Clay Jordan

Clayton "Clay" Jordan III is a contestant from.

Notably seen as the series first unofficial "goat", Clay is also remembered for his unlikability within his tribe and getting choked by rival Sook Jai tribe member Robb Zbacnik.

Profile
Retrieved from CBS.com

Clay Jordan was born in Canyon, Texas, and was raised in Levelland, Texas. He was one of four boys in a single mother household, and he considers his mother to be his hero because of her success in raising the family on her own. As a child, he spent considerable time camping and hunting on his grandparents' ranch in White Deer, Texas. Clay met the love of his life when she was 13 and he was 14. They dated throughout junior high and continued to do so when they both attended Levelland High. After graduation, Clay began courses at South Plains College. When he was 20 years old, he married his childhood sweetheart and they moved to Odessa, Texas.

Clay currently owns and runs a restaurant. Patrons come by on a regular basis to get another serving of their most popular dish: their friendly service. He has previously worked as a cafeteria manager and a printer. In his youth, he also picked and chopped cotton. He enjoys golfing, video editing, production, photography and having fun.

Clay currently lives in Monroe, Louisiana, with his wife of 26 years, Linda, and their two children, Andrew (23) and Shanda (17). He is a member of Crime Stoppers, the Louisiana Restaurant Association and Frenchman's Bend Country Club. His birth date is December 30, 1955.

Survivor: Thailand
Clay Jordan was the last man left during the schoolyard pick. Clay was not surprised because of his age and stature but claimed that his tribe had a "diamond in the rough". Clay was placed on the Chuay Gahn tribe. When the group of eight arrived, they rejoiced at the sight of the cave. The tribe also had a bountiful amount of food. However, when Tanya Vance got sick because of dehydration, the tribe decided to search for its water source. John Raymond and Helen Glover found the water source, but they decided to play a joke on the tribe first. At the first challenge of the season, Chuay Gahn was leading. However, Ghandia Johnson's problems with the puzzle would ultimately send the tribe to Tribal Council. John was voted out for annoying the tribe. Helen Glover cast her vote against Clay because she believed that Clay did not need the money. The next morning, Clay's snoring woke up the entire tribe. Helen wondered how can Clay can snore so loudly, despite having a small body. Chuay Gahn lost the challenge again. Clay discovered squid all over the Chuay Gahn beach. Despite the nourishment, Chuay Gahn barely lost out on immunity again. The tribe celebrated Helen's 20th wedding anniversary to keep spirits up. The tribe decided to vote out Tanya due to her health problems.

Problems started to erupt when Ghandia started to claim that Ted Rogers, Jr. had grinded against her during the night. At the Reward Challenge, Clay was grabbed by the throat by Robb Zbacnik, who slammed Clay into the water like a rag-doll. Robb was disqualified for making contact with the opposing tribe outside of the attack zone, giving Chuay Gahn a point from Sook Jai. Other Sook Jai members made the same mistake. The ensuring penalty allowed Chuay Gahn to win their first challenge. The tribe won the assistance of two red berets; thanks to them, the tribe discovered many things that were edible. However, any peace was destroyed when Ghandia learned that Ted said that "nothing happened" between himself and Ghandia. Clay was disgusted by Ghandia's reaction, likening her to his son who was two years old at the time when he threw a similar tantrum. Despite the chaos at camp, Chuay Gahn won the mental Immunity Challenge. The win, however, did not resolve tension at camp. The men banded together to vote out Ghandia, while she was lobbying to Helen and Jan Gentry to vote Clay. The tribe lost the next two challenges. At Tribal Council, Clay voted against Ghandia, referring her as the "Denver Diva". When Jeff read the votes, he scolded Clay for the stupid nickname. Ghandia was voted out in a 4-2 vote.

Clay was amazed that Jan voted against him and deemed her the next to go. When Jan got Tree Mail, her antics annoyed Clay severely. Eventually, from what little information he received from her, he was able to deduce that it was a "food buying thing". Jan was still getting on his nerves. Before the Auction began, the castaways were offered the chance to Mutiny. No one wanted to and the auction preceded as normal. Chuay Gahn won the Immunity Challenge. Unfortunately, their boat had floated away as the tribe was having fun. Clay felt that Ted was responsible. The men tried to find the boat but to no avail. The tribe lost the Reward Challenge. The group attributed the loss to exhaustion from the failed boat search. The tribe knew they had to win the Immunity Challenge to win. Thankfully, the tribe was able to outwit Sook Jai in the Immunity Challenge to win, ensuring even numbers during the merge.

The next Tree Mail came with jars of paints, and the tribe was asked to decorate themselves. When the tribes met, they were paired with a member of the opposing tribe. Clay was paired with Shii Ann Huang, and they spent their bonding time at Chuay Ghan's beach. Shii Ann revealed that she was ostracized by most of her tribe. Then it was announced that both tribes would be living on the same beach, causing everyone to assume it was a merge. Chuay Gahn made Shii Ann feel so welcome that she decided to flip and vote out Penny Ramsey. However, the tribes were not truly merged and were just living together. Chuay Gahn won immunity, and Shii Ann was ousted by Sook Jai. Life was made awkward because they did not merge. Chuay Gahn won the next Immunity Challenge because of Brian Heidik. In a confessional, Clay claimed that the tribe was so happy for winning. However, they did not let the Sook Jais know, to avoid angering them.

Before the next Reward Challenge, everyone saw parts of their videos home; Clay's featured his wife Linda and daughter. It was announced that the tribes had merged and everyone was given gold buffs. Clay was paired with Ken for the challenge, but lost in the penultimate round to Brian and Helen. When watching the winner, Brian's video, Clay was enamored with Brian's wife CC. Clay was getting annoyed with Jake Billingsley's stories because he felt he was trying to get in with the Chuay Gahn Five. Clay started to hint that he does not like Ted. At the Immunity Challenge, Clay defeated Ken for the win. The Sook Jais tried to convince Clay to flip, but he was not interested. Ken was voted out in a 5-3 vote. At this point, disdain for Jake intensified. Clay also called Penny a sweet girl who thinks she can get anything out of men, but she was not getting anything from him. At the Reward Challenge, Clay was teamed with Brian for the initial stages of the challenge. He and Brian made it to the end, where Brian won. Brian still brought Clay with him. During the elephant ride, Clay was amused by the fact that Brian was scared of falling. During the feast, Clay decided to smuggle some shrimp and beer, to boost his standing in the tribe. He also told everyone that he wanted them in the final four to garner jury votes. At the Immunity Challenge, Helen defeated Ted for the win. At Tribal Council, the tribe said that they were voting based on "performance". Clay voted against Jake for irritating him. The rest of Chuay Gahn voted out Penny, because she was playing harder than Jake.

After Tribal Council, Clay lashed out at Jake, because of what he had said. Jake believed that was because he knew he was right. Helen and Ted were also getting annoyed with Clay's attitude and laziness. The next challenge was the Loved Ones Challenge, which thrilled everyone. Clay's loved one was his wife, Linda. The prize being that the winner would get 24 hours with their loved one, and the others must leave immediately. The challenge was an eating contest. However, to everyone's surprise, the loved ones had to do the eating. Linda was eliminated in the third round with Jan's eldest child, Jef, and Ted's brother, Aijuan. The loved ones returned for the Immunity Challenge, which Ted won. Helen started to lobby against Clay. Despite that, Jake was unanimously voted out. Clay was the one to get the next Tree Mail. It was a mirror and photos of the castaways before the game started. Clay was shocked by his image, which he described as looking sixty (he was 46 at time of filming). Jan viewed it as sad that the men were hogging the mirror. The note implies a feast for the reward, Clay was excited. However, both Helen and Ted agreed that he did not need the food. Ted won the challenge and brought Helen with him. Both Brian and Clay were worried about Helen's loyalty. At the Immunity Challenge, Clay was initially leading. However, Brian was the one who would win. Ted was unanimously voted out.

The next Tree Mail had reefs that the final four were supposed to decorate for the Rites of Passage at the final three. Brian won immunity yet again. The men decided that it was Helen's time to go. They lied to her and said that Jan was going out. The plot worked, and a very angry Helen was sent to the jury. After the Rites of Passage, the final three participated in the Final Immunity Challenge. Neither Clay nor Jan were able beat Brian, giving him the final immunity win. Clay assumed that he was going to Day 39 but was still worried that Brian could burn him, like he did with Ted and Helen. Sure enough, Brian voted out Jan for not angering the jury. The final two burned their shelter. Clay was glad that camp life was over, but he knew that he still needed to defeat one more person.

At the Final Tribal Council, Clay's opening statement was that he was lucky that he was at the Final Tribal Council. He acknowledges the jurors as people and they would do what he did to make it this far. Clay said that everyone wanted the million and the decision was up to the jury. Clay was criticized for his laziness. Ted also accused Clay for making racial slurs, which he outright denied. Clay tried to attempt get any resentment against Brian but failed. Clay received the votes of Erin, Ken and Penny but lost to Brian.

Post-Survivor

 * On January 9, 2010, Clay attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.

Trivia

 * Clay was the first male to be placed on a tribe by default as he was not picked by either Jan or Jake.
 * Clay was the oldest male on Chuay Gahn.
 * In Gender Bender, Clay cast a vote against Ghandia Johnson and wrote 'Bye Bye Denver Diva'. Jeff did not know who the vote was for and had to ask who cast it and who they voted for. After this incident, Jeff made it official that only identifiable nicknames should be written during votes.
 * Clay's luxury item was a golf club and a ball.
 * Jake Billingsley was the only Sook Jai member not to vote for Clay to become the Sole Survivor.
 * Clay and John Raymond are the first contestants from Louisiana.
 * At the Final Tribal Council, Ted Rogers, Jr. accused Clay of racial slurs.
 * Clay is the first person to receive a jury vote from someone he was never on the same tribe with, namely Erin Collins.
 * Although most finalists before Thailand received jury votes from people who they were not on the same starting tribe with pre-merge, they were all a part of the merged tribe.
 * Coincidentally, Clay and Erin were the first contestants to be placed on a tribe by virtue of being the last people remaining.