Brad Virata

Brad Virata
Contestant Profile
Born	November 23, 1976 (1976-11-23)
Hometown	Los Angeles, California
Occupation	Fashion Director
Survivor Career
Tribe(s)	Puka Puka ► Rarotonga
Finish	12/20
Challenge Wins	5
Votes Against	7
Days Lasted	21

Bradley "Brad" Virata is a contestant from Survivor: Cook Islands.

Profile

Retrieved from CBS.com

Brad Virata was raised in the small town of Oak Harbor, Washington, just outside of Seattle. The youngest of five children, he excelled at track, football and volleyball during his teenage years.
Virata received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in international communications from the University of Washington and was an active member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. Shortly after graduation, Virata traveled throughout Europe and Asia working as a model. He then moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion and attended the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He began working in couture clothing sales and clothing design merchandising for Guess? Men's Division. He spent five years with the company and helped launch the clothing line "Los Angeles Denim Atelier." He currently works as the Director of Men's Merchandising for Lucky Brand Jeans.
Virata is an avid beach volleyball player and surfer. His hobbies include weight training, running, rollerblading, power yoga, beach volleyball and international travel. He is most proud of giving back to his community through work with organizations such as AIDS Project Los Angeles, Project Angel Food, Starlight Foundation and the Big Brothers Program of Los Angeles.

Virata is single and currently resides in Santa Monica, California, with his Boston terrier named Maxx. His birth date is November 23, 1976.

Survivor: Cook Islands

Brad started the game on the Asian-American Puka Puka tribe. Brad quickly became annoyed at Cao Boi Bui's racist jokes. Despite their differences, Cao Boi cured Brad's headache on Day 1. Puku Puka emerged as the strongest of the four tribes, winning the first two Immunity Challenges and keeping Brad safe.

After the Day 7 Tribe Switch, Brad was switched to the Rarotonga along with Puka Puka tribe mate Jenny Guzon-Bae. Brad formed an alliance with the men on his tribe. The men felt comfortable in the game because they thought the women needed them due to their physical prowess. When Rarotonga lost the Immunity Challenge in Ruling the Roost, he wanted to vote off Stephannie Favor because she had openly told the tribe she was the weakest link and wouldn't be offended if she was voted out. Rebecca Borman approached Brad about the possibility of joining the women in blindsiding J.P. Calderon. Brad initially seemed unsure of the plan, but, at Tribal Council, he sided with the women, and J.P. was voted off.

Brad felt vulnerable now that the women had the majority, so he started working hard at camp. Brad started to become annoyed at Cristina Coria because she was bossing the tribe around. The rest of the tribe also became annoyed at Cristina, and the tribe collectively decided to eliminate her at the next Tribal Council; this opportunity came in Don't Cry Over Spilled Octopus. After the challenge, Stephannie told Nate Gonzalez that she was looking forward to going home. Brad took this as a sign of weakness, so he decided to vote for Stephannie instead of Cristina. At Tribal Council, Stephannie was voted off.

Brad was still annoyed by Cristina in Plan Voodoo and decided to vote her off next. When Jeff Probst revealed both tribes would be visiting Tribal Council, he felt it was time to vote out Cristina. Cristina knew she was in danger of being voted off, so she asked everybody to give her another chance and vote off Jenny instead. Brad was the only person who listened to Cristina, but she was still sent home in a 4-2 vote. In Why Aren't You Swimming?!, Brad cost his tribe the Reward Challenge by doing the puzzle portion of the challenge instead of the swimming part, despite being the best swimmer on the tribe; this annoyed tribe mate Nate Gonzalez.

When a chance to Mutiny was offered in The episode of the same name, Brad refused the offer along with the rest of his tribe. The tribe gained tribe members Candice Woodcock and Jonathan Penner. Brad was on-board with the plan to eliminate the newcomers, unaware of the alliance that had been formed by the original Rarotonga members. When Rarotonga lost the following Immunity Challenge, he was targeted by the newly formed Raro Alliance. When Brad told the tribe he didn't trust them, he turned the tribe against him and he was voted off at Tribal Council. Brad finished in 12th place, becoming the first jury member.

At Final Tribal Council, Brad congratulated the finalists. Brad pointed out the very limited interaction between himself and Ozzy Lusth and asked what was the hardest challenge he overcame. Ozzy said it was his expierence with father and how the latter wasn't there for him. Brad gave his jury vote to Yul.

Voting History

Brad's Voting History
Episode	Brad's Votes	Voted Against Brad
1	Puka Puka Tribe Immune
2	Puka Puka Tribe Immune
3	Rarotonga Tribe Immune
4	J.P.	-
5	Stephannie	-
6	Jenny	-
8	Rarotonga Tribe Immune
9	Jonathan	Adam, Candice, Jenny, Jonathan, Nate, Parvati, Rebecca
Voted Out, Day 21
Voted for Sole Survivor	Yul

Post-Survivor

• On January 9, 2010, Brad attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
• Brad currently works as a creation director for E! Entertainment.

Trivia

• Brad is the first LGBT Asian-American contestant to appear on Survivor. He would be followed by Tai Trang.
• Brad is the first contestant to place 12th and be a member of the jury.
• Brad is the second juror to not make the merge, after Erin Collins of Survivor: Thailand.
• Brad is the first contestant to become a member of a nine-person jury.
• Brad is the first Juror to attend a pre-merge Tribal Council as a member of the jury.

References

Survivor: Cook Islands Castaways
Adam Rarotonga	Becky Puka Puka	Billy Aitutaki	Brad Puka Puka	Candice Rarotonga	Cao Boi Puka Puka	Cecilia Aitutaki	Cristina Aitutaki	J.P. Aitutaki	Jenny Puka Puka
Jessica Rarotonga	Jonathan Rarotonga	Nate Manihiki	Ozzy Aitutaki	Parvati Rarotonga	Rebecca Manihiki	Sekou Manihiki	Stephannie Manihiki	Sundra Manihiki	Yul Puka Puka