J. P. Calderon Biography

John Paul "J. P." Calderon (born September 5, 1975) is an American professional volleyball player, model and reality television participant. He first appeared on television as a contestant on Survivor: Cook Islands, the 13th season of the CBS reality show. Later, he returned to television by appearing in several seasons of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. As part of his experience there he made an appearance in the February 2007 cover story of Instinct magazine.

Biography

Calderon was born in Santa Monica, California and grew up in Marina del Rey, California in a Roman Catholic family. He attended St. Bernard"s Catholic High School and then California State University, Long Beach, where he played for the school's nationally-ranked men's volleyball team. He graduated with a degree in speech communication in 2000. Calderon is of Costa Rican descent.

Calderon was an assistant coach for the Long Beach State University women's volleyball team for five years. He began his professional volleyball career in 2004 and became a nationally ranked Association of Volleyball Professionals player.

Survivor

On Survivor: Cook Islands, Calderon started off as one of five members of the Hispanic "Aitutaki" tribe. After the tribes were merged on day eight he became a member of the "Rarotonga" tribe. Calderon was the fourth cast member voted off in a 7/2 split.

The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency

In 2007, Calderon joined the cast of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. Stating that he had for a long time wished to model, Calderon came to an open casting call held in the first episode of Season 2. He was called back in episode 2 and eventually signed to the agency. The third episode saw Calderon being approached to appear on the cover of Instinct magazine, a publication that requires that its male cover models be openly gay. Calderon came out as gay on his appearance in the February 2007 issue, which included the cover, a photo spread, feature story and interview. "All of my fears, everything that I was scared of... it was the complete the opposite," he said. "It's been great. All of my friends, the volleyball world, absolutely everybody has been supportive. No one has shut me out."

It was announced during the 4th season finale of The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency that Calderon will head the male division of the agency when it moves to New York City. Calderon is also signed to KULT Model Agency in Germany.