Alexis Xavier "Lex" van den Berghe is a contestant from Survivor: Africa and Survivor: All-Stars.
While in Africa, Lex was considered the main antagonist post-merge for his paranoia and brief conflicts with fellow tribes mates over votes he received at tribal councils and his brief conflict with Kelly Goldsmith over this issue, ultimately accusing her of the dilemma and immediately eliminating her and those he felt in his "gut" were secretly against him.
Returning in All-Stars, Lex is remembered for betraying close friends and allies such as Colby Donaldson and fellow Africa returnee Ethan Zohn. He is also notable for his deal with Rob Mariano in All-Stars to keep Amber Brkich over loyal ally, Jerri Manthey, which eventually caused his elimination and his alliance to be picked off.
Profile
Africa
Born in Palo Alto, California, Lex van den Berghe currently resides in Santa Cruz, California. With an extensive background in marketing, he was most recently employed as a marketing director of an Internet company. Having worked as a disc jockey at his college radio station, he graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1985. He is a punk rock drummer, his list of previous work experience includes being a carpenter, radio DJ, musician, motivational speaker and corporate marketing manager.
An avid traveler and fluent in French, van den Berghe has spent time in Kenya, Japan, Israel and all over Europe. His hobbies include time with his wife and children, surfing, music and fishing. He plays the drums and sings in the band Luckydog. Owning up to his deep appreciation for tattoos, he proudly displays the various works of art that cover his arms, legs and torso.
Lex van den Berghe has been married to Kelly for 10 years. They have two boys, Corbin and River. They also have two dogs, Lucky and Daisy, and two cats, Max and Lucy. His birth date is June 18.
All-Stars
Since finishing in third place on SURVIVOR: AFRICA, Lex van den Berghe has been working as a feature columnist for his hometown newspaper and as a freelance writer. He also works with a number of non-profit organizations hosting fundraising events for local and global charities, as well as many schools.
Lex graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1985. Since then, his insatiable appetite for adventure and constant need for diversity has afforded him a variety of careers. He has worked as a carpenter, radio disc jockey, touring musician, public presenter/motivational speaker and corporate marketing manager. He has also led backcountry trips for adventure travel companies and co-hosted a television magazine show. An avid traveler and fluent in French, Lex has spent time in Kenya, Japan, Israel and all over Europe. His hobbies include spending time with his wife and children, surfing, music, hanging with friends and cruising on his custom motorcycle. He plays the drums and sings in the band Luckydog.
Lex currently resides in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife, Kelly, and their two boys, Corbin, 11 and River, 10. They have two dogs, Lucky and Daisy, and three cats, Max, Lucy and Bosco. His birth date is June 18, 1963.
Survivor: Africa
Considered the primary antagonist after the merge. Lex was one of the contestants who felt aggravated after the beans fiasco on Day 3, saying that he could not fully trust tribemate Clarence Black. He formed a solid alliance with Tom Buchanan and Ethan Zohn. Even with a Day 13 tribe switch, in which he was switched to the rival Samburu tribe with Tom, Lex remained loyal to their alliance.
At their first post-merge Tribal Council, Lex received two votes, one of which came from Clarence. Disturbed, Lex tried to unearth the caster of the second vote. Trusting his gut feeling, he mistakenly accused Kelly Goldsmith of the "mystery vote." Lex persuaded the Boran alliance to turn on Kelly. Not backing down, Kelly switched to the Samburu alliance consisting of Frank Garrison, Kim Powers, Brandon Quinton, and Teresa Cooper. Though Kelly felt safe after joining a new alliance, the Boran alliance managed to convince Quinton to join them, effectively eliminating Goldsmith.
Days had passed, and Lex's peculiar demeanor started to grate on his tribemates, especially when boredom set in, leaving them conspiring several plots to oust him. Despite having an alliance to rely on, Lex received the ire of his alliance partners when he tried to save the lazy yet outspoken Brandon over the lonesome and unpopular Frank. With this, Lex's only solution was to win individual immunity. And with three immunity wins, Lex became indispensable. He, along with the rest of the Boran alliance, managed to systematically eliminate the ex-Samburus, leaving Teresa as the last former Samburu on Day 34. Not wanting to leave without a fight, Teresa finally revealed that she was the owner of the "mystery vote" as well as turning Lex on Tom because of the latter's previous attempts to save Brandon, to possibly break their trust. Despite this, Teresa still left the game, leaving the remaining Borans to turn on each other. Teresa's last-minute moves sent the final four castaways into an uproar, with Lex and Tom debating about trust issues. Adding insult to injury, the intended plan of an all-male final three was ruined when Kim Johnson won the Day 37 Immunity Challenge. On Day 38, a stomach upset caused Lex to ultimately forfeit the final Immunity Challenge. Kim J., perceiving that she couldn't beat either Ethan or Lex at the final Tribal Council, decided to eliminate Lex, for she deemed that Ethan was more deserving.
At the Final Tribal Council Lex voted for his ally Ethan to win.
Voting History
| Lex's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Lex's Votes |
Voted Against Lex |
| 1 | Diane | - |
| 2 | Jessie | - |
| 3 | Boran Tribe Immune | |
| 4 | Boran Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Samburu Tribe Immune | |
| 6 | Lindsey; Lindsey1 |
- |
| 7 | Clarence | Clarence, Teresa |
| 9 | Kelly | Frank, Kelly, Kim P., Teresa |
| 10 | Frank | Individual Immunity |
| 11 | Frank | Individual Immunity |
| 12 | Kim P. | Kim P., Teresa |
| 13 | Teresa | Individual Immunity |
| 14 | Tom | Tom |
| Ineligible | Kim J. | |
| Voted Out, Day 38 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Ethan | |
^1 In I'd Never Do It to You, the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Lindsey and Tom, forcing a revote. Lex did not change his vote on the revote.
Survivor: All-Stars
Lex started the game on the Mogo Mogo tribe. He formed close bonds with Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Shii Ann Huang, most notably Kathy. Losing Jenna Morasca due to her decision to quit, Mogo Mogo was immune for the first four eliminations. At the next reward challenge, the losing tribe would be dissolved into the two remaining tribes. Saboga lost the challenge, and Ethan Zohn and Jerri Manthey were sent to Mogo Mogo. After losing the immunity challenge, Lex and his allies voted off Richard.
The new Mogo Mogo tribe continued its losing streak, and Lex approached Jerri about forming an alliance and blindsiding Colby. Jerri was all for it, wanting revenge on Colby from her previous season. He then told Kathy and Shii Ann of the plan. At tribal council, Colby was blindsided, and only Ethan voted with him. Continuing their losing streak, Lex broke the news to his friend Ethan that he would be the target at the next tribal council. Ethan was upset and asked Lex to vote off Jerri who was less useful in challenges and at camp, but Lex viewed her as an easily controllable pawn. Ethan was still voted off.
A surprising second tribal swap occurred, and the Mogo Mogo tribe was switched to Chapera while Chapera was switched to Mogo Mogo. Only Amber Brkich remained on her original tribe Chapera, which put her on the outside of Lex, Kathy, Shii Ann, and Jerri. After the new Mogo Mogo tribe won immunity, Rob Mariano caught Lex after the challenge and told him that he would take care of him during the merge if he could save Amber at tribal council. Lex and Kathy debated keeping Amber or Jerri, and eventually decided to vote Jerri, a loyal ally, out for fear of Rob's wrath and hoping to get further in the game.
Chapera and Mogo Mogo merged, and Rob was overjoyed to see Amber still around. At the immunity challenge, one man and one woman were capable of winning. Rob and Kathy won. Before tribal council, Rob sat down with Lex and Kathy and told Lex that he would be going home that night at tribal council. Lex was furious with Rob and argued with him over friendship and promises, which eventually made Kathy cry. She told Lex she would give him her necklace but he wanted her to keep it. Rob betrayed Lex and made him the first juror.
At the final tribal council, Lex gave a fiery, hateful speech towards Rob and Amber, saying that the money they win will not buy back the friendships they crushed along the way. He voted for Amber to win out of spite.
Voting History
| Lex's Voting History | ||
|---|---|---|
| Episode | Lex's Votes |
Voted Against Lex |
| 1 | Mogo Mogo Tribe Immune | |
| 2 | Mogo Mogo Tribe Immune | |
| 3 | No Tribal Council | |
| 4 | Mogo Mogo Tribe Immune | |
| 5 | Richard | - |
| 6 | No Tribal Council | |
| 7 | Colby | - |
| 8 | Ethan | - |
| 10 | Jerri | - |
| 11 | Amber | Alicia, Amber, Jenna L., Rob M., Rupert, Shii Ann, Tom |
| Voted Out, Day 27 | ||
| Voted for Sole Survivor |
Amber | |
Post-Survivor
- Lex is part of the band The Maids of Honor. The band released an album in 2012, The same year, Lex officiated the wedding rites of his fellow Survivor alum, Jerri Manthey.
- In 2013, he and Tom Buchanan created a reality TV show called Family Beef that features Tom Buchanan and Tom's family.
Trivia
- Lex's luxury item in Survivor: Africa was his son's baby shoes.
- Lex was the only contestant in Survivor: Africa who was in his thirties at time of play.
- After the merge in Survivor: Africa, Lex received votes whenever he did not win individual immunity.
- Lex is the first and only contestant to never wear his buff, instead he put it in his pocket.He did that in both of his seasons.
- Lex became the third contestant to win the Survivor loved ones challenge, following Greg Buis and Tina Wesson.
- Lex won the most individual immunity challenges in Africa with 3.
- Lex was the first person to win multiple but non consecutive immunity challenges.
- Lex was the only male contestant from the original Mogo Mogo tribe to make the merge in Survivor: All-Stars.
- In Survivor: Redemption Island, Jeff referenced Lex' decision of keeping Amber in doing Rob a favor. Steve Wright also brought up Rob's betrayal of Lex after this same favor in an attempt to turn Ometepe against Rob.
- Lex is one of three contestants (along with Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Tom Buchanan) to make the merge in Survivor: All-Stars and not improve over their previous finish.
- Lex holds of the distinction of being the first Returning Player to be a Jury member more than once.
- Lex was the final jury member in 'Africa' and, in contrast, the first jury member in 'All-Stars'.
References
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