Three Twins Ice Cream CEO Neal Gottlieb evacuated from 'Survivor: Kaoh Rong'

After distinguishing himself as a member of the Chan Loh (Brains) Team for 19 days, “Survivor 2016: Kaoh Rong” contestant and Three Twins Ice Cream CEO Neal Gottlieb was evacuated from a remote Cambodian beach on Wednesday night during Episode 7 due to a gaping hole in his knee.

Although other castaways were suffering similar skin ailments, the location of one of Gottlieb’s wounds on his knee - nicknamed Mount Saint Neal by the witty Gottlieb - was deemed by the CBS show’s medical team as too risky to ignore, since infection at the site could spread to the joint and disable the 38-year-old ice cream entrepreneur for life.

“Ugggh. Up way too early in California for #SURVIVOR exit interviews,” Gottlieb wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning. “I’d much rather be sleeping in a winner.”

In an apparent recognition of his contributions to the game - the likable and physically fit contestant distinguished himself in puzzle solving - Gottlieb was given a consolation prize. After receiving treatment, he will return to the show as the foreman of the jury that will vote for the “Sole Survivor,” the season winner taking home the $1 million grand prize.

After premiering on May 2000, “Survivor” quickly became one of the most popular competition TV series on the air. The show brings together groups of strangers at remote, often-tropical locales, where they must provide food, water and shelter for themselves while competing in physical and mental challenges.

Back-stabbing and secret alliances run rampant, especially before the Tribal Councils, when tribes that lose challenges must vote out one of their members. A jury of finalists decides the overall winner, voting from among the last two or three survivors.

Gottlieb, an Ivy League graduate and former Peace Corps volunteer who founded the organic Three Twins Ice Cream in 2005 and built a factory in Petaluma in 2010, left the show reluctantly and tearfully on TV Wednesday night.

On Thursday, nearly a year since he had to leave the Cambodian island thanks to the lag between filming and airing, the busy ice cream man was finally able to come clean and tell America that he had not survived “Survivor.” But he downplayed his injuries.

“I was in the hospital for a couple of days,” he told Parade magazine. “They brought me back to the city that the island of Kaoh Rong is off of, and the next morning, I ran four miles on the hotel treadmill.”

In a video on the Survivor Fandom blog, Gottlieb is shown taking a boat back to civilization and waxing philosophical about his early exodus from the competition, which was filmed between late March and early May in 2015.

“Well, it’s a game, and sometimes things don’t go the way you want,” he said. “Bummer.”

After his stay in the hospital, the video shows Gottlieb arriving back on the island in a Three Twins T-shirt, looking fit and healthy despite having lost 17 pounds.

At Ponderosa, the relatively luxurious holding area for eliminated castaways voted out or evacuated for medical reasons, Gottlieb is shown working out on a rowing machine with a bandaged knee, vowing to be back as a contestant again someday.

He also reads a letter from his dad and reveals the Hidden Immunity Idol he took with him, a necklace that he found on Day 10, hidden up in a tree.

“I’ll be pulling this thing out and looking at it, and thinking it was a glorious 19 days in Cambodia,” he said of his souvenir. “For me, the journey is always the reward.”

Gottlieb was the second contestant on “Kaoh Rong” to be evacuated for medical reasons. During Episode 4, Kentucky Army veteran Caleb Reynolds of the Gondol (Beauty) tribe succumbed to heatstroke in the 118-degree heat during a challenge and was taken away by helicopter.

You can reach Staff Writer Diane Peterson at 521-5287 or diane.peterson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @dianepete56.