Phillip Sheppard (born March 12, 1958) is a United States Army veteran^[1] and the chief executive officer of a software company,^[2] who is best known for his appearances on the U.S. reality show Survivor. He is also the inspiration and persona in the 2013 novel The Specialist: The Costa Rica Job.^[3] The book became available on February 12 and features a James Bond-like former federal agent working a job in Costa Rica.^[4] As of April 2013, the book has sold well in Canada and in Japan.^[5] A follow-up book is also upcoming.^[6] Phillip Sheppard is the brother of Rochester, New York police chief James Sheppard.^[7] After being voted out of Survivor: Caramoan, he appeared on Survivor Live.^[8]

Survivor[edit]

Survivor: Redemption Island[edit]

Sheppard was initially a contestant on Survivor: Redemption Island in 2011. He was a member of the Ometepe Tribe and had a record seventeen votes cast against him throughout the season. He also received one jury vote at the final tribal council, which allowed him to achieve second place overall. He told TV Guide that he played with hope and suspected that he would get the jury vote from Ralph Kiser, which he did.^[9]

Sheppard insisted throughout the show that he was a former federal agent, but fellow participants such as former NFL player Steve Wright doubted Phillip’s claims.^[10] At the finale, Jeff Probst spoke to a woman in the audience who claimed to have known Sheppard from her federal agent training to confirm beyond doubt that Sheppard had been in fact a federal agent.^{[11][dead link]}

Survivor: Caramoan[edit]

Sheppard was a cast member on Survivor: Caramoan in 2013. The theme for this season was 10 new contestants (labeled "Fans") and 10 returning contestants (labeled "Favorites") facing off for the million dollar prize, a format previously used during Survivor: Micronesia. Being a returning player, Sheppard was cast as a ‘Favorite’ and was placed on the Bikal tribe.^[2] He was voted out on Day 28, and became the second member of the jury.

At the first tribal council he claimed that he didn't per se mispronounce Francesca's name during Redemption Island, instead he chose to on purpose rather than using expletives.^[12] He was one of six players who voted towards Francesca Hogi becoming the first ever contestant on an American reality competition show to be voted out first on two seasons.^[13] After being voted out, Hogi told Zap2it that Sheppard "is still a crazy person" stating that she doesn't "know where he came from or how he functions in the world. It's fascinating, actually." ^[14] By the end of the second episode, Sheppard had already begun putting into place his "BR rules" based on the gameplay of Survivor winner Rob Mariano and recruited a new Stealth R Us with code names for members of his alliance.^[15] However, Sheppard's Stealth R Us was one of a number of things that fellow contestant Brandon Hantz claimed to be frustrated about, and Hantz had the biggest meltdown in the show's history after a disagreement with Sheppard. Because of the conflict, an impromptu tribal council was held at the immunity challenge. Hantz voted against Sheppard, but Sheppard and the rest of the tribe voted Hantz out of the game.^[16]

The tribes were re-arranged a day later with castaways cracking eggs filled with either orange or purple paint. Sheppard's egg had purple paint so he remained on the Bikal Tribe. He had already put into effect "Operation Thunder Dome" which was a plan to eliminate contestant Corinne Kaplan.^[17] Sheppard's plan came through when Kaplan was voted out at the merged tribe's first tribal council.^[18] Phillip then adopted season "Fan" Sherri Biethman into Stealth R Us.^[19] Eventually, Phillip was so confident in his strategy, he did not compete in an immunity challenge, claiming it to be because of a childhood incident. In the tribal council immediately following, he was voted out when Malcolm, Eddie, and Reynold made survivor history by combining two hidden immunity idols with a challenge win to make all members of their alliance (dubbed "The Three Amigos") immune and targeted Sheppard.^[20] Sheppard voted for Cochran to be the sole Survivor, a unanimous decision by the jury.^[21]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Phillip Sheppard on Twitter
• Official e-commrcere site for The Specialist Autograph Novel
• Official company website
• Official Survivor: Redemption Island bio at CBS.com
• Official Survivor: Caramoan bio at CBS.com