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Randy Bailey is a contestant from Survivor: Gabon and Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains.

With his gruff exterior and apparent hatred for everyone and everything, Randy was best known in Gabon as a minor antagonist. He started off on the outs of the losing Fang tribe, but benefited the most out of the season's tribe switch. However, the merge ended his good fortune and he fell back into the minority. With the numbers for his alliance dwindling, he resorted to playing a fake hidden immunity idol on his last tribal council, much to the joy of his enemies.

He returned in Heroes vs. Villains where he was placed on the Villains tribe. However, his weakness in challenges led to him being voted off at the Villains' first Tribal Council.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Randy Bailey (49)
Hometown: Eagle Rock, Missouri
Occupation: Wedding Videographer

Randy Bailey wants to be personally responsible for crushing the hopes and dreams of all other contestants with delusions of winning Survivor. He considers himself a ruthless bully who enjoys picking on those that were not blessed with his strength or intellect.

Randy describes himself as angry, blunt, mean and sarcastic (yet charming), and admits he's a train wreck.
Bailey declares he has no living relatives besides an older brother, from whom he hasn't heard from in years. He says he has never met a person who didn't eventually disappoint him. The only "person" he has ever loved was his recently deceased black Labrador mix, Johnson, with whom he lived for 13 years.

His biggest pet peeves are cell phones and overly religious people, and he says he doesn't allow either in his home or car.

Bailey's hobbies include scuba diving, marathon running and triathlons, including competing twice in the Hawaiian Ironman. Despite having competed in over 100 triathlons, he claims that he has not been off the couch in years. Instead, he now enjoys his nightly hot tub with a scotch on the rocks. He is also a private pilot, enjoys watching football and occasionally plays golf.

Bailey's primary motivation for being on the show is to be hungry, tired, dirty and smelly. He also says he needs a long vacation where he will not be hassled with the mundane issues of his boring life. He's a Survivor purist and guarantees he will win if the game is not "poisoned" with too many twists.

Bailey is currently single and lives on a lake in rural southwest Missouri. Randy recently moved from Plano, Texas where he lived for 20 years and still claims to be a Texan at heart. He plans on returning there after he wins the million. He has an engineering degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, but chooses to work as a wedding videographer where he can set his own schedule.

His birth date is March 31, 1959.[1]

Randy Bailey (50)

Tribe: Villains
Hometown: Austin, Texas
Current Residence: Austin, Texas
Personal Claim To Fame: "Never having been CONVICTED of a felony."
Inspiration in Life: "Nothing inspires me!"
Previous Finishes: Gabon: 11th out, 3rd Jury Member
Favorite Past Moment: "Awaking on Day 10 to a new team!"
Previous Survivor He Respects Most: Jonny Fairplay (Pearl Islands, Micronesia)
Previous Survivor He Respects Least: "Take your pick of the idiots from Gabon, mostly Bob."

Why Did He Come Back? : "To right the wrong!"[2]

Survivor[]

Gabon[]

Randy was selected by Matty Whitmore to be on the Fang tribe. He decided to add Dan Kay to Fang, saying that they needed a suit. Fang was much weaker than Kota. Randy became annoyed very quickly with Gillian Larson due to her cheery personality. He also viewed her as useless to the tribe. At Fang's first Tribal Council, Randy agreed with sending the negative Michelle Chase home over the weak Gillian. Fang lost the next two challenges. Randy was happy that he was able to vote out Gillian. Also at the Tribal Council, the tribe elected GC Brown the leader. However, he quit the position. Fang made a comeback and won the next two challenges.

Fang was running out of rice and Randy wanted to make so they ate one meal a day. Randy knew that GC, Crystal Cox, and Ken Hoang were against him because they ignored him. He was also friendly with Dan, Matty, and Susie Smith. They all deemed GC as 'cancer' and decided he would be the next to go. On Day 10, the tribes were asked to rank each person based on how important they were. Randy was deemed the third most important person. Randy didn't care as it didn't show alliances. A tribe switch occurred, and the most important people from each tribe, Matty and Marcus Lehman, would start the process. Randy was selected by Charlie Herschel to be on the new Kota. When it was his turn, Randy picked Corinne Kaplan. Randy informed her that GC was negative and would make his tribe lose. The talk worked and Corinne chose Susie to be on the tribe. Randy scored all the goals to ensure his new tribe won immunity, which would become the start of a winning streak. Randy enjoyed winning and seeing Fang suffer. During this time, Randy joined the Onion Alliance. On Day 21, the challenge was for individual immunity as both tribes went to Tribal Council. Randy made it to the second round of the challenge, but he was eliminated by Charlie. At Tribal Council, Randy voted against Susie as she was the weakest. However, the tribe was concerned about Dan possibly having a Hidden Immunity Idol, so he was voted out instead.

On Day 22, everyone headed to what was thought to be a merge feast. Randy noticed a box and he assumed it would end the fun. There was also a note that was a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol. Randy didn't need the note to tell him that the idol was hidden under a sagging tree branch. Everyone decided to throw the idol into the ocean. Randy felt like the "king of Gabon" because he believed that he convinced everyone to dispose of the idol. The box, instead of announcing the merge, announced another tribe switch. Randy ended up on Fang, along with Matty, Corinne, Charlie, and Sugar Kiper. Randy was worried about Susie flipping because he viewed her as "stupid and crazy". Matty won Fang immunity. Randy's fears were confirmed when they noticed that Marcus was voted out.

At the next Immunity Challenge, the tribe officially merged. Randy deflected back to Kota, but no one was able to get anyone to flip. Charlie was the one voted out. At the Survivor Auction, Randy spent all of his money on many items. Bob was exiled by Ken. Randy bought the last item, which was cookies that he had to share with the tribe. Sugar gave his last cookie to Matty, which irritated Randy. He decided to make the others lives miserable so they would vote for him. Then, he would use the idol that he believed Bob Crowley had found and blindside Susie in revenge for flipping on them. Bob gave him an idol. At Tribal Council, the plan appeared to work and Randy gave the idol to Jeff Probst. However, the idol was fake, leaving Randy dumbfounded while Sugar laughed loudly. Randy was voted out in a 5-3 vote.

At the Final Tribal Council, Randy demanded to know why Bob gave him a fake idol. He also asked Sugar why she laughed at him when he got the fake idol and made it clear that he didn't want to vote for longtime enemy Susie. In the end, Randy voted for Bob to win, who wound up doing so. When he cast his jury vote, he said, "All three of you, kiss my ***".

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Fang One for All Immunity1 No Lost
Reward Lost
Temptation Valley Reward/Immunity No Lost
Lemme Go Rock 'N' Roll Reward/Immunity No Lost
2 Kicking and Screaming Reward No Won
Lake Launch Immunity No Won
Switched Tribes, Day 7
3 Kota Big Oar Deal Immunity No Won
4 Fruit Flies Reward No Won
Cliff Bowling Immunity No Won
5 Snake in the Grass Reward No Won
Jungle Relay Immunity No Won
6 Elephant Eggs Reward No Won
Log Jam Immunity1 No Lost
Switched Tribes, Day 22
7 Fang Keep It Up Immunity No Won
8 Super Golf Reward No Won
Tribes Merged, Day 27
8 Nobag Fired Up Immunity Lost
9 Survivor Auction
Domino Effect Immunity Lost
Voted Out, Day 30
Notes:
^1 This challenge was played for individual immunity at each tribe's next Tribal Council.

Episode Randy's
Votes
Voted Against
Randy
1 Michelle -
Gillian -
2 Fang Tribe Immune
3 Kota Tribe Immune
4 Kota Tribe Immune
5 Kota Tribe Immune
6 Susie -
7 Fang Tribe Immune
8 Crystal -
9 Susie Crystal, Ken,
Matty, Sugar, Susie
Voted Out, Day 30
Voted for
Sole Survivor
Bob

Heroes vs. Villains[]

Randy was put on the Villains tribe for being memorable for hating everyone and anyone he met. Randy was considered the weakest member of his tribe due to him being the oldest of the tribe. This weakness was seen in the Day 1 Reward Challenge against J.T. Thomas, and in the Day 8 combined Reward/Immunity Challenge against James Clement. Initially skeptical about the possibility of creating fire without flint, Randy was in awe when Rob Mariano managed to do exactly that.

Despite Randy's physical setbacks, he found a notable amount of food for his tribe, although it was not appreciated by many, to his dismay. Facing their first Tribal Council on Day 8, Randy campaigned for the elimination of former winner Parvati Shallow, who he viewed as dangerous and had the most relationships among the cast. In the end, Randy's lobbying failed and he was eliminated in a unanimous vote. It seemed likely that Randy knew he was leaving since he didn't even bother to vote Parvati and claimed in his last words that he knew his message fell on deaf ears. Before leaving, a furious Randy threw his buff at the fire pit, becoming the first person to do that.

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Villains Battle Dig Reward No Lost
Lock, Load and Light Immunity No Won
2 A Crate Idea Reward/Immunity Yes Won
3 Sumo in Mud Reward/Immunity No Lost
Voted Out, Day 8

Episode Randy's
Votes
Voted Against
Randy
1 Villains Tribe Immune
2 Villains Tribe Immune
3 Rob Coach, Courtney, Danielle,
Jerri, Parvati, Rob,
Russell, Sandra, Tyson
Voted Out, Day 8

Post-Survivor[]

  • On January 9, 2010, Randy attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Gabon and Heroes vs. Villains castmates.
  • In 2019, Randy adopted 11 puppies, all of which he named after his former Gabon castmates.[3]
  • Randy has since moved to Kansas and became a substitute teacher. He briefly became a full-time teacher before returning to substitute teaching as a result of stress.[4]
    • On September 21, 2021, the school Randy taught at was involved in a shooting.[5]

Trivia[]

  • Randy started applying for Survivor during the casting period for Africa and sent in 14 audition videos before he was cast on Gabon. Among his attempts, he was considered for Fiji and Micronesia, but was not chosen.[4]
  • Randy won ten consecutive tribal challenges in Gabon. He is tied for the record with three members of the original Soko tribe in Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers.
    • Unlike the Soko trio, Randy's streak did not encompass the entire pre-merge phase of the game, and it was interrupted by an individual challenge which he did not win.
  • Randy is the second contestant, after Clay Jordan, to cast a vote for someone that Jeff Probst could not identify. In "The Brains Behind Everything", Randy voted "C.C.", standing for Crystal Cox, although two other castaways' first names also began with the letter C.
  • Randy is the third person to play a fake Hidden Immunity Idol at Tribal Council. The first was Jaime Dugan in China, and the second was Eliza Orlins in Micronesia.
  • Randy has consistently stated he knew Bob's idol was fake by his last Tribal Council, and that the episode was edited to seem otherwise.[6][7] He initially thought it was real, but realized the bluff by the end of the day.[8]
  • Randy lost 10-12 lbs. during his time in Gabon.
  • Randy is the only original Fang member, and the only member of two incarnations of Fang, who voted for Bob Crowley to be the Sole Survivor.
    • Randy's jury vote for Bob is the only time that he wrote a man's name down in Gabon; he only voted against women in Gabon. Note that both of Bob's fellow finalists were women.
  • At the Gabon Reunion, Jeff Probst revealed that when all of Gabon's castaways took an IQ test before taping, Randy had the second-highest score after Marcus Lehman.
  • During pre-game interviews for Heroes vs. Villains, it was revealed by Jeff Probst that if Randy had reached the Loved Ones Challenge in Gabon, nobody would have been there to see him. The challenge took place the cycle after his elimination.
  • Randy was the oldest castaway in Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Randy has stated that he left his original Villains buff at the Villains camp when his tribe went to Tribal Council the night he was voted out. The production team provided him a new one and lectured him against losing it in the future, which is why he threw it in the fire pit.[9][10]
  • He is currently the only castaway to throw their buff in the fire after being voted out, though several others have done so upon their elimination from a Redemption Island season.
  • Counting each castaway's best finish in a season, Randy tied with Tyson Apostol, Candice Woodcock, and Jerri Manthey for the lowest-placing returning player going into Heroes vs. Villains.
  • Randy is the first returning player who failed to accumulate a total of 39 days between multiple seasons.
  • Randy is the only member of the Villains tribe to have never reached Day 38 in any season he participated in. Coincidentally, he spent 38 days on Survivor between his two seasons.
  • Randy regretted competing on Heroes vs. Villains, claiming he wasn't in the correct mental state to play.[4]

References[]

Survivor: Gabon Castaways
 Ace
Kota
S17 ace t
 Bob
Kota
S17 bob t
 Charlie
Kota
S17 charlie t
 Corinne
Kota
S17 corinne t
 Crystal
Fang
S17 crystal t
 Dan
Fang
S17 dan t
 GC
Fang
S17 gc t
 Gillian
Fang
S17 gillian t
 Jacquie
Kota
S17 jacquie t
 Kelly
Kota
S17 kelly t
 Ken
Fang
S17 ken t
 Marcus
Kota
S17 marcus t
 Matty
Fang
S17 matty t
 Michelle
Fang
S17 michelle t
 Paloma
Kota
S17 paloma t
 Randy
Fang
S17 randy t
 Sugar
Kota
S17 sugar t
 Susie
Fang
S17 susie t
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains Castaways
 Amanda
Heroes
S20 amanda t
 Candice
Heroes
S20 candice t
 Cirie
Heroes
S20 cirie t
 Coach
Villains
S20 coach t
 Colby
Heroes
S20 colby t
 Courtney
Villains
S20 courtney t
 Danielle
Villains
S20 danielle t
 J.T.
Heroes
S20 jt t
 James
Heroes
S20 james t
 Jerri
Villains
S20 jerri t
 Parvati
Villains
S20 parvati t
 Randy
Villains
S20 randy t
 Rob
Villains
S20 rob t
 Rupert
Heroes
S20 rupert t
 Russell
Villains
S20 russell t
 Sandra
Villains
S20 sandra t
 Stephenie
Heroes
S20 stephenie t
 Sugar
Heroes
S20 sugar t
 Tom
Heroes
S20 tom t
 Tyson
Villains
S20 tyson t
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