***WARNING: SPOILERS***

Survivor is certainly not the water-cooler show that it was when a naked love-to-hate Richard Hatch schemed and plotted to became the show’s inaugural winner during the summer of 2000. If you are not watching this 15^th edition, Survivor: China, you have not only been missing out on its most engaging and competitive outings in years, but also on the strategic play of a 22 year-old gay Mormon flight attendant named Todd Herzog.

Todd has been a force to be reckoned with since he stepped foot in China, and for my money is the most charming, clever, and confident player to ever represent us on this show and has proven that he is much more than the obligatory gay cog in the cast of usual reality TV suspects. He also happens to grace the 2007 year-ending issue of Instinct.

This episode opens immediately after a brutal Tribal Council which resulted in a total blindside offing of James, this edition’s strongest, buffest, and seemingly set in stone player to reach the finals. Every gay man must have needed a little something to take the edge off after watching last week’s episode as Todd’s head was on the line and could have easily been the one sent home.

After some scary night vision footage of the last remaining six players celebrating the end-result of a strategic move that could have backfired in a huge way, the increasingly competitive mullet-sporting “Lunch Lady” states, quite convincingly, that if their move had not succeeded, they “would all be dead'' (and I don’t think that she was even taking into account that James owns a burial service and is a gravedigger).

It was a smart move to get rid of James, but we lost a stunning example of the male form. Here’s a hard-to-find James souvenir image to last you until the next edition of the show, which (***possible gossip-based spoiler***) he is rumored to be a part of. I am a facts man, so the alleged 2^nd All-Star Edition Internet noise is just that until I receive verifiable confirmation.

We'll be cheering for Dale Levitski to win in tonight's Top Chef finale and the anticipation got us thinking about other gay reality TV winners. Here's a quick list of six winners that come to mind, hopefully Dale will belong on this list by the time Steven Frank is done liveblogging the finale:

Richard Hatch
Winner of: Survivor (season 1)

Richard Hatch looms large for having won the on the first season of Survivor, the show that started the reality TV craze. Not only did Survivor set America's appetite for reality TV, Hatch was a role model that many reality TV wannabes tried to emulate in terms of his style of gameplay and personality, and few reality TV villains have managed to escape his shadow. Hatch's use of alliances became such a common reality TV strategy that it's become a punchline. In January 2006, Hatch was found guilty of tax evasion over his winnings on Survivor.

Reichen Lehmkuhl and Chip Arndt
Winner of: The Amazing Race (season 4)

While The Amazing Race has never shied away from including same-sex couples among its competitors, the fourth season gave us Reichen and Chip, the first gay couple to be identified as married on the show. After the show, the two had an amicable break-up as Reichen pursued his acting dreams (you can see him on current season of Dante's Cove) and could be frequently seen as Lance Bass' date after Bass came out. Chip, meanwhile, has focused on LGBT causes. He is currently trying to raise $100,000 for HIV/AIDS and to put together a traveling memorial to victims of anti-gay hate crimes.

Jay McCarroll
Winner of: Project Runway (season 1)

The debut of Project Runway brought a new kind of reality show to television. For once, talent was the key factor to the competition and the show's sense of drama was equally driven by personality dynamics as well as the tension of seeing young designers challenge themselves. With his quick wit and flair for the dramatic, Jay was a great reality TV personality. However, Jay also showed a stunning sense of design. While he didn't win, the "Chrysler Building" dress he offered in the Banana Republic challenge still gets Runway fans buzzing and his Fashion Week show made it hard to deny his victory. McCarroll refused the winnings of Project Runway, however, unhappy with the baggage attached to it and has struggled to find his path in fashion since the victory, wanting to be able to succeed on his own terms.