Maine’s ‘Survivor’ finds herself voted off island

GORHAM – Maine “Survivor” contestant Julie Berry was voted off the island Thursday night on the next-to-last show, taking her out of the running for the $1 million grand prize.

The 3-2 vote against Berry set off a chorus of boos from neighbors gathered in the home of her parents, Les and Judy Berry of Gorham.

“When she was a teenager, she made my heart stop so many times,” Judy Berry said. “Now she’s making my heart stop again.”

Berry, 23, has known the outcome of the vote for some time because this season’s edition of “Survivor” was filmed on the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu over 39 days during June, July and August.

“I was heartbroken,” Berry said Friday morning on CBS. “I was really let down.”

Contestants are prohibited from disclosing the results. Berry did a good job, with her parents both completely in the dark.

They called their daughter afterward. She was in New York.

“We love you so much. … I wish we could give you a hug,” her mother said into the telephone. “You kept a great secret.”

The neighbors had made a ritual of gathering every Thursday night to watch the show. What started as chips and dip became a full spread with turkey, stuffing and several desserts.

Outside of the Berry home in Gorham, tiki torches burned alongside the driveway in honor of the show’s tropical theme.

“Survivor” is a contest that mixes physical challenges with the challenge of forming personal alliances with people.

On her final show, Julie Berry won a physical challenge that allowed her to take one of her fellow contestants on a horseback ride to the top of an island volcano, where they cooked foot-long hot dogs over steam vents, then watched spectacular nighttime eruptions of lava.

Berry chose the only remaining male contestant, Chris.

Later in the show, he cast the decisive vote against her.

“Chris, you pig!” said Jeanine Chesley.

“I’m not very happy about this,” added Sue Dunn. “It’s just heartbreaking. She used to baby-sit my children. Obviously the nice girl doesn’t win.”