Rodger Bingham autographs a T-shirt at the B&E Restaurant in Crittenden. Visitors come daily to see him where he eats breakfast. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        CRITTENDEN, Ky. — At his usual corner table in Grant County's B&E Restaurant or around the communal rice pot in the Australian Outback, Rodger Bingham is still “Kentucky Joe.”

        Thanks to the genuine demeanor that has kept him “alive” for 12 weeks on Survivor II, the 53-year-old Mr. Bingham has become a recognizable and popular Kentuckian — probably the best-known worldwide other than Colonel Sanders or Ashley Judd.

        “Kentucky Joe,” is a consistent viewer favorite on the show; Mr. Bingham acquired the nickname in the early weeks of the show from another contestant.

        But he's more than a favorite — he's something of a state ambassador.

        “He's been good for Kentucky's image because he is this very nice and popular man on the show,” said Ann Latta, the state's secretary of Tourism. “They call him "Kentucky Joe' and because of the way he is on the show that sure hasn't hurt us.”

        Newspapers fawn over him. A Web site (www.kentuckyjoe.com) is devoted to him. Fans make trips that in some cases resemble pilgrimages to the B&E, a community gathering spot that also caters to interstate travelers, so they can meet their hero, shake his hand and get an autograph.

Bingham (lower left) with other cast members. (CBS photo) | ZOOM |

        Pop culture and television expert and author Robert Thompson said people take to Mr. Bingham because “he's one of those likable American figures that go back to Daniel Boone and Huck Finn.”.

        “He seems totally unconscious of it, like he just walked out of Mayberry itself,” said Mr. Thompson, a Syracuse University professor of media and popular culture and the director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television.

        “To some extent he continues to promote the stereotype that people from the Midwest and the South are farmers who move a little slow and who are real ly nice guys,” he said.

        “If you like that comparison, then Rodger is a good thing. It could be a lot worse,” Mr. Thompson said.
       

Fussing over Rodger
               All of the attention on Mr. Bingham leaves residents in this county of 22,000 scratching their heads.

        “I just can't believe all the fuss over ol' Rodger,” said Charles Givin, 52, a Grant County resident who knew Rodger before knowing Rodger was cool.

        “To us, he's just the same Rodger — a nice guy who lives down the road,” Mr. Givin said. “But this show sure has made him something.”

Bingham relaxes in a brook with Nick Brown. (CBS photo) | ZOOM |

        Each weekday morning at 7 a.m., before Mr. Bingham — a former banker and lumber company owner — heads to teach industrial arts at Grant County High School, where he has taught since 1987, he joins Mr. Givin and a few other regulars for eggs, sausage, biscuits, coffee and conversation at the comfortable B&E.

        Business at the B&E has picked up, owner Edna Cummins reports, due largely to the smiling, gray-haired guy in the corner who can't finish his coffee because a woman is politely asking him to sign a Survivor T-shirt.

        Word got out through the media and over the Internet that this is where Mr. Bingham eats breakfast and the Survivor faithful began to arrive.

        “There are people who come through that door everyday and ask, "Is this the place where Rodger eats?' I mean, they come from all over,” Mrs. Cummins said of visitors from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana an Illinois and other locales.

        “And it's not just people who watch the show. We have reporters from all over the state coming in to meet Rodger. And he can't even talk to them.”

        Because the winner of Survivor has already been determined, none of the show's original 16 contestants, Mr. Bingham included, is permitted to say who won or to discuss the show, which was taped last fall in the Australian wilderness. The winner will be announced on the show's May 3 episode.

        “I'm sorry,” Mr. Bingham says with his signature smile as he scratches “Rodger” across the shoulder of a brown T-shirt, “I just can't say anything about the show.”
       

Pilgrims to the B&E
               His inability to talk about the show doesn't seem to discourage the steady parade of fans who drop in at the B&E to meet Mr. Bingham.

        Martha Maddox drove over recently from Independence in Kenton County to have breakfast, meet Mr. Bingham and get an autograph.

        He rises, shakes her hand, walks around the table and signs a shirt for Mrs. Maddox.

        “He's just as nice in person as he is on the show,” Mrs. Maddox said. “He makes anybody in Kentucky proud to be from here.”

        That same morning, in a booth next to Mr. Bingham's table, nine-year-old Jessica King of Walton was finishing her breakfast while studying for a 4th grade test.

        She and her mother, Cheryl King, 35, woke up at 5:30 a.m. to make the short drive down Interstate 75 to the B&E.

        “She's been so excited about this,” Mrs. King said of her daughter. “Rodger is her hero because he's from Kentucky and because he's so nice.”

        Jessica not only got to meet Mr. Bingham and get his autograph, but he came and sat with her and her mother for a few minutes before she had to head off to school.

        Rodger left his coffee mug and sat with Mrs. King and her daughter, taking a few minutes to chat — as much as he could — about the show.

        “I hope you win,” Jessica told Mr. Bingham before leaving..
       

Fans at the B&E
               The anecdotes about Rodger's fans visiting the B&E have piled up like a stack of flapjacks.

        There was the young teen from Michigan whose family geared their trip home from Florida so they could stop at the B&E just off I-75's Exit 166 and meet Mr. Bingham, leaving him a softball-sized bright yellow grapefruit.

        There was the man who brought in 65 T-shirts for autographs. Mr. Bingham signed every one — while his breakfast got cold, Mrs. Cummins said.

        “He won't say no or be rude to anyone,” said Gerald Stephenson, 67, of Grant County, another breakfast regular. “That's why everybody around here likes him, and I believe that's why he's popular on the show.”
       

Winning by losing
               In a contest known for its scheming, plotting, back-stabbing and whining, Mr. Bingham glistens because he does none of those things, say mavens of the program.

        “I love the show and I love Rodger,” said Valerie Hinko, 31, a Washington, D.C., attorney. “He is so down-to-earth, he seems like a very likable person, and he's not really affected by some of the cutthroat competition by some other people.”

        “He makes friends pretty easy, he gets along and he makes a point not to get into arguments with the other people,” Ms. Hinko said. “I think it's easy to see that people just like to be around him.”

        Other Survivor fans, as well as some of the show's other participants, are also in Mr. Bingham's camp.

        Each week the show's participants vote one of their own off the program. Mr. Bingham has survived the first 12 weeks.

        On the official Survivor Web site, Mr. Bingham has been consistently voted the best-liked contestant by viewers of the show.
       

A Christian attitude
               Those who know Mr. Bingham — who is a farmer as well as a teacher — say the way he is on the show is the way he is in person.

        For instance, in one recent episode Mr. Bingham — an elder at Crittenden Christian Church who brought a Bible along on his trip to Australia — was casting his ballot to vote the despised Jerri off the island.

        Other cast members have said some unkind things about the difficult Jerri Manthey, a 30-year bartender and aspiring actress from Los Angeles,who had problems getting along with her fellow Survivors.

        But even in voting to give her the boot, Mr. Bingham was gracious yet frank in explaining his vote to the nationwide television audience that number in the millions.

        “Most days she gets up in a good mood,” he said, looking into the camera as he dropped his ballot in a bucket. “But oh baby, watch out for those bad days.”
       

Nationwide praise
               It's not just fans of the show who have taken to Mr. Bingham. The media — all over the country — seem to love him as well.

        The Savannah Morning News called him “an inspiration, worthy of praise.”

        “An elder statesman and gentlest soul among the games's eight remaining contestants” wrote The Dallas Morning News.

        “We love Rodger. We all love Rodger,” gushed 3BigShows.com, an entertainment Internet site.

        FaithSite.com, a faith-based organization in Nashville, has even devoted an entire Web site to Mr. Bingham, KentuckyJoe.com.

        Brent High, vice president of FaithSite.com, said he was impressed and inspired that given the chance to bring one “luxury” item to Australia Mr. Bingham chose a Bible.

        “What one thing could you not go without for up to 42 days?,” Mr. High wrote on the Web site. “A laptop? A bar of soap? Your toothbrush?

        “For Rodger Bingham, it was the word of God.”

        Michelle Hill, executive producer of WKYT-27 news in Lexington, Ky., the CBS Central Kentucky affiliate that broadcasts Survivor, said the popularity of the show along with Mr. Bingham's attitude makes him irresistible.

        “It's a good story, and in this business you don't get to tell a lot of good stories,” said Ms. Hill, whose station reports weekly on Mr. Bingham's progress on the show.

        Politicians have also picked up on Mr. Bingham's popularity.

        Though he confessed he does not watch the show, Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton recently visited with Mr. Bingham in Frankfort in a staged media event and photo op.

        And last month, Mr. Bingham came to the Fort Mitchell field office of U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, a Grant County native who now lives in Boone County, to help tout the Congressman's proposal to offer more computer training to teachers.
       

How do nice guys finish?
               But when it comes down to actually winning the game, will the Bible-toting Kentucky Joe, the nice guy, ultimately prevail?

        Probably not, said Larry Bonko, television critic for The Virginia-Pilot.

        “Rodger is a smart guy,” Mr. Bonko said. “He's learned that if you want to survive you stay under the radar. That's why he's so popular. He's not playing politics. He's uncle Joe, he's everybody's uncle, he's everybody's friend.”

        While nice guys may not finish last, on Survivor if precedent holds true Mr. Bingham will have a hard time winning.

        On the first Survivor,winner Richard Hatch was an arrogant contestant who worked behind the scenes to help his own cause and who frolicked around the island naked — quite a contrast to a Christian who carries a Bible, prays everyday and won't say a bad word about anybody.

        “Eventually,” Mr. Bonko predicted, “he'll get booted off.”

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