AfterElton.com: Congratulations on making the jury!
Brad Virata: Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you. It was a total and complete surprise. It doesn't usually happen that early in the ballgame.

AE: You seemed a little hurt immediately after Jeff read the votes, saying it was one of the best and worst experiences of your life. How are you feeling now that you have a little distance from it all?
BV: I still feel the same. I don't think hurt was the right word, to be honest with you. It was bitter sweet. Part of me was like, "You know what? I need to freaking take a shower and brush my teeth." [laughs] But part of me just really wanted to make it through to the end. One of my original goals was to make jury, and I accomplished that, so I was pretty happy about that.

AE: What made you want to go on Survivor?
BV: I really wanted to challenge myself both mentally and physically. It was the most humbling experience of my life. I think a lot of people live their life in a box. I wanted to step outside that box and break a couple stereotypes that people have in the media about being gay, and Asian guys who are gay. I felt I did a pretty good job of doing that, from a physical aspect, and just from an overall aspect.

AE: What were your thoughts when you found out the tribes were going to be divided by race?
BV: Initially, I thought it was a fantastic move from a CBS standpoint, from a ratings standpoint. But then I knew it was going to piss a ton of people off. From a personal standpoint, I don't like to look at people with colors. People are just human beings. It's not a color issue for me, but it was actually kind of nice to have some common ground with the original Puka tribe. We were able to share some of the stereotypes growing up. To this day, there are still some fantastic people that I keep in contact with — well, not all of them, but some of them.

AE: It didn't seem to affect the game that much.
BV: No, it didn't at all. It created a buzz from a media standpoint, but from a game standpoint, it wasn't a big issue. I mean, it's what? 2006? We're all mixed mutts. I know I am.

AE: Did you ever feel your sexuality played into the game at all? Did your tribemates know?
BV: Everyone knew. I'm surprised that CBS didn't show my whole coming out story. We had a powwow, sort of a roundtable campfire discussion when we merged, and that's when I told my story. I told the story about the tattoo I have on my arm. It means "love" in Chinese, and I had gotten it with my father, who has the same exact tattoo, after I came out to him.

AE: Do you think gay cast members of reality shows have a responsibility to be open about their sexuality?
BV: [laughs] I think it's all about where you're at in life, and where you are as a human being. I came out when I was in my early twenties and I'm completely comfortable living as a gay man. But I think other people... I mean, half of Hollywood is gay. In LA, you're gay until proven straight if you're in the public eye. I could tell you some stories that would knock your socks off. [laughs]

AE: If you ever want to give that big exclusive, AfterElton would love it!
BV: [laughs]

AE: Were you conscious of the fact that you could be viewed as a gay role model?
BV: Yeah, and I was excited to take on that role. I grew up athletic, I grew up playing football, I grew up running track. Over all, just from a physical standpoint, I kept up with them. I kicked some straight boy booty.

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