Local 'castaway' gets booted

"It was absolutely the time of my life and a whirlwind of emotions. I don't remember who I was before that," said Mitchell, the most recent contestant to be voted off the show.

A 2001 graduate of the College of William and Mary, Mitchell moved to Redwood City from Portola Valley last year. She attended Las Lomitas Elementary and Menlo- Atherton high schools. After college graduation, she worked for a high tech company and most recently as a retail assistant at the REI outdoor equipment store in San Carlos.

Mitchell was booted from the show after spending the last several episodes dealing with a mysterious illness that left her unable to help her teammates. She miraculously rebounded from the flu-like symptoms when the gender segregated groups finally merged.

Mitchell's body was acclimating to the new environment but the suffering was enough to make Mitchell beg contestants to vote her off the show.

"By day four I was throwing up and passing out," she said. "All of a sudden I was the whiny pathetic person."

Despite some sore feelings from teammates, Mitchell says the best part of the show was the people she was with -- comparing it to online dating services.

Maybe that's a clue why she moved to Los Angeles three weeks ago. Survivor fans think Mitchell's one-week fling with contestant Alex Bell -- a L.A. resident and San Francisco native -- could have long-term potential. Mitchell is contractually forbidden by CBS from seeing or commenting on any contestants until the show's final episode is aired in May.

A self-described adventure seeker, Mitchell says she's become enchanted with the entertainment industry. With her business degree, she plans to look for a job with a production company.

"Money is money and I'm broke," Mitchell said. "I'll take any little adventure that's thrown at me."

With the outbreak of war in Iraq last week, Mitchell hasn't seen the attention past survivors have. The only show she has appeared on was the nationally syndicated Howard Stern radio show. Despite her dry bank account the 23-year-old turned down $3,000 to go topless at the radio studio in New York. Past female Survivor contestants have been offered similar deals by the notoriously raunchy Stern.

Mitchell had only seen a few Survivor show's before being chosen for the show and now says she has a greater appreciation for reality TV.

"Now it's just intriguing to me -- all the little intricacies of the show," she said.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.<