Ghandia articles

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From the Rocky Mountain News

Denver's 'survivor' ready to move on


By Michael Mehle, Rocky Mountain News
October 12, 2002

Ghandia Johnson knew she'd spark some heat on Survivor: Thailand, but the "Denver Diva" didn't count on getting burned by the show's first sexual scandal.

"I expected attraction from other males. I am a pretty girl," Johnson said on Friday. "But I never expected the inappropriate advances."

In the show's second week, Johnson - a legal secretary at Denver's Holm Roberts & Owen - accused tribemate Ted Rogers of grinding against her while they slept at night.

Rogers owned up to the uninvited advances, but said he was confused in his sleep and thought he was back home, next to his wife.

Unappeased by the apology, Johnson campaigned to boot Rogers off the island, but her ire boomeranged.

On Thursday, Johnson - nicknamed the "Denver Diva" by one of her dissenting tribemates - was the fourth cast member ousted from the show.

Afterward, she admitted that she let her emotions waylay her strategy to win $1 million.

"It did cross my mind: what was the most important thing?" Johnson said. "I was a married and devoted woman. I didn't go on the island with a desire to have an affair or an illicit romance. It really insulted me. For the preservation of my own self-respect and integrity, I had to do that."

Back home in Denver, Johnson had to watch episodes in which camera edits showed her canoodling with Rogers, her hand on his leg, or snuggled against him at night.

"I'm thinking that they're trying to get some ratings, trying to play up the sexual drama," she said. "When I saw that scene with my hand on his leg, I totally didn't remember doing that. To me, it was so insignificant."

Harder still, she had to relive the inappropriate island action while watching the show with her husband, owner of a Denver hair salon.

"My husband was upset," she said. "Someone's up against your wife, you get upset.

"We have a strong, wonderful marriage. I adore him. He took care of the babies seven weeks without a complaint. For him to do that, and then see this, it was tough. But we're more in love than we were before."

And, after a round of interviews from New York Friday, Johnson is ready to move on.

"Emotions were just really high," she said. "I'm just hoping that they kind of diminish. You lead a much a happier life. Just let it go."

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"When I saw that scene with my hand on his leg, I totally didn't remember doing that. To me, it was so insignificant."

She's delusional.

[lobeck]

"I expected attraction from other males. I am a pretty girl," Johnson said on Friday. "But I never expected the inappropriate advances."

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Exactly

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her husband, owner of a Denver hair salon.

If her husband has his own hair salon, why does she have such a god-awful do?

[Miss Filangi]

"I expected attraction from other males. I am a pretty girl," Johnson said on Friday. "But I never expected the inappropriate advances."

DELUSIONAL.

I guess it's good the girl has a healthy self-esteem though.
Okay, I consider myself attractive and I'm 100% sure I'm prettier than HER and I STILL wouldn't go on 'expecting attention'

Know what? It's a game show, it's dirty, it's out in the middle of nowhere.

It ain't love connection. What an idiot.

[BravoFan]

"When I saw that scene with my hand on his leg, I totally didn't remember doing that. To me, it was so insignificant."

Yeah, she seems to have quite the selective memory.

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Doesn't she just.

Hmmm, I wonder how she woud have reacted if her husband was laying there with some woman's hand on his thigh.

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From tvguide.com

Survivor's "Evil Ghandia" Talks Trash!
Wednesday, October 16, 2002


Survivor's "Evil Ghandia" Talks Trash!


With its very own pantheon of bitchy schemers, Survivor's drama rivals that of the daytime soaps. Just think of sharp-tongued Sue Hawk and Playboy poseur Jerri Manthey! The latest shady lady to join their rotten ranks is Survivor: Thailand's fourth castoff, Ghandia Johnson. "I bring the drama," she proudly tells TV Guide Online. "Somebody's gotta do it, damn it — it might as well be me. S--t, I knew I was a bitch, full on. You need villains. If every day's a sunny day, then what's a sunny day?"

Hey, at least she's honest. Some Survivors try to whitewash their dirty deeds in interviews, blaming exec producer Mark Burnett's editing for their unflattering portrayals. But while Ghandia was trés two-faced in Thailand, she feels no need to be a hypocrite after the game's over. "Even though it was the evil Ghandia, it's still Ghandia," laughs the 33-year-old legal secretary from Denver, Colo. "Gotta be for real about it. If you did it, take the hit for it!"

Last week, viewers saw Ghandia turn on Ted Rogers, who "accidentally" nibbled on her neck one night at camp. He claimed he'd been half-asleep and confused, mistaking her for his wife. "I thought that was lame," she scoffs. "That was b.s. He wanted a little sugar in his bowl that day." Still, why did she accept Ted's apology — calling him "a good man" — only to badmouth him to their female tribemates? Wasn't it low of Ghandia to paint Ted as the lecherous creep and herself his hapless victim?

"I was trying to get him voted off," she says matter-of-factly. "I don't regret my strategic decision to tell everybody about him because I really wanted him to go after that incident. My accepting his apology was phony — I didn't believe it for a minute, but I was still playing the game at that point. In retrospect, maybe I should've kept my objective on the down low, until I could do something better to make [his ouster] happen.

"I did what I felt was necessary," she adds, "and Ted was a huge obstacle in the way of me getting that million dollars... Plus, he ate more than everybody else. Look how big he is. You get rid of him, more food for me. It's all practical when you come down to it."

While Ghandia's going back to her secretarial job, she holds out hopes for a post-Survivor entertainment career. She's already done "plus-size modeling," and would love posing for Playboy like Jerri. "I'm feelin' Playboy because I feel like I'm the black version of Anna Nicole Smith," she says, "except I'm much more articulate. But you know, the [same] body type. Playboy needs to put a big girl in there again. That'd be cool!

http://www.tvguide.com/newsgossip/insider/

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While Ghandia's going back to her secretarial job, she holds out hopes for a post-Survivor entertainment career. She's already done "plus-size modeling," and would love posing for Playboy like Jerri. "I'm feelin' Playboy because I feel like I'm the black version of Anna Nicole Smith," she says, "except I'm much more articulate.