Ex-Las Vegan takes second on ‘Survivor’

Kimberley Mcgee

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000 | 11:26 a.m.

And then there were none.

The final episode of the CBS summer hit "Survivor" aired Wednesday night to an estimated 51 million viewers, who tuned in to see who would be the last one of the 16 original cast members to be left standing.

And the $1 million winner is ... 39-year-old corporate trainer Richard Hatch of Newport, R.I. River guide Kelly Wiglesworth, a 13-year resident of Las Vegas who attended Chaparral High School in 1991 and now lives in Kernville, Calif., was runner-up, winning a cash prize of $100,000.

In a final vote conducted by the last seven contestants to be banished from the island, Hatch received four "yes" votes and Wiglesworth three, losing the top prize by a single vote.

Wiglesworth could not be reached after the show aired Wednesday and again this morning.

The object of the popular show was for one of the 16 castaways to outwit and outlast each other while marooned on a desert island for 39 days. "Survivor" has been a top-rated program for the past 13 weeks, as contestants on the game show competed through physical and mental immunity challenges to be the last one on the island.

Susan Smart, Wiglesworth's mother, recently told the Sun that she hoped her daughter would buy a new car to replace the black 1991 Saturn she currently drives.

"She needs something she can throw her stuff in the back of and go, maybe a truck," Smart said. "She can throw her kayak back there or whatever and cart her stuff around."

When asked two weeks ago during a phone conversation if she would contact local media once she was voted off the island, Wiglesworth gave a long pause before answering with a tentative, "Yeah."

Before last night's vote, Wiglesworth was the only "Survivor" contestant to not have a vote cast against her during the show's Tribal Councils, which took place every three days.

Wiglesworth was a potential target for banishment as the ordeal wound down, but she won the last five immunity challenge competitions, which exempted her from the voting process.

Near the end of Wednesday's finale Wiglesworth was angrily berated by contestant Susan Hawk, who finished fourth, for double-crossing other castaways.

"You are too two-faced and manipulative to get where you're going in life," Hawk, a Wisconsin truck driver, said.

Smart said that her vivacious 23-year-old daughter returned from the experience emotionally drained, but also a bit wiser.

"It's so incredibly amazing to see the change in her," Smart said. "She's matured. She's making good choices and taking care of herself."

Each contestant was allowed to bring one luxury item to the island. Wiglesworth chose a bead bag, thread and a needle. She sewed a sign for 72-year-old Rudy Boesch, a retired Navy SEAL and one of the show's final four survivors, which read Rowdy Rudy's Diner. Boesch cooked more than 200 pots of rice for the members.

"She made necklaces and things for the others," Smart said. "She wanted something creative with her."

Wiglesworth is still suffering from a virus she contracted while on the island.

Wiglesworth's sister, Michelle Wheatcraft, a 1988 Chaparral graduate, said her younger sibling had to cancel her appearance this morning on CBS' "The Early Show." All 15 other "Survivor" contestants appeared with host Bryant Gumbel.

"She's still sick with the virus that she got on the island and she has bronchitis," Wheatcraft said during a phone interview this morning from Staley, N.C.

But Wheatcraft said Wiglesworth will survive and thrive once she is feeling better.

"She has several (endorsements) that she is doing, but she won't tell," Wheatcraft said. "She wants to surprise us."

Wiglesworth, who appears in a Got Milk? ad campaign that debuted Wednesday, seems full of surprises. Wheatcraft asserts that her sister was tight-lipped about the island outcome.

"I didn't realize she would get that close," Wheatcraft said. "She never gave (a hint) or said anything."

Bill McGinnis, owner of WhitewaterVoyages.com, where Wiglesworth has worked for two years, said she was strong in her resolve to not reveal anything.

"The general belief is that no one can keep a secret, but my guess is that CBS said the island is the easy part and telling no one afterward would be the hard part," McGinnis said.