By LaReeca Rucker
lrucker@mcherald.com
RIDGELAND | She used her wits, wisdom and Southern charm to secure a spot on the next installment of "Survivor."

Now Madison County residents can tune in Thursday nights to see a Ridgeland mortician put her athletic and hunting skills to the test as one of 16 contestants selected to brave the primitive terrain of a remote Panama island while vying for $1 million.

The important question is yet to be answered. Will she or won't she eat a rat?

Darrah Johnson, 22, is already home and not at liberty to say whether or not she ate rodents on "Survivor Pearl Islands."

Television viewers will have to tune in to CBS each Thursday night at 7 to see if she can manage to outwit, outlast and outplay the other contestants, and whether or not she will slay and eat indigenous Panamanian varmints.

In case you have been living on a remote island yourself and aren't familiar with the concept, the object of this popular reality show is to strategize to remain in the game for 39 days and take home the grand prize.

The new show, featuring Johnson, began airing two weeks ago. So far, two people have been voted off and she is still in the running.

Her boyfriend, Bradley Williams of Madison, also must remain tight-lipped about some aspects of the show.

For all we know, Johnson may now be a millionaire, but Williams isn't talking. CBS says it all must remain a secret until the final show.

He will acknowledge that he is not a bit surprised that his girlfriend was selected to be a contestant. Johnson, who he describes as a person with sheer perseverance and determination, is someone who always gets what she wants.

"She went through a Web site and had to send in an application and video tape," he said. "It went from there. They interviewed her down in New Orleans."

She was later flown to Los Angeles, where she went through an extensive interview process for several weeks.

"I knew all along that she would get it just because of her distinct personality," said Williams. "She always seemed to walk a different walk than everyone else.

"I knew she would have a good chance."

That "distinct personality" that Williams speaks of is colored by her chosen occupation. Johnson is a unique blend of beauty queen and funeral director.

The former Holmes Community College "Most Beautiful" holds an associate of arts degree in mortuary science from Southwest Mississippi Community College and Holmes Community College of Funeral Services. She works as a mortician and funeral director.

"Survivor" may have also given her an opportunity to use the job skills she previously acquired as a salesperson and fitness trainer.

"When she was growing up, in high school she played basketball and softball," said Williams. "She's always worked out and ran."

Williams, who is also 22, went to school with Johnson at Holmes, but the two never really talked at that time. They later met at a Ridgeland gym.

The Mississippi College business administration student who plans to pursue his master's degree said Johnson's family and friends were so excited about her TV accomplishments that they have been telling everyone they meet.

"We had a whole group of friends over there last Thursday night when it came on," he said. "They didn't show a whole lot of her.

"She stayed out of trouble and didn't get voted off."

Johnson's brother, Joey, 26, said it was almost unbelievable that his sister had been chosen for the show.

"I was kind of surprised," he said. "It wasn't real, yet it was real."

Watching the show was also a surreal experience.

"It was very weird," he said. "It felt like there was somebody else on television besides her. It was kind of a fantasy."

His sister's "Survivor" biography, which can be accessed at www.cbs.com, tells of her love of four-wheeler riding, working out and hunting. She describes herself as outspoken, daring and adventurous, and she aspires to be a coroner someday.

Her favorite sports are softball and basketball, and her father is her hero because she said he's worked hard for the family and has always been there for her.

Johnson's primary motive for participating in the game was to be challenged and have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world with different personalities.

She said she felt she had a shot at winning because she considers herself hard working, competitive, athletic, ambitious, determined and in great physical and mental health.

While the prize for being the sole survivor is $1 million, consolation prizes ranging from approximately $2,500 for the first person voted off the island to approximately $100,000 for the runner-up, will be awarded to other survivors based on their order of elimination.

"She's a strong-willed person," said Williams. "If she wants something, she goes for it and she wanted this really bad. She had talked about it since the show came out.

"She gave it 110 percent and put her whole heart into it. She's just the type of person to go get what she wants and she doesn't stop until she gets it."

Sounds like Johnson may have been favored by the Tribal Council, but viewers will have to tune in to see just how well she did.