, and by Rosie O'Donnell, who hosted the follow-up "Survivor: Reunion" show on Sunday. "It was funny. In Sean's case, he doesn't realize that you can be a nice person and be competitive," said Dennis. "As soon as it was my turn to step up and play the game . . . Sean was kind of like, 'Well, how can she be this sweet little girl but be competitive at the same time? So she must really be this little evil girl that's been covering up with her sweetness.'" (After the finale, Sean said, "I still think she's a sweet girl but not as sweet as she wanted everybody to think she was. She was a player.") More than one of their fellow contestants accused both Neleh and Vecepia of hypocrisy for claiming to be devout Christians and yet playing "Survivor" to win. (A charge that smacked of the sourest of grapes.) But Dennis wasn't backing down from either her faith or her competitiveness the young woman whose "luxury item" she brought to the island was her scriptures definitely wanted to win. And, while the fact that she's a Mormon didn't appear in the show until late in its run, she said "everybody knew I was Mormon" from the start. "I've always been really personal with my religion. I'm not somebody to just go out there and every five seconds (express my views)," she said. "I relied on the Lord so much out there, like in prayer and everything." As for the future, well, that's a bit up in the air right now. At least she doesn't have to worry about money for awhile. "I just quit work (at Meier & Frank) two days ago, just because I know things are going to be crazy the next three or four months," Dennis said. She's also looking to trade in the car she won on a model she really wants, "and I'm just going to invest the rest of my money and be smart with it $100,000 really isn't that much, especially once you take taxes out and everything." a lot of other former "Survivor" contestants, Dennis wouldn't say no if some sort of continued media exposure comes her way, whether it's commercial endorsements or some sort of acting opportunity. "I just figure, I'm 22 years old, I'm young, I have everything, basically, at my fingertips," she said. "So I'm excited to see what kind of opportunities will come out of it." But if she knew before she became a survivor what she knows now, she still would have done the show. "I definitely would have," she said. "It's been the greatest thing that ever happened to me." Million dollars or not. |
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