Rodger Bingham

Rodger Winn Bingham^[1] is a contestant from Survivor: The Australian Outback.

Rodger is primarily remembered for his father-daughter relationship with tribemate Elisabeth Filarski. He was eliminated at the final five after asking to be voted out so Elisabeth would be spared.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Name: Rodger Bingham
Age: 53
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Teacher
Hometown: Crittenden, Kentucky
Luxury Item: Bible

Like his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents before him, Bingham was born, raised and continues to make his home in Crittenden, Kentucky. Married for over 33 years to his wife, Patricia, his proudest accomplishment is their daughter, Angela.

Bingham studied education at Eastern Kentucky University where he received a bachelor's degree of science for industrial education and a master's degree in education. In addition to teaching industrial arts to students at Grant County High School, Bingham is a part time farmer and real estate investor. Previous occupations include ten years as Chief Executive Officer of a bank, owner of a lumber company and owner of a hardware store.

A self-described workaholic, Bingham is also inventive, diligent and able to adapt to different situations and personalities.

He is an elder at the Crittenden Christian Church and a member of the local Sportsmen Club. His birth date is July 5, 1947.^[2]

Survivor[]

Despite his age, Rodger was able to help out at camp by using his knowledge in construction to help build a shelter for Kucha on Day 1. On the second day, he tore out a few pages from his luxury item, a bible, to help make fire. While doing so he found a personal note from his son-in-law inside wishing him the best of luck and to try his best.

His tribe lost the first Immunity Challenge, and he was on the chopping block because of his age. However, Debb Eaton and Jeff Varner were both trying to get the other voted off, and that took the pressure off of Rodger. He voted unanimously with the rest of his tribe against Debb.

The Reward Challenge on Day 4 proved difficult for Rodger. It involved jumping off a cliff and swimming. Rodger had just learned to swim before coming on the show and was terrified of heights. He performed in the challenge anyway, but dragged his team behind, letting Ogakor win the blanket reward. His tribe won the next three Immunity Challenges though, saving him from almost certain elimination.

When Kucha lost their next Immunity Challenge, Rodger was saved from elimination because of Kimmi Kappenberg's attitude and not bonding with the tribe. After the merge he formed a close bond with Elisabeth Filarski, a sentimental father-daughter relationship that saw Rodger do his best to make sure Elisabeth was not targeted by the rest of the tribe. This eventually cost him when in the final five as Rodger asked the tribe to vote him off instead of Elisabeth because of the bond they shared and he thought Elisabeth needed the money more. This worked when Rodger was voted out at the next Tribal Council, becoming the fifth jury member.

As a jury member, Rodger cast his vote for Colby Donaldson to win, who eventually finished as runner-up against Tina Wesson.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Kucha	Bridging the Gap	Reward/Immunity	No	Lost
2		Butch Cassidy	Reward	No	Lost
2		Tucker'd Out	Immunity	No	Won
3		Water Torture	Reward	No	Lost
3		Lock Step	Immunity	No	Won
4		Mastermind	Reward	No	Won
4		True or Falls	Immunity	No	Won
5		Triage	Reward	Yes	Won
5		The Maze	Immunity	No	Lost
6		Blind Leading the Blind	Reward	Yes	Won
Tribes Merged, Day 20
7	Barramundi	Perch	Immunity		Lost
8		Return to Sender	Reward		Lost
8		Don't Fence Me In	Immunity		Lost
10		Double Play	Reward		Lost
10		Hanging in the Balance	Immunity		Lost
11		Survivor Auction
11		Fire and Water	Immunity		Lost
12		End of the Line	Reward		Lost
12		Blue Plate Special	Immunity		Lost
13		Survivor.com	Reward		Lost
13		Fugitives	Immunity		Lost
Voted Out, Day 36

Episode	Rodger's Votes	Voted Against Rodger
1	Debb	-
2	Kucha Tribe Immune
3	Kucha Tribe Immune
4	Kucha Tribe Immune
5	Kimmi	-
6	No Tribal Council
7	Colby; Colby¹	-
8	Jerri	-
10	Jerri	-
11	Amber	-
12	Amber	Amber, Colby
13	Keith	Colby, Keith, Tina
Voted Out, Day 36
Voted for Sole Survivor	Colby

^1 In "The Merge", the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Colby and Jeff, forcing a revote. Rodger did not change his vote on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

After Survivor, Rodger was honored by the leaders of the Commonwealth on Feb. 20th in the Legislature and the Governors Office in February 20, 2001.
In May 2001, the cast of The Australian Outback appeared on Hollywood Squares for Survivor Week. Rodger himself appeared in three episodes on the 15th,^[3] the 17th where he shared a square with Elisabeth^[4] and the 18th.^[5]
Rodger attended the Survivor: Thailand Reunion Show.
On January 9, 2010, Rodger attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party.
In May 2013, Rodger reunited with his Outback daughter figure castmate Elisabeth Hasselbeck when he made an appearance on The View.^[6]

Trivia[]

Rodger is the oldest contestant to compete on The Australian Outback.
Rodger is the first contestant to reside in Kentucky during filming.
- His tribemates and Jeff Probst gave him the moniker "Kentucky Joe".
Rodger is the second contestant who had brought a bible as his luxury item, the first one being Dirk Been from the previous season.
Rodger, along with fellow The Australian Outback castaway Maralyn Hershey, were the first Survivor castaways to compete on the show who were born in the 1940s.
When Ogakor was speculating which castaway was evacuated in "Trial by Fire", several members of the tribe (Jerri Manthey in particular) believed that Rodger had a stroke.
Rodger was shortlisted for All-Stars and Guatemala.^[7]