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Daniel "Dan" Kay, Jr. was a contestant from Survivor: Gabon.

A member of Fang, Dan was sent to Exile Island early on, where he was unable to locate the Hidden Immunity Idol. After being switched to Kota, the Onion Alliance, unsure whether Dan had the idol or not, eliminated him after splitting the vote between him and Susie Smith.

Profile[]

Retrieved from CBS.com

Dan Kay (32)
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation: Lawyer

Dan Kay has come a long way from his blue-collar roots in Boston. Born and raised in Walpole, Massachusetts, he was very involved in athletics, especially football, skiing and track. While in high school, Dan played on a varsity football team, which had a long tradition of winning, a tradition that has helped shape his strong work-ethic. He graduated from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science & English and later would earn his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law where he was also a member of the Moot Court Honor Society.

Charismatic, hard working and goal oriented, most of Dan's traits were formed from the influence provided by his parents and a select few coaches and teachers. As a young boy, his father became disabled, leaving his mother to care for his family and, eventually, his ill grandmother, all while working as a full-time nurse. In addition, Dan credits his mother's work ethic and unselfish attitude for his strong desire to overcome any obstacles in his career and personal life.

Dan has practiced law in Boston for five years, which helped him to purchase several investment properties. However, dedicating so much of his time to his practice left him depressed and feeling less than fulfilled with his life. Prior to leaving for Survivor, he sold off a number of investments and spent time away from his job, in an effort to focus more on himself and his friends and family. He believes this recent awareness, along with having an increased appreciation for the people in his life rather than material possessions, will help him succeed not only in his personal life, but on Survivor.

Attractive, athletic, single and a lawyer, Dan is set to make a big impression on his competitors. Dan's hobbies include skiing, running, biking, weight training and cooking. Currently, he is training to compete in his first triathlon.

He is single and lives in Boston. His birthdate is June 30, 1976.[1]

Survivor[]

Dan started out on the Fang tribe after being picked in the Schoolyard Pick on Day 1 by Randy Bailey. After Fang lost the first Immunity Challenge on Day 3, Dan remained in good spirits and challenged host Jeff Probst when he called their challenge performance a "disaster". That night, he joined the rest of the tribe in voting out Michelle Chase for her general negativity.

After Fang lost the combined Reward/Immunity Challenge on Day 5, the rival Kota tribe chose to send Dan to Exile Island. On Exile Island, Dan was confronted with the choice of comfort or clue, and he "picked the clue right away". Despite an exhausting search that lasted for hours, Dan could not find the Hidden Immunity Idol and felt like an idiot for not being able to do so. When Dan arrived back at camp the following day, he told the tribe that he had not found the idol. Despite this, many tribemates, including Crystal Cox and Matty Whitmore, were suspicious that he had the idol in his possession, and his name was suggested for elimination over the weaker Gillian Larson. At Tribal Council, in a desperate attempt to prove that he did not have the idol, he tipped out all of his possessions from his bag to show that he did not have it. He voted for Gillian that night, as he thought it was the way the majority was going. Ultimately, he was spared, and Gillian was unanimously voted out.

The next day, Randy Bailey suggested that Fang cut back from three meals a day to two, in order to conserve their dwindling rice supply. When GC Brown challenged Randy on this and an argument ensued, Dan was worried, as he felt that the tribe needed to be as unified as possible. Dan seemed to struggle at the following Reward Challenge, as both rounds saw him perform badly. He lost a point in his first attempt and quickly ran out of energy in his second. Nonetheless, Fang won the reward—and their first challenge—two points to one. After the challenge, the entire Fang tribe was in high spirits. In the next Immunity Challenge, Fang got out to a quick lead but soon fell behind by a considerable margin. Although Dan tried his best to make up as much time as possible, Fang was still behind when Ken Hoang began the puzzle. Fortunately for Fang, Ken made up a lot of time and solved the puzzle first, giving Fang their first immunity win. 

On Day 10, Dan solidified a four-person pact with Matty, Randy, and Susie Smith to get rid of the three outsiders: Crystal, GC, and Ken. However, before the Reward Challenge got underway, Jeff asked the tribes to rank their members from highest to lowest. Dan was ranked second, behind only Matty. The castaways were then shocked to learn there would be a Tribe Switch. Dan ended up on Kota as the first person picked by Marcus Lehman and was joined by Randy and Susie. Dan enjoyed the new Kota tribe, but it seemed clear that the four original Kota members—Marcus, Bob Crowley, Charlie Herschel, and Corinne Kaplan—would stick together, leaving the three original Fang members on the bottom. Nevertheless, Kota won the next Immunity Challenge on Day 11 in a blow-out.

On Day 13, Dan eagerly proposed a seven-person alliance with the seven post-switch Kota members. This put him in danger, however, as it caught the attention of Marcus, who claimed that "nobody buys it". In the next Reward Challenge, Dan was a fruit thrower and managed to get a lot of fruit through after Kota came up with the strategy of throwing two pieces of fruit at once, allowing them to win the challenge. At the subsequent Immunity Challenge, Dan was the guard for Kota, and despite Kota falling behind early, the poor calling of Sugar Kiper for Fang resulted in Kota winning immunity again. 

On Day 16, Dan annoyed his tribemates by eating an excessive amount of rice. At the next Reward Challenge, Kota won once again after Fang's members struggled to uphold the snake. Back at camp, Dan further annoyed his tribemates by trying to impose rations for their reward on the whole tribe. Dan looked to be in danger should Kota go to Tribal Council, but thankfully for him, Kota won immunity after performing well on the puzzle section in the next Immunity Challenge. 

On Day 19, worried for his place in the game, Dan recognized that three original Kota members—Charlie, Corinne, and Marcus— were tight and tried to make a tight group with them. Unfortunately, this led to Corinne viewing him as paranoid and socially inept. On Day 20, it was revealed that both tribes would be going to a Double Tribal Council and would be competing for individual immunity. Unfortunately for Dan, he lost to Fang's Ace Gordon in the first round of the challenge, which was eventually won by Marcus. After the Immunity Challenge, it seemed most likely that it would either be Dan or Susie, but the original Kota knew there were pros and cons to keeping both. Dan was given a glimmer of hope when Susie told Corinne that she had planned on voting Corinne, which visibly angered Corinne and caused her to go back to her alliance and propose that they vote out Susie, which Randy agreed to. However, they were worried Dan possessed the Hidden Immunity Idol due to his stay on Exile Island and worried that Dan would go to Susie and use the idol to blindside Corinne. Therefore, at Tribal Council, the Onion Alliance split their votes between Dan and Susie. Unfortunately for Dan, he was their primary target, and he was voted out 4-3. 

Episode Tribe
Affiliation
Challenge Challenge Type Sit-Out? Result
1 Fang One for All Immunity1 No Lost
Reward Lost
Temptation Valley Reward/Immunity No Lost
Lemme Go Rock 'N' Roll Reward/Immunity No Lost
2 Kicking and Screaming Reward No Won
Lake Launch Immunity No Won
Switched Tribes, Day 7
3 Kota Big Oar Deal Immunity No Won
4 Fruit Flies Reward No Won
Cliff Bowling Immunity No Won
5 Snake in the Grass Reward No Won
Jungle Relay Immunity No Won
6 Elephant Eggs Reward No Won
Log Jam Immunity1 No Lost
Voted Out, Day 21
Notes:
^1 This challenge was played for individual immunity at each tribe's next Tribal Council.

Episode Dan's
Votes
Voted Against
Dan
1 Michelle -
Gillian -
2 Fang Tribe Immune
3 Kota Tribe Immune
4 Kota Tribe Immune
5 Kota Tribe Immune
6 Susie Bob, Charlie,
Corinne, Susie
Voted Out, Day 21

Post-Survivor[]

  • On January 9, 2010, Dan attended Survivor's 10-year anniversary party along with all of his Gabon castmates.

Death[]

  • Dan passed away under unspecified circumstances on December 31, 2016. He was 40.[2]

Trivia[]

References[]

Survivor: Gabon Castaways
 Ace
Kota
S17 ace t
 Bob
Kota
S17 bob t
 Charlie
Kota
S17 charlie t
 Corinne
Kota
S17 corinne t
 Crystal
Fang
S17 crystal t
 Dan
Fang
S17 dan t
 GC
Fang
S17 gc t
 Gillian
Fang
S17 gillian t
 Jacquie
Kota
S17 jacquie t
 Kelly
Kota
S17 kelly t
 Ken
Fang
S17 ken t
 Marcus
Kota
S17 marcus t
 Matty
Fang
S17 matty t
 Michelle
Fang
S17 michelle t
 Paloma
Kota
S17 paloma t
 Randy
Fang
S17 randy t
 Sugar
Kota
S17 sugar t
 Susie
Fang
S17 susie t
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