Say it Ain't So, Survivor: China - The Lunch Lady Lied?

If you tuned into the December 16th finale of Survivor: China, your heart probably went out to forty-something Denise Martin of Revere, MA, who looked like a fish out of water.

An Unexpected 'Survivor'

She wasn't young and pretty. She wasn't conniving and back-stabbing, Yet she made it to the final four. Her competitors were decades younger: scary-skinny waitress Courtney, Machiavellian male flight attendant Todd, and hiking guide Amanda who kept saying how honest she was as she betrayed contestant after contestant.

Shades of Queen for a Day

Denise, a school lunch lady, begged her fellow Survivors not to vote her off; she had little to go home to, and she needed a shot at winning the big money. (Her pitch reminded me of the classic TV show Queen for a Day in which contestants tell their saddest hard-luck stories to win big prizes.)

But the three youngsters, none of whom probably ever heard of Queen for a Day, conspired against Denise and she was booted.

Photo of 'Survivor: China' competitors
Lunch Lady Denise and Amanda
(c) Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images

Lunch Lady No More

Later on in the show, in a live broadcast back in Hollywood, Denise revealed that her life has taken a turn. She's no longer lunch lady at her school but has been demoted to 'janitor.' The audience reaction is palpable. Everybody feels sorry for Denise. She doesn't win the one million dollar prize or the consolation $100,000 cash for the person voted Most Popular by TV viewers. But just after Todd is named the Survivor: China winner, host Jeff Probst announces that producer Mark Burnett is giving Denise $50,000 to help her through the rough times. Everyone claps and cheers and feels great. The show ends happily.

Ah, but the Lunch Lady lied.

Serving Up a Whopper

Appearing on the CBS Early Show with her school superintendent, Denise admits that she actually is making more money as the janitor and had accepted the promotion before she left for China. The school has been nothing but supportive. But because Denise served up a whopper of a sob story in the finale, the school's been getting hate mail. So Denise apologizes and decides to give the money to charity.

Say it Ain't So

I can't believe it. The lunch lady lied. Next thing you know, she'll confess that she never wears a hairnet or gloves while handling food. (And here I was worrying about school shootings.) I know 'character education' is a big buzzword in our schools today. Maybe Denise needs to go back to school not to mop floors or dish out macaroni and cheese, but to learn a thing or two about integrity.

And to think that as another forty-something, I was rooting for you!