Tanya Vance - Contestant #1
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Grooch

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 07:31 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Another local contestant chosen for "Survivor"

Tanya Vance, the 27-year-old victim services coordinator at the Children's Advocacy Center of Sullivan County, will be one of 16 contestants on the fifth installment of "Survivor," her supervisor confirmed Tuesday.

by DAVID MCGEE
Bristol Herald Courier
Jun 12, 2002

BLOUNTVILLE -- It looks like Mountain Empire fans of "Survivor" -- the CBS reality television series -- will have another local contestant to pull for this fall.

Tanya Vance, the 27-year-old victim services coordinator at the Children's Advocacy Center of Sullivan County, will be one of 16 contestants on the fifth installment of "Survivor," her supervisor confirmed Tuesday.

Vance, a Kingsport native, left for Thailand last Monday to begin filming, according to Mary Margaret Denton, the center's clinical director.

"This is very exciting," she said. "Tanya left last week, and she'll be gone for six or seven weeks. We knew she'd submitted the video, but she didn't tell us when she went to Atlanta and, later, Los Angeles. She just said she was going on vacation. She's been very, very quiet."

Tom Buchanan, a farmer from Rich Valley, Va., traveled to Africa last year as a contestant in the third season of "Survivor."

The show divides 16 contestants into two teams, which perform a series of challenges. Contestants work within their teams and independently. Each week, one member is voted off the show, and the final contestant wins $1 million.

Vance's co-workers in Blountville hope she wins the prize, Denton said.

While contestants are supposed to keep their involvement in the show a secret, Vance finally had to inform center officials about being accepted, Denton said. Vance works with children who are victims of violence or sexual abuse -- helping prepare them for court -- and she works with police investigators and the district attorney general's office.

A former center employee is filling in while Vance is out of the country, Denton said.

The show began filming Monday on the island of Koh Tarutao in Thailand, according to The Nation, a Bangkok newspaper.

Vance, who has worked at the Advocacy Center for about two years, has many personal qualities that should serve her well on the show, her supervisor said.

"She has a wonderful personality," Denton said. "She's intelligent, easygoing, a team player at her work, very athletic, and she perseveres -- all good attributes for that program."

Assistant District Attorney General Barry Staubus said he recently asked Vance about rumors of her interest in the show.

"She told me a couple of weeks ago that she had tried out, but she couldn't tell me any more," he said, adding that Vance told him he "would have to find out later."

"She's mentally tough -- working with children who are victims of sex abuse. But when you see, her she's full of energy and optimism," Staubus said.

Vance, 27, graduated from Sullivan North High School in 1993 and East Tennessee State University in 1997.

"Tanya was an excellent student," said the high school's assistant principal, Joe Salyers. "She was very active with the track team and ran cross-country and she was in the Key Club."

She earned a bachelor's degree in social work at ETSU and completed her internship at the Advocacy Center in Blountville.

"We first got to know Tanya during her internship, but she's always worked with children," Denton said.

Vance formerly worked as a children's counselor for both Omni Vision Inc. and Frontier Health, Denton said.

She worked at the Frontier Health Holston Children and Youth Center in 1999 and 2000, a Frontier official said.

Grooch

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 07:33 am EditMoveDeleteIP
From http://www.wjhl.com/news/localnews/MGBR24A7C2D.html

Survivor May Have Another Local
Tanya Vance from Johnson City could be in Thailand

by Amanda Croker
Jun 11, 2002

Mary Margaret Denton at the Children's Advocacy Center in Blountville says "Tanya just has a wonderful personality. She's so warm and open". Characteristics that appear to have landed her one of the 16 spots on Survivor five, Thailand. Friend Julie Price says "Whenever kids have to go to court Tanya sort of pulls them aside and does a court thing with them, tries to help them not be so scared".

For her audition tape friends say she she dressed up in this bear costume used to cheer up kids going through a scary time: "Then she took the head off of Happy Bear and said I work with true Survivors talking about the children who have been traumatize by sexual abuse".

Her friends say she will be a great addition to the cast of Survivor. Denton says "I think she is likable but smart enough to know when to make the right choices".

Grooch

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 07:59 am EditMoveDeleteIP
image

Kaili

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 12:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
She looks/seems like she would be pretty likable. Can't really tell from the photo, but she doesn't look like she would be one of the more physically strong players.

Discoinferno

Thursday, June 13, 2002 - 12:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Moondance!

Neko

Saturday, June 15, 2002 - 12:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
What about Moondance??
Did I miss something?

It's weird that we have two of the Survivor's all ready when last year, did we get any of them before they showed us on CBS??

Amac

Thursday, August 15, 2002 - 08:48 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Tanya Vance

Webkitty

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 12:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
This was the Survivor that had to fly home because her father died during the filming.

I wonder how this will play out on the show?

Moondance

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 01:35 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That's so sad MsKitty:(

Pamy

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 11:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Are the pictures of the same girl?? She looks so different. That is sad, where did you hear about this MsKitty? Did they say if he had been sick? Did she have to forfeit the game?

Webkitty

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 01:27 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Look under the thread here ~tragedy for one of the S5 contestants~

Yes, it is very sad

And I agree, those two pictures above do not look like the same person.

Pamy

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 01:51 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Thanks MsKitty. Losing someone suddenly has got to be so much worse than losing someone that has been sick. My heart goes out to her

Car54

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 03:13 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I think us knowing about this is really going to impact watching the show. She made it to the day of the final 3. That would be like knowing about the purple rock all along.

**unless she left from the jury....that would be interesting..

Pamy

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 03:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I was thinking the same thing Car, and I am really surprised this news got out. I know it involves the sad tragedy of her father, but how would most know they were still filming
If she was in the final 3 and had to leave I would hope MB would have thought of something to make it fair. Like maybe the final 3 go before the jury for the final vote, since the announce the winner months after the filming(and in the USA, she could possibly be there for that. I hope she is one of the people liked, can you imagine if she was like a Jeri, everyone thrashing her throughout the game and then hearing about her father?

Car54

Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 04:23 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Good point, Pamy. I think the show is past the days of being able to keep this kind of secret...they have Survivor spoiler sites everywhere who follow the show year round.

This isn't like Mike Skupkin, where it was mid-game and they successfully kept the secret til the show aired...this impacted her whole family.

It is better that we know...I think the discussion will be kinder to her, knowing she had this happen.

Even if she left from the jury...THAT could have a big impact...the jury number is structured so there can't be a tie...if they lost one player...how might they handle voting differently?

I have total faith that MB will have a way tho!:)