Former Rams Cheerleader to Compete on Survivor
Jonathan Webb
StLouisRams,com
While tuning in to the season premier of the hit CBS reality show ‘Survivor’ this week, there will be at least one contestant with a familiar tie to the area. Former Rams Cheerleader Latasha Fox, a longtime fan of the show, finally got her opportunity to match wits and toughness with 15 other contestants.
“I always felt like I could play the game better than a lot of the contestants,” Fox said. “This time was actually my third time applying for the show, over the course of the 13 years it’s been on. I didn’t hear anything the first couple times, but the third time was the charm. I was just very persistent.”
Persistence is certainly a trait that could fare well in the made-for-TV competition, which has been one of the most successful reality shows since first airing in 2000. This year’s competition pits three tribes broken into categories of ‘brawn, brains and beauty.’ Equipped with nothing more than a bag of rice, a machete, and a pot, the three tribes negotiate alliances and rivalries until one ‘Final Survivor’ outlasts the competition. Fox, who currently works as an accountant in St. Louis, was one of six chosen among the ‘brains’ grouping.
Though not at liberty to divulge the details of this season’s show, Fox was rather pleased with her ability to successfully navigate the competition.
“The actual experience was better than I even imagined,” Fox said. “I thought my ability to really adjust my strategy depending on who I was playing the game with, or depending on various situations, being able to do that definitely helps out in the game. It’s something I always thought I could do, and I actually did it. I must say that it worked very well.”
Fox, whose career transitioned from the Rams Cheerleading squad to an accountant at Edward Jones, prepared for ‘Survivor’ by strategically cutting calories to competition levels weeks prior to the event. While she could prepare physically for the event in a matter of weeks, Fox looks to her time as a Rams cheerleader as beneficial in a competition that relies so heavily on the success of a group.
“The friendship and the great girls that I got to know really stuck out to me,” Fox said. “I think when you’re on any type of team, including the Rams cheerleaders, you really have to be a team player and it’s about the group as a whole. Building those relationships and sustaining them, that kind of ties into Survivor. In the game, you have to form relationships and be able to do it in a matter of hours. Weak relationships, those people will stab you in the back. Making connections will make you make you successful in your alliance, or in the case of the Rams, make you successful on your team.”
