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Summer/Fall 2003 Features

Butch Lockley's Amazing Journey

For those of you who have lived in a cave for the last few years, you probably aren’t aware of the new genre in television programming that has blasted into American homes called “reality TV.” It all started with the CBS show, “Survivor,” where a group of sixteen men and women, stranded in a remote location, brave the elements and each other to survive for 39 days and win a cool million.

But there’s a catch. At the end of each episode, the castaways vote to remove one person from the island. The last one remaining wins the cash.

Enter into this phenomenon Greenville grad Butch Lockley ’74, a middle school principal from Olney, Ill. Lockley was one of 65,000 people to try out for the sixth installment of the reality series, which took place in the Amazon. He endured days without food, a tussle with a piranha, got blamed for a fire he didn’t start, and made it all the way to the final four. Lockley left the jungle 33 pounds leaner with an experience that will last him long after the media frenzy dies down.

“It was beyond my expectations,” said the middle school principal in a phone interview. “I knew I could do well. I’ve always been a goal oriented person.”

Lockley submitted videotapes for two earlier versions of the show before getting his chance to be a castaway. For the winning tape, Lockley dressed up as a white squirrel – his school’s mascot – and had a police officer buddy pretend to arrest him. He sent the tape in at the end of June and the show’s producers interviewed him in Chicago in August, then again in Los Angeles in September before filming began at the end of October and ran through to December 14th. The series began airing in February.

While Lockley was gone, the only people who knew where he was were his wife, Cindy, and their three children, Amanda, 24, Joshua, 21 and Rachel, 14.

“It was hardest on Rachel,” he said. “The kids at school would call her a liar.”

Lockley also couldn’t tell his boss. To get the time off, he told him that he had a personal matter to take care of and asked his boss to trust him.
Because he had applied twice before, Lockley and his wife did a few sneaky things to keep his location a secret. He pretended to have muscle problems, put a band-aid on his arm to cover a non-existent intravenous mark. The rumors of Lockley’s whereabouts got as far-fetched as an Elvis sighting.

“Someone said they saw me in an Amish community.”

The tricks only worked while Lockley was gone. Once he came back looking trim and tan, everyone knew where he had been. Lockley recalls a cake-eating incident at school where he used his finger to get every last crumb on the plate. After he left the room, one comment said it all.

“Yep, he was there.”

Not only did Lockley have to keep silent until after the show was over, there are things he still can’t reveal, such as how much prize money he won for making it to the final four. He did admit it wasn’t enough to cover the loss in pay.

Fans of the show will remember Lockley as the person who “stayed under the radar.” However, it wasn’t a strategy he devised beforehand.

“I decided to be under the radar the first day I got there,” said Lockley. “I wouldn’t give my opinion on things because I knew I’d be outvoted.” He prefers to call his strategy silent leadership.

“I think I played the game my way. On the whole, for a 50 year old guy with all the physical and mental challenges, I played pretty well.”

Lockley, a physical education major at GC, began the conversation by thanking the coaches who had the biggest impact.

“Greenville College gave me the opportunity to do things I couldn’t do elsewhere. Work hard in practice. Pay attention to details. I learned that from the coaching staff.”

There are rumors that CBS has plans to make “Survivor 8” a reunion show. If asked, would Lockley go back for another endurance test?

"I’d do it again in a heart beat.”

For more information about Lockley’s adventure in the Amazon, visit the official website at www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor6

Last updated: September 24, 2003