Clay Jordan

Clayton Brooks "Clay" Jordan IIIhttps://people.com/tv/survivor-thailand-runner-up-clay-jordan-dead-at-66/ was a contestant from .
Clay was remembered for his unpopularity with his tribe and getting choked by rival Sook Jai tribe member Robb Zbacnik during a Reward Challenge. He lost to Brian Heidik in a close 4-3 vote, finishing as the season's runner-up.
==Profile==
Retrieved from CBS.com
Clay Jordan was born in Canyon, Texas, and raised in Levelland, Texas. He was one of four boys in a single mother household, and he considers his mother to be his hero because of her success in raising the family on her own. As a child, he spent considerable time camping and hunting on his grandparents' ranch in White Deer, Texas. Clay met the love of his life when she was 13 and he was 14. They dated throughout junior high and continued to do so when they both attended Levelland High. After graduation, Clay began courses at South Plains College. When he was 20 years old, he married his childhood sweetheart and they moved to Odessa, Texas.
Clay currently owns and runs a restaurant. Patrons come by on a regular basis to get another serving of their most popular dish: their friendly service. He has previously worked as a cafeteria manager and a printer. In his youth, he also picked and chopped cotton. He enjoys golfing, video editing, production, photography and having fun.
Clay currently lives in Monroe, Louisiana, with his wife of 26 years, Linda, and their two children, Andrew (23) and Shanda (17). He is a member of Crime Stoppers, the Louisiana Restaurant Association and Frenchman's Bend Country Club. His birth date is December 30, 1955.http://web.archive.org/web/20230315030622/https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/cast/20640/
==Survivor==
Clay was the last man left during the Schoolyard Pick. Clay was not surprised because of his age and stature, but claimed that his tribe had a "diamond in the rough". Clay was placed on the Chuay Gahn tribe. When the group of eight arrived, they rejoiced at the sight of the cave. The tribe also had a bountiful amount of food. However, when Tanya Vance got sick because of dehydration, the tribe decided to search for its water source. John Raymond and Helen Glover found the water source, but they decided to play a joke on the tribe first. At the first challenge of the season, Chuay Gahn was leading. However, Ghandia Johnson's problems with the puzzle would ultimately send the tribe to Tribal Council where John was voted out for annoying the tribe. Helen cast her vote against Clay because she believed that Clay did not need the money. The next morning, Clay's snoring woke up the entire tribe. Helen wondered how Clay could snore so loudly, despite having a small body. Chuay Gahn lost the challenge again. Clay later discovered squid all over the Chuay Gahn beach. Despite the nourishment, Chuay Gahn barely lost out on immunity again. The tribe celebrated Helen's 20th wedding anniversary to keep spirits up. At Tribal Council, the tribe decided to vote out Tanya due to her health problems.
Problems started to erupt when Ghandia started to claim that Ted Rogers, Jr. had grinded against her during the night. At the Reward Challenge, Clay was grabbed by the throat by Robb Zbacnik, who slammed Clay into the water like a rag-doll. Robb was disqualified for making contact with the opposing tribe outside of the attack zone, giving Chuay Gahn a point from Sook Jai. Ken Stafford, Stephanie Dill, and Jed Hildebrand also made that mistake, leaving just Shii Ann and Penny to play out the remainder of the challenge. The ensuing penalty allowed Chuay Gahn to win their first challenge. The tribe won the assistance of two red berets; thanks to them, the tribe discovered many things that were edible. However, any peace was destroyed when Ghandia learned that Ted said that "nothing happened" between himself and Ghandia. Clay was disgusted by Ghandia's reaction, likening her to his son who was two years old at the time when he threw a similar tantrum. Despite the chaos at camp, Chuay Gahn won the mental Immunity Challenge. The win, however, did not resolve tension at camp. The men banded together to vote out Ghandia, while she was lobbying to Helen and Jan Gentry to vote out Clay. The tribe lost the next two challenges. At Tribal Council, Clay voted against Ghandia, referring her as the "Denver Diva". When host Jeff Probst read the votes, he scolded Clay for the nickname and warned everybody at Tribal Council to use no more nicknames on their ballots. Ghandia was voted out in a 4-2 vote.
Clay was annoyed that Jan voted against him and deemed her the next to go. When Jan got Tree Mail, her antics annoyed Clay severely. Eventually, from what little information he received from her, he was able to deduce that it was a "food buying thing". Before the auction began, the castaways were offered the chance to . No one wanted to and the auction proceeded as normal. Chuay Gahn won the subsequent Immunity Challenge. Unfortunately, their boat had floated away as the tribe was having fun. Clay felt that Ted was responsible. The men tried to find the boat but to no avail. The tribe lost the next Reward Challenge and the group attributed the loss to exhaustion from the failed boat search. The tribe knew they had to win the Immunity Challenge, which they were able to do after outwitting Sook Jai, ensuring even numbers during the merge.  
The next Tree Mail came with jars of paints, and the tribe was asked to decorate themselves. When the tribes met, they were paired with a member of the opposing tribe. Clay was paired with Shii Ann Huang, and they spent their bonding time at Chuay Ghan's beach. Shii Ann revealed that she was ostracized by most of her tribe, so Clay tried his best to convince her to join forces with his tribe. Then it was announced that both tribes would be living on the same beach, causing everyone to assume it was a merge. Chuay Gahn made Shii Ann feel so welcome that she decided to flip and vote out Penny Ramsey. At the next Immunity Challenge, however, Jeff Probst revealed that the tribes were not truly merged and were just living together. Chuay Gahn won immunity, and Shii Ann was ousted by Sook Jai. Life was made awkward because they did not merge. Chuay Gahn won the next Immunity Challenge because of Brian Heidik. In a confessional, Clay claimed that the tribe was so happy for winning. However, they did not let the Sook Jai's know to avoid angering them. 
Before the next Reward Challenge, everyone saw parts of their videos from home; Clay's featured his wife, Linda, and daughter. It was announced that the tribes had merged into the Chuay Jai tribe and everyone was given gold buffs. Clay was paired with Ken for the challenge, but lost in the penultimate round to Brian and Helen. When watching the winner, Brian's video, Clay was enamored with Brian's wife CC. Clay was getting annoyed with Jake Billingsley's stories because he felt he was trying to get in with the Chuay Gahn Five. Clay started to hint that he did not like Ted. At the Immunity Challenge, Clay defeated Ken for the win. The Sook Jais tried to convince Clay to flip, but he was not interested and Ken was voted out in a 5-3 vote. At this point, disdain for Jake intensified. Clay also called Penny a sweet girl who thinks she can get anything out of men, but she was not getting anything from him. At the Reward Challenge, Clay was teamed with Brian for the initial stages of the challenge. He and Brian made it to the end, where Brian won. Brian still brought Clay with him. During the elephant ride, Clay was amused by the fact that Brian was scared of falling. During the feast, Clay decided to smuggle some shrimp and beer, to boost his standing in the tribe. He also told everyone that he wanted them in the final four to garner jury votes. At the Immunity Challenge, Helen defeated Ted for the win. At Tribal Council, the tribe said that they were voting based on "performance". Clay voted against Jake for irritating him. The rest of Chuay Gahn, however, voted out Penny, because she was playing harder than Jake.
After Tribal Council, Clay lashed out at Jake, because of what he had said. Jake believed that was because he knew he was right. Helen and Ted were also getting annoyed with Clay's attitude and laziness. The next challenge was the Loved Ones Challenge, which thrilled everyone. Clay's loved one was his wife, Linda, with the prize being that the winner would get 24 hours with their loved one, and the others must leave immediately. The challenge was an eating contest. However, to everyone's surprise, the loved ones had to do the eating. Linda was eliminated in the third round with Jan's eldest child, Jef, and Ted's brother, Aijuan. The loved ones returned for the Immunity Challenge, which Ted won. Helen started to lobby against Clay. Despite that, Jake was unanimously voted out. Clay was the one to get the next Tree Mail. It was a mirror and photos of the castaways before the game started. Clay was shocked by his image, which he described as looking sixty (he was 46 at time of filming). Jan viewed it as sad that the men were hogging the mirror. The note implied a feast for the reward, exciting Clay. However, both Helen and Ted agreed that he did not need the food. Ted won the challenge and brought Helen with him. Both Brian and Clay were worried about Helen's loyalty. At the Immunity Challenge, Clay was initially leading. However, Brian was the one who would win and Ted was unanimously voted out.
The next Tree Mail had wreaths that the final four were supposed to decorate for the Rites of Passage at the final three. Brian won immunity yet again. The men decided that it was Helen's time to go. They lied to her and said that Jan was going out. The plot worked, and a very angry Helen was sent to the jury. After the Rites of Passage, the final three participated in the Final Immunity Challenge. Neither Clay nor Jan were able to beat Brian, giving him the final immunity win. Clay assumed that he was going to Day 39, but was still worried that Brian could burn him, like he did with Ted and Helen. Sure enough, Brian voted out Jan for not angering the jury. The Final Two burned their shelter. Clay was glad that camp life was over, but he knew that he still needed to defeat one more person.
At the Final Tribal Council, Clay stated in his opening statement that he was lucky to be at the Final Tribal Council. He acknowledged the jurors as people and expressed that they would have also done what he did to make it this far. Clay said that everyone wanted the million and the decision was up to the jury. Clay was criticized for his laziness. Ted also accused Clay of making racial slurs, which he unequivocally denied. Clay tried to build resentment against Brian but failed. Clay received the votes of Erin Collins, Ken, and Penny, but lost to Brian by a 4-3 jury vote.
<tabber>Challenge History=
Episode 	TribeAffiliation 	Challenge 	Challenge Type 	Sit-Out? 	Result
1 	rowspan=13 	Flying Your Flag 	Immunity 	No 	
2 	Palanquin Slalom 	Reward 	No 	 	
2 	Floating Puzzle 	Immunity 	No 	 	
3 	Pilfering Pirates 	Reward 	No 	 	
3 	Temple Transfer 	Immunity 	No 	 	
4 	New Tribe Member 	Reward 	No 	 	
4 	Tan-dy Gram 	Immunity 	No 	 	
5 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction 	Survivor Auction	Survivor Auction	
5 	Catch of the Day 	Immunity 	No 	 	
6 	Wicker Flicker 	Reward 	No 	 	
6 	Thai 21 	Immunity 	No 	 	
7 	Jail Break 	Immunity 	No 	 	
8 	Breathing Space 	Immunity 	No 	 	
colspan="7"	 	 	 	 	
9 	rowspan=10 	Wicker Ball Relay	Reward 	 	
9 	Thai Numbers 	Immunity 	 	 	
10 	Knock-Out 	Reward 	 	 	
10 	Snuff It 	Immunity 	 	 	
12 	Thai Menu 	Reward 	 	 	
12 	Cube Crisis 	Immunity 	 	 	
13 	Letter Hunt 	Reward 	 	 	
13 	Step on Up 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Try Again 	Immunity 	 	 	
14 	Slip Through Your Fingers	Immunity 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	
|-|Voting History=
Episode 	Clay'sVotes	Voted AgainstClay
1 	 	
2 	 	
3 	 	
4 	 	
5 	 	
6 	 	
7 	 	
8 	 	
9 	 	
10 	 	
12 	 	
13 	 	
14 	 	
14 	 	
Jury Votesfor Clay	colspan="2"	
 	 	
</tabber>
==Post-Survivor==
* On January 9, 2010, Clay attended 's 10-year anniversary party.
* On February 17, 2022, Clay's wife Linda passed away.https://www.mulhearnfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Linda-Sue-Jordan?obId=24061575
===Death===
Clay passed away on May 19, 2022 at the age of 66.https://www.facebook.com/shanda.jordan/posts/10227058635189704
==Trivia==
* Clay and John Raymond are the first to reside in Louisiana during filming.
* Clay's luxury items were a golf club and a ball.
* Clay was the oldest man on Chuay Gahn.
* In , Clay cast a vote against Ghandia Johnson and wrote "Bye Bye Denver Diva". Jeff Probst did not know who the vote was for and had to ask who cast it and who they voted for. After this incident, Jeff made it official that only identifiable nicknames should be written on votes.
* Jake Billingsley was the only Sook Jai juror to not vote for Clay to become the Sole Survivor.
* Clay is the first player to lose the Final Immunity Challenge and finish as the runner-up.
* Clay is the first male contestant to lose the game against another male.
==References==
Category:Contestants
Category:Male Contestants
Category:Deceased Contestants
Category:Thailand Contestants
Category:Finalists
Category:Chuay Gahn Tribe
Category:Chuay Jai Tribe
Category:2nd Place
Category:Survivor (U.S.)
Category:Survivor (U.S.) Contestants
Category:Survivor: Thailand
Category:1955 births
Category:2022 deaths