Lex van den Berghe

Alexis "Lex" van den Berghehttp://www.imdb.com/name/nm1053505/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm is a contestant from and .
In Africa, Lex was considered the main antagonist post-merge for his paranoia, which was exacerbated by votes he received at Tribal Council. The most serious flashpoint in this saga was Lex's conflict with Kelly Goldsmith over this issue, in which he blamed Kelly for his sense of being threatened. Kelly and several other contestants were eliminated as a direct result of Lex's defensive posture, but he was unable to navigate to the Final Tribal Council, falling just one day short after Kim Johnson found him less deserving than Ethan Zohn to plead his case to the jury.
Returning in All-Stars, Lex is remembered for betraying close friends and allies such as Colby Donaldson and fellow Africa returnee Ethan Zohn. He was also a party to a notorious mutual-protection deal with Rob Mariano to keep Amber Brkich over loyal ally Jerri Manthey, which destroyed his game and resulted in his elimination at the start of the merge when Rob reneged on his promise to align with Lex.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
<tabber>Africa=
Born in Palo Alto, California, Lex van den Berghe currently resides in Santa Cruz, California. With an extensive background in marketing, he was most recently employed as a marketing director of an Internet company. Having worked as a disc jockey at his college radio station, he graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1985. He is a punk rock drummer, his list of previous work experience includes being a carpenter, radio DJ, musician, motivational speaker and corporate marketing manager.
An avid traveler and fluent in French, van den Berghe has spent time in Kenya, Japan, Israel and all over Europe. His hobbies include time with his wife and children, surfing, music and fishing. He plays the drums and sings in the band Luckydog. Owning up to his deep appreciation for tattoos, he proudly displays the various works of art that cover his arms, legs and torso.
Lex van den Berghe has been married to Kelly for 10 years. They have two boys, Corbin and River. They also have two dogs, Lucky and Daisy, and two cats, Max and Lucy. His birth date is June 18.http://web.archive.org/web/20230326033345/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/20808/
==Survivor==
===Africa===
Lex was one of the contestants who felt aggravated after the beans fiasco on Day 3, saying that he could not fully trust tribemate Clarence Black. He formed a solid alliance with Tom Buchanan and Ethan Zohn. Even with a Day 13 tribe switch, in which he was switched to the rival Samburu tribe with Tom, Lex remained loyal to their alliance.
At their first post-merge Tribal Council, Lex received two votes, one of which came from Clarence. Disturbed, Lex tried to unearth the caster of the second vote. Trusting his gut feeling, he mistakenly accused Kelly Goldsmith of the "mystery vote." Lex persuaded the Boran alliance to turn on Kelly. Not backing down, Kelly switched to the Samburu alliance consisting of Frank Garrison, Kim Powers, Brandon Quinton, and Teresa Cooper. Though Kelly felt safe after joining a new alliance, the Boran alliance managed to convince Quinton to join them, effectively eliminating Goldsmith.
Days had passed, and Lex's peculiar demeanor started to grate on his tribemates, especially when boredom set in, leaving them conspiring several plots to oust him. Despite having an alliance to rely on, Lex received the ire of his alliance partners when he tried to save the lazy yet outspoken Brandon over the lonesome and unpopular Frank. With this, Lex's only solution was to win individual immunity. And with three immunity wins, Lex became indispensable. He, along with the rest of the Boran alliance, managed to systematically eliminate the ex-Samburus, leaving Teresa as the last former Samburu on Day 34. Not wanting to leave without a fight, Teresa finally revealed that she was the owner of the "mystery vote" as well as turning Lex on Tom because of the latter's previous attempts to save Brandon, to possibly break their trust. Despite this, Teresa still left the game, leaving the remaining Borans to turn on each other. Teresa's last-minute moves sent the final four castaways into an uproar, with Lex and Tom debating about trust issues. Adding insult to injury, the intended plan of an all-male final three was ruined when Kim Johnson won the Day 37 Immunity Challenge. On Day 38, a stomach upset caused Lex to ultimately forfeit the Final Immunity Challenge. Kim J., perceiving that she couldn't beat either Ethan or Lex at the Final Tribal Council, decided to eliminate Lex, for she deemed that Ethan was more deserving.
At the Final Tribal Council, Lex voted for his ally Ethan to win.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=7 	Trail Blazer 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	
2 	Stairway to the Stars	Reward 	No 	 	
2 	Safari Supper 	Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Rock n' Roll 	Reward 	No 	 	
3 	Distress Signal 	Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	Caught in the Web 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Movin' On Up 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan=6 	 	 	 	 	
5 	rowspan=4 	Get Your Goat 	Reward 	No 	
5 	Puzzle of Shields 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Africa 102 	Reward 	No 	 	
6 	Spear-it Hunt 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6"	 	 	 	 	
7 	rowspan=13 	When It Rains, It Pours	Immunity 	 	
9 	Stomp-ede 	Reward 	 	 	
9 	Box Your Mind 	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Obstacle Course 	Reward 	 	 	
10 	Light It Up 	Immunity 	 	 	
11 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction	Survivor Auction	
11 	African Folklore 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Know Your Loved One 	Reward 	 	 	
12 	Pot Shots 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Swahili Scramble 	Reward 	 	 	
13 	Second Chance 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Fallen Comrades 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Hands on a Hard Idol 	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Lex'sVotes 	Voted AgainstLex
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
14 	 	
14 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2"	
 In , the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Lindsey and Tom, forcing a revote. Lex did not change his vote on the revote.</tabber>
===All-Stars===
Lex started the game on the Mogo Mogo tribe. He formed close bonds with Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien and Shii Ann Huang, most notably Kathy. Losing Jenna Morasca due to her decision to quit, Mogo Mogo was immune for the first four eliminations. At the next Reward Challenge, the losing tribe would be dissolved into the two remaining tribes. Saboga lost the challenge, and Ethan Zohn and Jerri Manthey were sent to Mogo Mogo. After losing the Immunity Challenge, Lex and his allies voted off Richard.
The new Mogo Mogo tribe continued its losing streak, and Lex approached Jerri about forming an alliance and blindsiding Colby. Jerri was all for it, wanting revenge on Colby from her previous season. He then told Kathy and Shii Ann of the plan. At Tribal Council, Colby was blindsided, and only Ethan voted with him. Continuing their losing streak, Lex broke the news to his friend Ethan that he would be the target at the next Tribal Council. Ethan was upset and asked Lex to vote off Jerri who was less useful in challenges and at camp, but Lex viewed her as an easily controllable pawn. Ethan was still voted off.
A surprising second tribal swap occurred, and the Mogo Mogo tribe was switched to Chapera while Chapera was switched to Mogo Mogo. Only Amber Brkich remained on her original tribe Chapera, which put her on the outside of Lex, Kathy, Shii Ann, and Jerri. After the new Mogo Mogo tribe won immunity, Rob Mariano caught Lex after the challenge and told him that he would take care of him during the merge if he could save Amber at Tribal Council. Lex and Kathy debated keeping Amber or Jerri, and eventually decided to vote Jerri, a loyal ally, out for fear of Rob's wrath and hoping to get further in the game.
Chapera and Mogo Mogo merged, and Rob M. was overjoyed to see Amber still around. At the Immunity Challenge, one man and one woman were eligible to win; Rob M. and Kathy won. Before Tribal Council, Rob sat down with Lex and Kathy and told Lex that he would be going home that night at Tribal Council. Lex was furious with Rob and argued with him over friendship and promises, which eventually made Kathy cry. She told Lex she would give him her necklace, but he wanted her to keep it. Rob M. committed to his betrayal of Lex and made him the first juror.
At the Final Tribal Council, Lex delivered a fiery polemic towards Rob M. and Amber, saying that the money they win will not buy back the friendships they crushed along the way. He voted for Amber to win out of spite against Rob M.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=12 	Quest for Fire 	Immunity 	No 	
2 	Stairway to the Stars 	Reward 	No 	 	
2 	Float Your Boat 	Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Better Homes and Island Living 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Match Maker 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Blind Cube Crisis 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Shipwrecked Raft Rescue 	Reward 	No 	 	
5 	Pilfering Pirates 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Stomp-ede 	Reward 	No 	 	
7 	Floating Puzzle 	Reward/Immunity 	No 	 	
8 	Log Jam 	Reward 	No 	 	
8 	Choose Your Weapon 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="6" 	 	 	 	 	
10 	rowspan=2 	 	Immunity 	No 	
11 	Rock Bottom 	Reward 	 	 	
colspan="6" 	 	 	 	 	
11 	 	Waiting to Exhale 	Immunity 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.	Notes: The castaways competed as individuals.
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Lex'sVotes 	Voted AgainstLex
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	colspan="2"	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	colspan="2"	
7 	 	
8 	 	
10 	 	
11 	 	
 	 	
Voted forSole Survivor	colspan="2"	
</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* In early 2002, Lex, along with all of his Africa castmates appeared on where they would present the top 10.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7XHRRQXyyU
* Lex attended the Reunion Show.
* Lex is part of the band The Maids of Honor. The band released an album in 2012, The same year, Lex officiated the wedding rites of his fellow alum, Jerri Manthey.http://jerrimanthey.com/www.jerrimanthey.com/NEWS.html
* In 2013, Lex and Tom Buchanan created a reality TV show called Family Beef that features Tom Buchanan and Tom's family.
* Lex and Tom attended Ethan Zohn's wedding in July 2016.https://www.instagram.com/p/BITyL3PB70y/
==Trivia==
* Lex's luxury item in was his son's baby shoes.
* In the Day 37 Immunity Challenge Fallen Comrades, the final question was "which female did not have piercings?" Kim J., who answered Kelly, was declared the winner. Lex's answer, Lindsey, which was also correct, was not accepted. This error was discovered when the cast was watching the finale in the green room and Lindsey "congratulated" Lex for getting the "right answer" when he held it up during the airing of the challenge and was told that it was wrong. Production was quickly made aware of the error, with Lex, who also answered correctly, and Tom, who was directly affected by being voted out that night, both received $100,000, the same amount received by Kim, the eventual runner-up of the season.https://www.cleveland19.com/story/672757/piercing-error-leads-to-more-prize-money-for-2-survivor-contestants/https://www.reddit.com/r/survivor/comments/3b4m8h/comment/csitt95/
* After the merge in Africa, Lex received votes whenever he did not win individual immunity.
* Lex was the first person to win multiple but non-consecutive individual Immunity Challenges.
* Lex won the most individual Immunity Challenges in Africa, with 3.
* Lex was the only man on the original Mogo Mogo tribe to make the merge in .
* Lex holds the distinction of being the first returning player to be a jury member more than once.
* Lex is the first castaway who was the first juror in one season and the final juror in another season. He would be followed by Kass McQuillen and Sarah Lacina.
* In , Jeff Probst referenced Lex's decision of keeping Amber in doing Rob a favor. Steve Wright also brought up Rob's betrayal of Lex after this same favor in an attempt to turn Ometepe against Rob.
* Lex was asked to return for with his son, but declined, and was later asked to return for season 40 before the theme was changed to .https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IKsVFJeiIY
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:Contestants Appearing in Multiple Seasons
Category:Africa Contestants
Category:All-Stars Contestants
Category:Africa Jury Members
Category:All-Stars Jury Members
Category:Boran Tribe
Category:Moto Maji Tribe
Category:Mogo Mogo Tribe
Category:Chaboga Mogo Tribe
Category:3rd Place
Category:9th Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Africa
Category:Survivor: All-Stars
Category:1963 births
Category:Living people