CBS confirmed on Monday that former Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Jimmy Johnson will, indeed, make his reality television debut when “Survivor: Nicaragua” debuts in September, but they’re remaining predictably tight-lipped about the 21st season of the franchise, which was shot between June and July. But Johnson himself recently allowed what he could to USA Today’s Michael Hiestand.
“You're living with those people in such close quarters,” Johnson recalled. “It was so cold at night we had to spoon!”
Johnson was almost featured on the show three years ago, but a required physical found that he had a completely blocked artery in his heart, and one that was 70% blocked. Johnson was pulled from the tentative cast and had surgery a week later.
Recalling the incident, Johnson said, "‘Survivor’ may have saved my life."
Surely for the more anonymous contestants on the show, seeing the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach (and Extenze peddler) emerge among their ranks was something of a shock.
"When they first saw me, they thought I was a lookalike,” Johnson said. “They asked me why I put myself through those hardships when I didn't need the money. I told them it wasn't about the money, it was about the adventure.”
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