Video links:
- "The Survivor Scholar" preseason ad
- "Meet John" video at CBS.com
- John's pre-game interview with EW.com's Dalton Ross
- John's pre-game interview with Xfinity TV's Gordon Holmes
- John Cochran's official Survivor: South Pacific CBS.com bio
- John Cochran on facebook.
Collection of images from the pre-game and circa Ep1-era footage provided with the cast release videos:
Vidcap gallery: Click on thumbnails to expand; use arrow keys to navigate between large pics.
From his MSN.com contestant profile:
"John Cochran says: 99% of my game plan is adaptability. I like having the appearance of talking about my insecurities or embarrassing stories, not to the extent that people are annoyed by it. The more open you are with people, the more open they are with you. I will be calculating in what I will reveal.
Jeff [Probst] says: He's hilarious."
From his EW.com new contestant picture caption (by Dalton Ross):
"Allow the Woody Allen-ish Harvard law student (who five minutes into the game instructs Probst to refer to him by his last name only) to tell you why he's destined to take home the title. 'I will win Survivor because I am a student of the game, unlike any other player that's played the game before. I've never missed a single episode. I used to do a newsletter in high school and wear a buff around my arm every Thursday, now it would be Wednesday. My senior yearbook picture was me wearing three buffs, two around my arm and one around my forehead, and a Survivor T-shirt. This has been ingrained in me for 11 years. This is the culmination of a lot of obsession.' And how!"
Excerpts from his official CBS Survivor: South Pacific bio page:
"Personal claim to fame: I won the Dean's Scholar Prize at Harvard Law for an essay I wrote on the Survivor jury system. It was one of the few times in my life where my personal interests and academic obligations coincided perfectly.
Hobbies: Guitar, trivia and studying the music and history of The Beatles.
Pet peeves: People who think or act like they are smarter than they actually are and people who don't have a sense of humor.
3 words to describe you: Neurotic, insecure and brilliant.
Survivor contestant you are most like: I have some of the humor of Rob Cesternino, the candor of Jonathan Penner and the intelligence of Yul Kwon.
Reason for being on Survivor: My respect and admiration for Survivor and my desire to make it even better. My secondary motivation is to experience some adventure and excitement in my life during a time when I otherwise feel like I'm on autopilot.
Why you think you'll 'survive' Survivor: I have a strong sense of humor that can defuse tense situations and an ability to listen to conflicting viewpoints and devise a rational compromise that is satisfying to all parties involved. I also have a slender frame that doesn't take up much space in a crowded shelter.
Why you think you will be the sole Survivor: I understand other people and how they function. Sure, I'm bright and have an extensive knowledge of Survivor, but none of that does any good unless you're able to figure out the reasons why other people do the things they do. Not only can I do that, but I'm also confident that I can leverage their desires and motives in a way that best serves my game."
Summary of evidence for John Cochran being on Survivor: South Pacific.
- missyae got the ball rolling on 5/18/11 (circa S22 finale) with this tweet: "John Cochran has been guessed in Survivor Whispers Premiere as a contestant on 23. Red headed attorney from MN who attended Harvard. Bingo!!"
Apparently missyae also added at his facebook group: "John Cochran is a attorney who is from Minnesota and attended Harvard. He is red headed and considered to be ugly but highly intelligent. He is on season 23. He deactivated his account on here about 2 weeks ago." Naturally, missyae later bragged that he had sent people at Sucks on a wild goose chase, to cover his tracks.
- DanieuBleau (7/30): As the rest of the cast has started coming out at Sucks, passes along: "On John Cochrane, I recieved a tip that he's a S23 cast member."
- guatemala fanfic adds (7/31): "There IS a contestant named John Cochran (with no e on the last name) on S23, actually, but missyae's description is not entirely accurate."
- Shortly thereafter (on 8/1/11), guatemala fanfic starts the official contestant thread for John Cochran:
" - Originally from Oakton, VA
- Should be 23 or 24 years old
- Completed his undergrad at Columbia University in 2009; currently studying at Harvard Law, will graduate next year
- Comes from a fairly well-off family: father (also named John Cochran) is a neurologist
- I haven't seen pics due to his very limited online presence but it's probably accurate that he has red hair per missyae's description [Note: John fairly
- Supposedly recruited - Casting looking for Ivy League students for S23/S24"
