A Cincinnati cancer researcher says his flirtation with TV's Survivor is over. “I'm taking the attitude that they (Survivor producers) had their chance, now they can't have me,” says Dr. Tim Cripe, 42, an associate professor of pediatric hematology and oncology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

Cripe

        The Indianapolis native contacted the Enquirer after reading a story in which Mark Burnett, Survivor creator and executive producer, said the popular reality game show needed contestants from Cincinnati, CBS' top-rated Survivor market. Going public precludes him from being selected for the show in the future, he says.

        Dr. Cripe said he had applied for the fifth (Survivor: Thailand, premiering Thursday) and sixth Survivor, which will be filmed later this year. He made it to the second round for Survivor 6, as one of the 500 hopefuls.

        On Aug. 6, he drove to Chicago, where his 20-minute interview with three people was videotaped. Two weeks later, he received a rejection letter.

        The Anderson Township resident says he applied because his family — wife Linda, and their three children, Kevin, 10, Jeff, 8, and Natalie, 5 — love watching the show.

        He also wanted to use any attention from being on the show “to raise public awareness for childhood cancer research.”

        He had one more reason for trying: “I saw myself as their opportunity to bring a new level of professionalism and intelligence to their show, which might broaden its appeal even more, but I guess they didn't see it that way.”

— John Kiesewetter

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