Mark Anthony Caruso, an openly gay man,
is among the 16 contestants vying to win CBS' Survivor: South
Pacific, which was filmed in
Samoa.
Caruso is a 48-year-old retired New
York City Police Department morgue detective from Queens, New York.
In his videotaped profile, Caruso says
9-11 was the height of his career.
“The highlight of my New York City
detective's career was 9-11,” Caruso says. “Because I was able
to go in there, fingerprint people, solve cases which would be –
you know I didn't know what was going on – our job is to go in
there and bring the families closure. And I took that very
seriously.”
He added that contestants shouldn't
write him off because of his age.
“What I would like to tell the other
castaways is don't underestimate an older guy. Why? Because I have
the heart, brain and soul to outwit, outplay and outlast every single
one of you.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page.)
In his bio, Caruso adds: “I call
myself a Daddy Bear: I'm older, wiser, and cuter, I guess. No, I'm
kidding I'm not cuter.”