Stephenie LaGrossa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Stephenie LaGrossa | |
|---|---|
| Survivor contestant | |
 |
|
| Born | December 6, 1979 |
| Resides | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Season(s) | Palau Guatemala Heroes vs. Villains |
| Finish | 7th Place (Palau) Runner Up (Guatemala) |
| Tribe(s) | Palau: Ulong Koror Guatemala: Yaxhá Nakúm Xhakúm |
Stephenie LaGrossa-Ward (born December 6, 1979) was a contestant in Survivor: Palau and Survivor: Guatemala. She was one of the most popular players ever to play the game, with her popularity peaking at 97% (her final popularity ended at 92%).[1] LaGrossa was an In-Arena host for the Philadelphia Flyers of the NHL, and currently works for the radio station WRDW-FM. She is also one of the owners of GIGI Restaurant & Lounge in Olde City Philadelphia.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Personal life
As the youngest child and only daughter to Stephen and Marguerite LaGrossa, her name was a variant of Stephanie, yet spelled so it would look like her father's name. She grew up in Glenolden, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Archbishop Prendergast Catholic High School in 1998, and she went to Temple University, before transferring to Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. She was a four-year starting varsity lacrosse player at both schools, a multiple Northeast Conference All-Conference and Academic Honor Roll selection, and captain of the team in her senior year at Monmouth. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration with concentrations in marketing and management.
LaGrossa is a former territory sales representative for a pharmaceutical sales company and now models and makes personal appearances. On July 7, 2006 she married longtime boyfriend Michael Ward in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, the same town where they originally met.[3] Early in 2007 they were divorced.
In 2009, LaGrossa became engaged to Philadelphia Phillies and Lehigh Valley IronPigs pitcher Kyle Kendrick.[2]
[edit] Survivor
[edit] Survivor: Palau
She was the last member standing of Ulong when she defeated Bobby Jon Drinkard in an elimination challenge. After receiving instructions to do so, she brought the stuff from Ulong rowing to Koror. She then gave up her Ulong buff and got a new Koror buff. She came extremely close to being voted out in Episode 10 when most of the tribe was conspiring to eliminate her, but she was spared elimination when in a shocking move, Janu Tornell laid down her torch and quit the game.
During the subsequent days, she, along with Jennifer Lyon and Katie Gallagher, floated the idea of an all-female alliance. This did not materialize because of Caryn Groedel, and at the following tribal council (in Episode 11), LaGrossa was unanimously voted out, becoming the third member of the jury, eventually voting for Tom Westman for the title of Sole Survivor in the final Tribal Council. In her final words, she said that she was "totally psyched", having made it to the final 7 when she thought she was a "dead man walking" coming into Koror. But despite her seventh place finish, she was considered one of the most memorable and popular survivors, due to her physical strength, likeable character, and the fact that she outlasted an entire tribe.
LaGrossa became the second person after Kelly Wiglesworth (Survivor: Borneo) to change her vote in tribal council. She is the very first person to change the vote twice in one season. First, from Bobby Jon to Angie when 5 Ulong members remained in the game, then from Ibrehem to James when 4 Ulong members remained in the game. LaGrossa attended all tribal councils in the game (whether as a player or as a jury member) except Koror's tribal council at which Willard was voted out, and the impromptu tribal council at the final immunity challenge, giving her the record for the most tribal councils attended by a single player in one season.
[edit] Survivor: Guatemala
In one of the bigger twists of the 11th season of Survivor, Survivor: Guatemala, Lagrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard returned as players to the game. Stephenie was the opposite of her character in Palau as in she had a powerful alliance since the very beginning. Although as the merge progressed, Stephenie got rid of her whole alliance leaving only Rafe Judkins and a surprising underdog, Danni Boatwright.
In the final 3, Boatwright, who had won the immunity during an endurance challenge, chose to take LaGrossa instead of Rafe Judkins. Her decision, it seemed, was swayed by the fact that Judkins let her out of the promise that if Judkins could bring her to the final 3, they would take each other to the final 2. Despite this, Judkins voted for LaGrossa to be the Sole Survivor and his vote turned out to be the one and only vote for her in the sea of votes that came from the perceived rather bitter jury.
In what was probably the most memorable moment of the season, Judd Sergeant lambasted LaGrossa in his question to her on the 39th day in which the jury members were to ask the final 2 castaways a series of questions before they chose who was more deserving of the one million dollars. He was quoted as saying that he "promise that I (Sergeant) would never vote for you (LaGrossa)", and sticking true to his words, he voted for Danni to win, as did the other 5 jury members.
LaGrossa finished as runner-up, losing by a landslide 6-1 vote to Boatwright in the final 2.
[edit] After Survivor
LaGrossa worked for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2006-07 season as an in arena host, she was released the following season.[citation needed]
In 2008, LaGrossa has appeared as the host of the television show All Dolled Up on Treasure HD.[citation needed]
LaGrossa will be returning to Survivor to compete on the show's 20th season: Survivor: Heroes vs Villians.
[edit] Quotes
- "...in Palau I seemed to be the perfect princess, this time I was competitive and sometimes the bad guy. I played competitively both times. I think there is a happy medium to me. I’m not perfect or horrible. I’ve always had to work hard for everything I’ve gotten in life. I went in to bust my butt and I hope people can respect me for that. I played the game the way it was designed to be played..."[4]
- "Coming into the game, I didn’t think I would get far. But when I did, there were only two people who were blindsided on the jury. After Jamie and Judd were in the jury, it became obvious that I was the right person to take to the end – back at Jury camp, one bad seed spoils the bunch. That was when it became obvious I couldn’t win."[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Popularity Results". Survivor: Palau. CBS.com. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor10/vote/pop_results.shtml.
- ^ a b http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/the-insider/Kyle_Kendrick_and_Stephenie_LaGrossa_are_engaged.html
- ^ "Survivor's Stephenie LaGrossa Gets Married". People.com. 2006-07-12. http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1211303,00.html.
- ^ a b ""I Played the Game the Way It Was Designed to Be Played": An Interview with Survivor: Guatemala’s Stephenie". Reality News Online. 2005-12-12. http://www.realitynewsonline.com/cgi-bin/ae.pl?mode=1&article=article5924.art&page=1.
