KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Local Man Makes It Big On "Survivor"

Local Man Makes It Big On "Survivor"

"Hi Michelle, pleasure to see you. Now we can talk. I've been waiting," said Coby Archa the latest Survivor Cast-off.

I first met Coby when CBS announced he would be on the show "Survivor". Then we couldn't talk, but now I can't stop him.

"This is good. I feel like I am kind of on Oprah here," he said.

We sat down at his salon, Avant in Tyler. He dished about the good and the bad and how the show changed him.

"What was good about the experience is that when you are stripped of life that way, you really do realize what's important in life, which is family and friends."

''You have definitely been one of the favorites for East Texans. You are immensely entertaining," I said.

"Well, I don't know about that," he said modestly but he admits, what you saw on TV was the real Coby.

"I wish I could say I was acting, but sad to say that was really me. I am every bit that over the top." When the cameras weren't rolling, Coby says the tribe often sat around and talked.

"Did they want to know about you and this area?" I asked.

"You'd be surprised how many people had heard of this area and it is because of the roses. And that was probably one of my favorite parts of the game, getting to know everybody."

Another favorite part of the game for Coby, the fans. Coby says they've been great to him.

"I don't want to get too deep, but as a child there were no gay men on TV. And for families to accept me as a role model and for kids to look up to me now, it's pretty powerful. Its not just a silly TV show for me."

So what's next for Coby? He says he's passing on moving to Hollywood to try and become an actor. Instead he's moving from Athens to Tyler to buy a home with his mom and best friend. You can catch more of Coby when "Survivor Palau" ends in May.