Surf City ‘Survivor’
FBI agent Brady Finta, 33, will vie for the $1 million prize in the popular reality show.
By Dave Brooks, Independent
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After years of battling organized crime and training in counter-terrorism, FBI agent Brady Finta is about to take on his most high-profile assignment yet “prime time television.”
Finta, 33, of Huntington Beach will appear on the ninth season of the “Survivor,” the popular CBS reality show where 18 contestants compete for a $1 million purse string in some of the most remote places on earth.
The show will be filmed on a group of islands in the South-Pacific known as Vanuatu, dubbed the “Islands of Fire” by producers for its ring of active volcanoes.
Finta is not allowed to talk with reporters, but neighbors characterize him as a friendly and outgoing young man who can regularly be seen jogging in his South Huntington Beach neighborhood.
“I would describe him as a gentleman,” neighbor Amy Kahler said. “He’s a very handsome young man with a nice personality. He greets everybody.”
Born in San Diego, Finta grew up in a military family and attended 10 different schools before graduating from high school in South Carolina, the CBS website reports. Finta graduated from the University of South Carolina and later the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School, before serving five years in Hawaii, Japan and Camp Pendleton.
In 1998, Finta enrolled in the FBI academy and was posted to the Los Angeles and Orange County bureau, working the Asian organized crime beat. He is also a member of the FBI Los Angeles SWAT Team.
Finta lives with his German Sheppard and his fiancee, Bronwen Masters, 30, formerly of Sydney, Australia. Her description of Finta makes him seem like a natural for the show.
“He’s extremely disciplined, very determined and an absolute freak for punishment,” she said. “He loves challenging himself.”
Finta will be one of three Southern California residents on the reality series, which drops contestants off in remote places to fend for themselves, sort of. Los Angeles resident John Kenney, 22, who works as a mechanical bull operator and model, will join Finta, along with sales manager John Palyok, 31, also of Los Angeles.
Other contestants include Travis “Bubba” Sampson, a 33-year-old ex-professional wrestler from Tennessee, and Dolly Neely, a 25-year-old Daisy Duke look-a-like who is listed as enjoying sheep herding and reading National Rifleman. She is also the only contestant to have met three U.S. Presidents.
Although the show appears to be broadcast in real time, it was actually taped several months ago and its winner already decided. To maintain secrecy, Finta is barred from doing interviews until after he is either shown winning, or eliminated from the show.
This waiting period is a tough time to deal with psychologically, said former “Survivor” contestant Lex van den Berghe of Santa Cruz. Van den Berghe appeared on the third season of “Survivor,” as well as the recently aired “Survivor All-Stars” and said he struggled when he first returned home from taping.
“You’re not quite right when you come home, there’s a lot of psychological fallout from the experience,” he said. “What makes it harder is that you’re not allowed to talk about your experience with anyone at home. I’m sure Brady is being pummeled with questions and people who want to know how he did.”
In each episode, a contestant is voted off the show by a majority of the contestants, sometimes because that person was not pulling their weight, other times because they were a threat to the other contestants chances.
Van den Berghe said Brady’s experience in the FBI and military might intimidate other members, but his friendly demeanor could work in his favor.
“He’s going to have to play his cards really close to his chest,” he said. “If he immediately assumes a leadership role from his military experience and starts to order people around, there’s a good chance he’ll get voted off right away. He’s really going to have to keep himself in check.”
Finta’s fiancee said he has not told her how he did, but she offered her own theories on how he might succeed.
“The girls are going to love him because he’s such a charmer,” she said. “If he can get them on his side, they won’t vote him off because they’ll really love him.”
“Survivor Vanuatu” airs Sept. 16 at 8 p.m. on CBS.
