John Broward "Brad" Culpepper is a contestant from Survivor: Blood vs. Water and Survivor: Game Changers.
A former NFL player and husband of One World contestant Monica Culpepper, Brad first competed in Blood vs. Water with his wife. His poor leadership over the Tadhana tribe in the early part of the game cost them four straight Immunity Challenges. He also angered many contestants by voting them or their loved ones out, particularly Candice Cody and Marissa Peterson, resulting in many heated blow ups directed at him at Redemption Island Arena. Following Tadhana's fourth straight loss, his Five Guys Alliance decided to turn on him, voting him out and sending him to Redemption Island. He was eliminated in 15th place after losing a duel to Laura Morett and John Cody.
Returning in Game Changers, Brad played a more patient and collaborative game, forming early connections with Debbie Wanner, Tai Trang, Troyzan Robertson, and Sierra Dawn Thomas, which eventually rose to power after the merge. However, after Sarah Lacina flipped on their Power Six alliance, Brad was left in the minority. Even so, his dominance in Immunity Challenges allowed him to make it to the Final Tribal Council with Sarah and Troyzan. His reluctance to create bonds with people outside of his alliance, combined with his increasingly overbearing and irritable attitude in the late stages of the game, led him to fall at the last hurdle to Sarah in a 7-3-0 vote, leaving him as the runner-up.
Profile[]
Retrieved from CBS.com
Name (Age): Brad Culpepper (44)
Age: 47 |
Survivor[]
Blood vs. Water[]
Brad entered the game alongside his wife, returning player Monica Culpepper, for Survivor: Blood vs. Water. However, it was announced by host Jeff Probst on Day 1 that it would be Returning Players vs. Loved Ones, separating the married couple. Brad was placed on the Tadhana tribe. In the First Impressions vote, Brad got a vote from Marissa Peterson. However, Laura Boneham was voted out from Tadhana. Rupert Boneham switched with Laura B., transferring her to Galang and him to Redemption Island. Brad immediately gathered the five guys on the tribe, Caleb Bankston, Hayden Moss, John Cody, Vytas Baskauskas, and himself to form a majority alliance. Tadhana initially had the lead at the first Immunity Challenge of the season. The lead was then lost by Katie Collins and Ciera Eastin during the puzzle portion. Gervase Peterson's gloating after the challenge angered Brad causing him to turn the vote against Gervase's niece, Marissa, who was unanimously voted out at the first Tribal Council.
After Tadhana again lost the Immunity Challenge on Day 6, the alliance decided to target Rachel Foulger in order to bait her boyfriend, returning player Tyson Apostol, into switching with her. Although John wanted the weaker Ciera gone, Rachel was voted out in a 5-2-1 vote. At the next duel, Brad was confronted by a very angry Tyson and Marissa; Tyson was angry with Brad for voting out Rachel and knew very well why Brad had her voted her out. Marissa was angry with Brad for voting out strong people over the weak, but after he told her that was how the game goes, she snapped and shouted, "F*** you, Brad Culpepper", which promoted her uncle, Gervase, to warn her to tone it down. Colton Cumbie decided to quit and Rachel was eliminated from the game. Candice Cody, who had finished first in both duels, gave her husband, John, a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol both times, with John subsequently sharing the clues with Brad. Tadhana had an early lead at the next Immunity Challenge, but lost yet again, and it was decided that Ciera would go for being useless to the tribe. However, Brad realized that John would listen to Candice if she returned from Redemption Island. This prompted Brad to turn the tribe against John. Despite having reservations, John was blindsided in a unanimous vote.
At the next duel, Brad again came under fire from both Candice and Marissa for voting out John. John came in first, while Marissa was permanently eliminated from the game. Candice told John to give the clue to Monica, though Brad told his wife to burn the clue, to which she complied. Brad thought about voting out Caleb to avoid the heat at the arena, as Caleb's loved one, Colton, had already quit. Brad was unaware that he was actually at the bottom of his own alliance. Tadhana lost once again due to Ciera's poor performance at the puzzle. Brad talked to the girls about voting Caleb out. However, Brad's alliance was tipped off when he failed to appear for a strategy session. At Tribal Council, Brad said that getting rid of someone without a loved one would be a good idea. This caused Caleb to vote against Brad, forcing a tie. In the revote, Vytas voted against Brad, sending him off to Redemption Island in a 3-1 vote.
Candice was delighted to have Brad on Redemption Island referring to it as "the sweetest voice I ever wanted to hear on Redemption Island" so she could beat him. However, this was not the case. While John came in first place, Brad beat out Candice for second place, eliminating her from the competition. John gave Monica another clue, which she promptly burned. Tadhana won the next challenge. Galang unanimously voted out Ciera's mother, Laura Morett, with the purpose of sending Brad home and securing Monica's loyalty. Laura M. fulfilled her purpose as she and John beat out Brad for first and second place respectively, eliminating him from the game.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tadhana | Blue Lagoon Bustle | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost |
| 2 | In the Barrel | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 3 | Sumo at Sea | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| 4 | Boats, Brains & Brawn | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost | |
| Voted Out, Day 10 | |||||
| 5 | Tadhana | A Game of Bridge | Duel | 2nd | |
| 6 | A Numbers Game | Lost | |||
| Eliminated, Day 14 | |||||
| Episode | Brad's Votes |
Voted Against Brad |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laura B. | Marissa |
| Marissa | - | |
| 2 | Rachel | - |
| 3 | John | - |
| 4 | Ciera; Ineligible |
Caleb, Ciera, Katie; Caleb, Katie, Vytas1 |
| Voted Out, Day 10 | ||
| 5 | On Redemption Island | |
| 6 | ||
| Eliminated, Day 14 | ||
^1 In "One Armed Dude and Three Moms", the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Brad and Ciera, forcing a revote. Vytas changed his vote to Brad on the revote, sending him to Redemption Island.
Game Changers[]
Brad started the game on Nuku. He aligned with Sierra Dawn Thomas on Day 1. Nuku won the first two challenges. He was switched to Mana after the Tribe Switch occurred. After Mana lost immunity, Caleb Reynolds was the target for being an outsider and his relationship with Tai Trang. Brad convinced Tai that it would be in his best interest to vote out Caleb. Caleb was unanimously voted out. Tavua won immunity on Day 11. However, the losing tribes (Nuku and Mana) had to go to a Joint Tribal Council, and vote out one member. At Tribal Council, J.T. Thomas told him that Sierra was the target. Then Brad convinced Tai to play his Hidden Immunity Idol on Sierra which resulted in Malcolm Freberg's elimination. After Mana lost the next Reward Challenge, Brad's tribemate Debbie Wanner called Brad a dictator and lashed out at him.
He remained on Mana after the second tribe switch. He managed to pull in Troyzan Robertson into his alliance. Mana lost the Reward Challenge. At camp, Brad discussed his newfound empathy towards the experiences of his wife Monica, which later prompted Aubry Bracco and Cirie Fields to approach Brad about aligning.
Brad made it to the merge. At the feast, Jeff said two people had to volunteer to sit out. Brad and Tai volunteered. While their tribemates feasted, Brad and Tai reconnected and affirmed their alliance, with Brad targeting Hali Ford and Michaela Bradshaw, outsiders from the third Mana tribe. Hali was blindsided at the merge Tribal Council. On Day 26, Brad's ally Sarah Lacina flipped and blindsided Debbie, thus leaving Brad in the minority.
On Day 30, Brad met Monica at the Loved Ones Challenge. Brad managed to win immunity. However, Sierra was voted out at Tribal Council. Despite losing immunity on Day 33, Brad was spared as the majority decided to target Andrea Boehlke. Andrea was blindsided at Tribal Council, though Brad received two votes. Brad managed to win the next Immunity Challenge. Brad, Troyzan, and Sarah managed to blindside Michaela at Tribal Council with the help of Sarah's Vote Steal Advantage.
After the chaotic Tribal Council, Tai felt as if he had lost all his allies; in an attempt to regroup, he told Brad about his two Hidden Immunity Idols. Brad still felt betrayed after Tai eliminated Brad's closest ally, Sierra, and tried to strongarm Tai into giving him one of his Hidden Immunity Idols, with the intention of eliminating Tai at the final five. On Day 36, Brad won his third Immunity Challenge. He chose to share the reward with Sarah and Troyzan. During their feast, they conspired to split the votes between Aubry and Tai in case of Tai's Hidden Immunity Idols. Brad voted for Aubry at Tribal Council, but after a series of Hidden Immunity Idols and Sarah's Legacy Advantage were played, which caused Cirie the only non immune person left to get eliminated by default.
Brad won his 4th Immunity Challenge on Day 37. Both Brad and Troyzan targeted Aubry. Aubry was unanimously voted out at Tribal Council. Brad won the Final Immunity Challenge which was also his 5th Immunity Challenge win. He believed he had won the game, and he wanted Tai out for constantly betraying him. Brad got his way as Tai was unanimously voted out.
At the Final Tribal Council, Ozzy Lusth and Debbie commended Brad for his challenge dominance, and Ozzy told Brad he was his champion, but Michaela and Andrea questioned his lack of social game, Cirie told him she believed Sierra was the brains behind their alliance, and Tai chastised him for his condescending attitude and attempt at blackmailing him. Brad received votes from Debbie, Ozzy, and Sierra which enabled him to become the runner-up. He defeated Troyzan who came in third place with zero votes, but lost to Sarah who won with seven votes.
At the Live Reunion Show, Brad apologized to Tai for the way he treated him, Jeff polled the jury on who they would have voted for if Tai was in the Final Three instead of Sarah, and the result ended in a 5-5 tie between Brad and Tai; Jeff then said if that happened the rules stated that the finalist out of the running which would be Troyzan would become the final juror and select the winner, and Troyzan stated he would have vote for Brad so it appeared that Brad would have won in that scenario.
| Episode | Tribe Affiliation |
Challenge | Challenge Type | Sit-Out? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuku | The Marooning | Reward | No | Won |
| Blue Lagoon Bustle | Reward/Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Serpent Turf | Reward/Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Switched Tribes, Day 7 | |||||
| 2 | Mana | Austin's Elemental Obstacle Course | Reward/Immunity | No | Lost |
| 3 | Ram-Ball On | Reward | No | 2nd | |
| Ow-Pairs | Immunity | No | Lost | ||
| 4 | Unchained Medley | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Box Car Blues | Immunity | No | 1st | ||
| 5 | Cargo Salvage | Immunity | No | Won | |
| 6 | Dulcimer Stomp | Reward | No | Lost | |
| Plunge, Pop, Pull | Immunity | No | Won | ||
| Tribes Merged, Day 19 | |||||
| 7 | Maku Maku | Keep on Your Toes | Immunity | Lost | |
| New School | Reward | Lost | |||
| Get a Grip | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 8 | O-Black Water | Reward | No | Won | |
| Got a Hunch | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 9 | Angry Chair | Reward | Won | ||
| High Step and Stack | Immunity | Lost | |||
| 10 | Full Tilt Boogey | Reward | Won | ||
| Can't Buoy Me Love | Immunity | Won | |||
| 11 | Teeter Tower | Immunity | Lost | ||
| Vertigo | Immunity | Won | |||
| 12 | Maybe I'm A Maze | Reward/Immunity | Won | ||
| Spoon Man | Immunity | Won | |||
| Final Four-titude | Immunity | Won | |||
| Runner-Up, Day 39 | |||||
| Episode | Brad's Votes |
Voted Against Brad |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuku Tribe Immune | |
| Nuku Tribe Immune | ||
| 2 | Caleb | - |
| 3 | Malcolm | - |
| 4 | Mana Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Mana Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Mana Tribe Immune | |
| 7 | Hali | - |
| Ozzy | - | |
| 8 | Andrea | - |
| 9 | Tai | - |
| 10 | Andrea | Individual Immunity |
| 11 | Andrea | Andrea, Aubry |
| Michaela | Individual Immunity | |
| 12 | Individual Immunity | |
| Aubry | Individual Immunity | |
| Tai | Individual Immunity | |
| Jury Votes for Brad |
Debbie, Ozzy, Sierra | |
| Runner-Up, Day 39 | ||
^1 In "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished", Tai used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Aubry, negating Brad's vote against her.
Post-Survivor[]
- Brad was sued for "fraud and deceit" by the insurance company that paid him in workers' compensation for his 89 percent disability rating two years previous from his appearance in Survivor. According to the lawsuit, Brad told doctors of "low back pain and stiffness which is almost always present," and said he had "quite a bit of difficulty getting into or out of the bath and performing heavy activities around his home" while during his time in Blood vs. Water, he was shown "paddling a canoe, diving under water repeatedly, retrieving large crates and stacking them on the shore".[3]
| “ | I was on pain medication, and I had a back procedure right before that. Just because I chose to do things that are contra [sic] to my body, doesn't mean I'm not in pain, and doesn't mean I'm not impaired. This whole lawsuit is ludicrous. I've worked too hard in my life to have this as a headline. | ” |
—Brad about the lawsuit | ||
Trivia[]
- Brad and Monica Culpepper initially applied for The Amazing Race, but its casting producers suggested that they apply for Survivor instead. Monica explained that CBS was more interested with her than with her husband. Monica also noted that Brad also applied with Warren Sapp.[4]
- Brad is the fourth former NFL player to compete on Survivor, following Gary Hogeboom, Steve Wright, and Grant Mattos. They would be followed by Tyler Fredrickson, Alan Ball, Danny McCray, and Brandon Cottom.
- Brad was first approached to be on One World.[5]
- Brad was the oldest man of the original Tadhana tribe.
- Both Brad and Monica lasted 14 days on their first season and were the runners-up of their second seasons. Therefore, both have played for 53 days during their Survivor career.
- Brad was one of 32 contestants eligible to be selected to compete on Cambodia,[6] but was not chosen to be on the final cast. This makes him the only player from Blood vs. Water to be on the ballot for Cambodia but not compete.
- Brad and Troyzan Robertson are the only two players from the Cambodia second chance ballot who were not voted on, but still competed on a later season.
- Brad has the Blood vs. Water tribe emblems tattooed on his left torso.[7]
- He is the fifth contestant to have Survivor related tattoos, following Gervase Peterson, Cao Boi Bui, Gary Stritesky, and Russell Hantz.
- Brad is the sixth castaway to win five individual Immunity Challenges in a single season, following Colby Donaldson, Tom Westman, Terry Deitz, Ozzy Lusth, and Mike Holloway.
- Of the six, Brad is the only one to achieve this feat in a season with returning players.
References[]
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20230201101615/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215129/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20230128200714/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/215594/
- ↑ Galli, Cindy; Ross, Brian (January 29, 2015). "Ex-NFL Star Sued Over Disability Claims After Athletic 'Survivor' Appearance". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/89-percent-disability-rating-nfl-star-shines-survivor/story?id=28557340. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
- ↑ Deggans, Eric (May 10, 2013). "Tampa Bay 'Survivor' Contestants Reminisce about Experiences". Tampa Bay Times. http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/tampa-bay-survivor-contestants-reminisce-about-experiences/2119492. Retrieved May 30, 2013.
- ↑ "Brad Culpepper Interview". Survivor Oz. January 14, 2014. http://survivoroz.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/brad-culpepper-interview/. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
- ↑ https://ew.com/gallery/survivor-second-chance-contenders/?slide=195916#195916
- ↑ https://youtu.be/d-eye5Myxlc?t=57s/
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