Michael David Skupin (once Michael Landry, born January 29, 1962 near Detroit, Michigan) is a professional speaker, author and coach. He is a co-founder of Rhinosoft Interactive, a maker of Christian-based computer software. He is currently best-known as a contestant in Survivor: The Australian Outback and Survivor: Philippines, and the first contestant in the American show's history to require a medical evacuation from the show due to an emergency.

Early life

Michael, who is known as "Mike" or "Scoop" among his friends, is married, and has several children. His father died of cancer (at age 28) when he was four years old. His mother married baseball coach Clarence Landry when he was about 10 years old, and for a few years he took the last name as well. However, his name was never legally changed, and he reverted to Skupin during high school. He created the charity Victory Over Addiction in 2001 to help combat drug addiction among children. Before Survivor, he gave away 18 million CD-ROMs of the bible as a General Mills giveaway. Mike has served as vice president of sales for Premier Business.

Survivor

Australian Outback

Michael appeared on Survivor: The Australian Outback in 2001, where he was a member of the Kucha tribe. One of the incidents he is known for is a well-publicized hunt he undertook where he killed a small wild boar, then painted his face with the boar's blood. That event was overshadowed, however, by his medical-related departure on Day 17. He was stoking a fire at the Kucha camp after a Reward Challenge victory, when he inhaled smoke and passed out, falling forward into the fire pit. As a result, he suffered second and third degree burns on his face, hands and chest which necessitated his evacuation and removal from the game. The moment was ranked 23rd on TV Guide and TV Land's List of the "100 Most Unexpected TV Moments". Tina Wesson later went on to say that had this not happened, she would have lost the season. Michael never received a single vote against himself.

Philippines

In 2012, he participated on Survivor: Philippines and tied with The Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel for second place, losing to Denise Stapley by a vote of 6-1-1; he received his lone Jury vote from Carter Williams. At the final tribal council, Jonathan Penner voted for Denise to win after claiming that Michael and Lisa were "ridden in like oxen" by the eventual winner. Michael Skupin stated that he made it to the final five without the "bull's-eye of the returning player" because he "got rid of the people that wanted the returning players gone" such as celebrity Major League Baseball contestant Jeff Kent.

This biography article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Michael Skupin". Reality TV World is not responsible for any errors or omissions this article may contain.