Colby Donaldson

Colby Donaldson is a contestant from, and.

Considered the series' first "hero", Colby was regarded for his strength and continuous winning streak when it came to Individual Immunity. However in subsequent appearances he has failed to live up to his original performance being, even being likened to a "Superman in a Fat Suit" by James Clement.

The Australian Outback
Originally from Christoval, Texas, Colby Donaldson is a successful, self-employed custom auto designer and builder currently living in Dallas, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in business marketing and began working as a sales representative at an HMO carrier until he decided to leave the security of a successful corporate job to pursue a passion and start his own company.

Donaldson describes himself as imaginative, dedicated and flexible. A competitive athlete, he enjoys water skiing and mountain biking before gathering with friends for a barbecue. When not customizing cars, Donaldson enjoys designing and building furniture. His favorite sport to watch is football, however he prefers to play sand volleyball.

His birth date is April 1, 1974.

All-Stars
After his success on SURVIVOR: THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK, Colby Donaldson moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. He has guest starred on "Reba" and "Just Shoot Me." He can soon be seen in "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He is also the face of the very popular Schick commercials. In addition to acting, Colby enjoys outdoor sports and spending time with friends.

Originally from Christoval, Texas, Colby was a successful, self-employed custom auto designer and builder living in Dallas before he was cast on SURVIVOR. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in business marketing.

Colby's birth date is April 1, 1974.

Heroes vs. Villains
Colby Donaldson (35)

Tribe: Heroes

Hometown: Christoval, Texas

Current Residence: Los Angeles, Calif.

Personal Claim To Fame: “I make a pretty mean potato salad.”

Inspiration in Life: “God, family & close friends.”

Previous Finishes: Australia: Runner-Up; All-Stars: 5th Out

Favorite Past Moment: “The very beginning of it all for me – stepping off the plane and into the Outback.”

Previous Survivor He Respects Most:  Tom Westman (Palau)

Previous Survivor He Respects Least: “Those who have thrown in the towel and left the game early.”

Why Did He Come Back?: “For me, it’s all about the extreme challenge and the epic adventure. A million bucks is a pretty good motivator as well.”

Survivor: The Australian Outback
In the beginning, Colby quipped that the trip to find their camp 'fired him up', because it was a good way to see what his tribemates were made of. He took on an early leadership role of the tribe, making a plan with Keith that he would keep the tribe moving along the creek bed while Keith scouted ahead to see how much farther the camp was.

He was a physical asset to his tribe, and helped his tribe win the first Immunity Challenge. However, the second Immunity Challenge was not strength based and Ogakor lost. Colby voted with the other Ogakors in unison to unanimously vote off Kel Gleason.

Initially, Colby and Jerri began some chemistry between each other, being mutually attracted to one another, though there was suspicion that the latter had ulterior motives. After Maralyn's poor performance at the third Immunity Challenge, Colby voted with the rest of his tribe to eliminate her. After losing their third consecutive Immunity Challenge, Jerri boldly alienated Tina and Keith by stating that Colby, Amber, and Mitchell are her friends. This gesture made Tina to ask Colby his opinions on Jerri, slowly broaching the subject of voting with them. Colby did not want to vote for Keith, who was the main target next Tribal Council. He bonded with Keith and saw him as a valuable ally to have later on in the game.That night, Colby voted with Tina and Keith to force a tie in Ogakor. Since Mitchell had received a previous vote at the last Tribal Council, he was eliminated. After Ogakor's three-time Immunity winning streak, all five remaining Ogakors remained intact until the merge. He became one of ten castaways who comprised the merged Barramundi tribe.

Due to Ogakor's plan to make Kucha believe he had received past votes cast against him, the rival Kucha tribe cast their five votes for him at the merge. Colby got the back of his Ogakor comrades and all of them voted for Kucha member Jeff Varner. After a deadlocked tie, previous votes were taken into account. While Colby had no previous votes, Varner already had two (from Debb Eaton and Kimmi Kappenberg), this caused Varner's ouster. Donaldson would later become a force to be reckoned with, winning eight of the final ten challenges, while his core alliance of Tina and Keith had voted the competition off, thus leaving the threesome as the final three castaways. Colby's winning streak not only spared him from elimination, but also made a critical decision of taking either Tina or Keith to the Final Tribal Council. Although he thought Keith would be easier to beat, he felt that Tina was more deserving, sending Keith to the Jury.

Colby's decision of bringing Tina was considered by fans as a big mistake, and which was widely believed to have cost him the competition, because four of the seven Jury members gave their votes to Tina, making her the second Sole Survivor.

Voting History
In The Killing Fields, the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Keith and Mitchell, forcing a revote. Colby did not change his vote at the revote. In The Merge, the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Colby and Jeff, forcing a revote. Nobody changed their votes at the revote, eliminating Jeff due to previous votes against him.

Survivor: All-Stars
Colby was chosen to participate in Survivor: All-Stars, where he was on the Mogo Mogo tribe. Right away, Colby told his tribe that he didn't trust anybody. The tribe came in second in the first two immunity challenges, but they featured a setback when Jenna Morasca quit the game after the first two Tribal Council's.

After a shocking tribe absorption, the tribe gained former Saboga members Ethan Zohn and Jerri Manthey. Colby liked the idea of having a former winner on his tribe, and he also liked to be reunited with Jerri, who was a former Australia tribe mate. The tribe lost the next immunity challenge, and they unanimously agreed to vote out Richard Hatch, who Colby didn't agree to work with.

The tribe ultimately lost the next immunity challenge, and it was clear it was either Colby, Ethan, or Jerri were going home next. Colby made a deal with Ethan that Jerri had to go next, and the two cast their votes for her, while the rest of the tribe considered Colby as a strong, physical asset in the possibility of a merge, he was voted out and finished in twelfth place.

At the Survivor: America's Tribal Council reunion special, Colby was in the final four for Fan Favorite Player of the season, but ultimately lost to Rupert Boneham. He did, however, win Sexiest Male of the first 8 seasons award.

Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains
Donaldson returned to play for a third time in the 20th installment/10th anniversary season Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains. Due to his "heroic" (yet deemed by some fans as a dumb move) move of taking Jury vote threat Tina over the despised Keith Famie and his legendary challenge performances, he earned a place on the Heroes tribe.

Colby initially became an alliance outsider, along with ex-Palau players Tom Westman and Stephenie LaGrossa. Together with the stress of the competition, he surprisingly performed weak in challenges, with James Clement (who visibly idolized him) even calling him, "Superman in a fatsuit." Despite being an outsider, he and the rest of the Heroes won the next three Immunity Challenges, securing that the Heroes and the Villains would enter the merge with five members each. But after a bold move done by Villain Parvati Shallow of giving two Hidden Immunity Idols to be used by Sandra Diaz-Twine and Jerri Manthey (Colby's Outback arch-nemesis), the Heroes were systematically eliminated, one by one. After fellow former Hero Candice Woodcock voted along with the former Villains to vote out Amanda Kimmel, he claimed that he and Rupert Boneham were the only remaining heroes. After losing the Final 5 Immunity Challenge, Colby ultimately gave up and admitted defeat to the remaining Villains. However, a short time later, Colby attempted to strategize with Russell Hantz, who criticized Colby for giving up and then attempting to make a move. Colby was the last of the Heroes to be eliminated, being voted out on Day 37. In the final tribal council, Colby viewed Russell as delusional for saying he had no luck in getting to the final tribal council and felt that Parvati was riding Russell's coattails and voted for Sandra to win.

Post-Survivor
On May 13, 2001, Colby, along with Outback cast mates Elisabeth Filarski and Jeff Varner appeared on Rock & Roll Jeopardy!. Colby finished in 2nd place earning $2,500 for his charity which was for the Make a Wish foundation.

After his stint on reality television, Donaldson turned to acting, appearing on such shows as Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004), Reba (2002), 8 Simple Rules (2005), Joey (2004-2005), and Bones (2006). He starred in several commercials as the spokesman for Schick razors, had a minor role as a secret service agent in Wes Craven's Red Eye (2005).

He was on The Rachael Ray Show as one of Rachael's "buddies" (2007-2010). He's also been on various celebrity/news shows, often in relation to his Survivor stints. See the Internet Movie Database for details.

On January 9, 2010, Colby attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Heroes vs. Villains cast mates.

Currently, Donaldson is the host of Top Shot, a History Channel TV competition where 16 sharp shooters compete in teams and then individually using historic and contemporary weapons, until only one survives. The first season aired in June 2010. Season five, the All-Stars season is currently being aired. (June 2013) http://www.history.com/shows/top-shot

At the Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Reunion Show, Colby was nominated for the Dumbest Move in Survivor History for taking Jury favorite Tina Wesson to the Final 2 over the despised chef Keith Famie in Survivor: The Australian Outback. Colby lost to his fellow Heroes tribemate J.T. Thomas. He owns a hot rod restoration business. He divides his time between California and the family ranch in Texas.

Trivia

 * Colby was the first player in Survivor history to fall victim to the Survivor Car Curse.
 * Colby's luxury item in Survivor: The Australian Outback was the flag of Texas.
 * He is the first contestant from Texas, together with Kel Gleason.
 * Colby is the only player to vote for Sandra Diaz-Twine and have his vote count.
 * Colby was the only male representative of The Australian Outback to appear in Survivor: All-Stars, as well as the only runner-up to appear in this season.
 * Colby is one of three players (along with Russell Hantz and Coach Wade) to compete in three seasons and not participate in a Tribe Shuffle.
 * A Tribe Shuffle did happen in All-Stars, but Colby was voted out 4 days before it happened.
 * Along with fellow contestants Amber Brkich and Tina Wesson, Colby is the only other The Australian Outback contestant to appear in finale episodes of Survivor as both a finalist and a Jury member.
 * Colby is one of six contestants to play the game three times, but become a Jury member only once (the others are Stephenie LaGrossa, Amanda Kimmel, Parvati Shallow, Tina Wesson, and Tyson Apostol).
 * Colby is one of four castaways who have made it to the Final Tribal Council, been voted out pre-Jury, and voted out post-Merge. The others are Stephenie LaGrossa, Tina Wesson, and Tyson Apostol.
 * He earned the title of "Sexiest Survivor Male" in Survivor: America's Tribal Council.
 * Survivor: Caramoan contestant Sherri Biethman has an autistic son named after Colby.
 * Colby had his torch snuffed after Tina was announced the winner of The Australian Outback.
 * Colby has played all three seasons with rival and friend Jerri Manthey.
 * Jerri made it further in two of the three seasons, but Colby has played more days overall.
 * Colby voted against Jerri in all three seasons.
 * Colby received votes against him at both Tribal Councils he attended in All-Stars.
 * Colby is one of four people to compete in both Survivor: All-Stars and Survivor: Heroes vs Villains. The others are Jerri Manthey, Rob Mariano, and Rupert Boneham.
 * Colby has won the most individual challenges in a single season Survivor history with 7 individual challenge wins in The Australian Outback.
 * Colby also holds the record for most consecutive individual immunity challenges won, winning five in a row in The Australian Outback.
 * Colby is one of the few contestants to play in seasons with 16, 18, and 20 contestants.
 * The others are Tina Wesson, Jerri Manthey, Rob Mariano, Rupert Boneham, and Coach Wade.
 * Colby is the only person to vote for Rodger Bingham more than once.
 * According to the All-Stars DVD commentary, Colby's dog Deuce ate the hat that Colby wore on The Australian Outback.
 * Colby was the only pre runner-up to return for All-Stars.
 * Neleh Dennis and Clay Jordan were considered for All-Stars, but were both cut.