Move over Richard Hatch, Survivor has a new gay winner. He may only be twenty-two, but Todd Herzog has been watching the show since he was fifteen.

The diminutive flight attendant dominated Survivor: China from day one when he cleverly manipulated another player into taking the leadership role for their tribe. He stayed a major power player for the next thirty nine days, yet somehow managed to keep the bull's-eye off his own back. In fact, he played so well, the jury voted 4 to 2 to award him the million dollar prize, thereby becoming the first openly gay man to win since Richard Hatch took home the big prize in the very first season.

So how did Todd do it? We chatted with him about the show, his strategy, and being a gay Mormon.

AfterElton.com: Congratulations on winning the million dollars.
Todd Herzog: Thank you so much.

AE: Are you surprised to have actually won?
TH: A little, yeah. I kind of thought Courtney had it or it would be a tie between the two of us. It's still overwhelming, you know? I'm kind of freaked out.

AE: I imagine. Just don't forget to pay your taxes!
TH: Right! I don't want to end up like Richard Hatch.

AE: You've said you've been watching Survivor since you were fifteen. What drew you to the show?
TH: I think it was just so different at the time. I remember thinking, "Wait! Is this like a home video camera taken to an island?" And I started watching, the seasons went by, and I kept thinking how amazing the challenges looked. I had a huge desire to go for it. I knew as soon as I was twenty-one, I would audition.

AE: As most folks know, Richard Hatch won that first Survivor. Did his being an out gay man impact your fifteen-year-old self at all?
TH: Richard Hatch, I honestly thought, was a dirt bag. It kind of bothered me that he was so cocky. The thing I find so funny is that they are comparing me a lot to him. I'm the "young" Richard Hatch.

But the fact that he was out, I remember thinking — I was so young at the time — but when he was on there, I thought, "That's weird. He's like old and gay." I thought only twenty-somethings were allowed to be gay. [laughs]

AE: Survivor has a history of gay-inclusiveness going back to Hatch. As a gay man, did you feel any pressure to represent the gay community?
TH: I absolutely did. It was my goal to show that we can be represented in all lights. You see gay men on TV now ranging from clichéd ways to very different ways, and I wanted to say, "Look, I am who I am and I'm proud of it." I especially wanted young guys to know it's okay to be who you are.

AE: We never saw if you were out to your fellow tribe members, so I’m curious if you were?
TH: Yeah, the very first night actually, Leslie asked me something to the extent of, "So tell me, what obstacles have you overcome in your life, Todd, to become the man you are today?" It was her way of saying, "Are you gay?" [laughs] I was just like, "Yeah, I've overcome a lot. I am gay." It was no secret, but at first everyone thought Aaron [pictured left] was the gay guy. Then they realized it was me.

AE: How did Leslie react? You guys seemed close, despite her being a Christian radio host.
TH: You know, Leslie respects everybody. She's amazing, this lady. She has respect for everyone no matter what color they are, what they've seen, if they do drugs or they drink, she loves everybody. She says they're all God's children. She respects that. She's one amazing woman.

AE: Was coming out a strategic decision? Everything you did seemed calculated to win. It’s not hard to imagine someone like Jean-Robert [pictured right] having a problem with gay people.
TH: Jean-Robert was really, really, really homophobic. But I knew that by letting the girls know [I’m gay] they could feel comfortable around me and that I could make a tighter alliance with them. With Amanda, Courtney, Peih-Gee, and Denise being in the finals with me, I knew I needed to take the girls because the girls feel more comfortable around the gay guy.

AE: So Jean-Robert was homophobic? I kind of got that impression.
TH: He was extremely homophobic. He had a lot of opinions on it, saying, "It's wrong. It's a choice," things like that. But I think getting to know me really changed his mind quite a bit, because he told me that out of a lot of gay guys he's met, I surprised him. He'd always thought that the gay culture was to sleep around and drink and party and do drugs, and he was shocked that that's just not me.