Feeling The Heat
Soap Opera Digest: Your skin is pretty fair. How did you do under that Pacific sun on Palau?
Tom Westman: I used plenty of sunblock. I knew a sunburn would have been the end of the game for me. Irishmen on the equator don’t do really well.
Digest: That sounds like a new reality show: IRISHMEN ON THE EQUATOR.
Westman: Yeah, take a bunch of Northern Europeans, put them on the equator with no sunblock and see how they do [laughs].
Digest: There’s no denying that you’ve got that New Yawk accent.
Westman: It’s a funny thing because even friends of mine who have New York accents saw me on SURVIVOR and told me, “Dude, I could hardly understand you.” The other 19 contestants would laugh whenever I started to speak.
Digest: How crazy has your life been post-SURVIVOR?
Westman: I’ve spent more time on planes in the last three weeks than I did in the last three years. I almost feel like I’m training for AMAZING RACE because it’s running, switching luggage and it’s out the door I go.
Digest: Do people know your name now?
Westman: When I call someone now, I say, “This is Tom from SURVIVOR: PALAU.” It’s so funny, that introduction has become my last name: Survivor Palau.
Digest: Still working as a fireman?
Westman: Yeah. I’ve got my 20 years in August and at that time, I could retire and take my pension, so that’s a heavy discussion at home right now. My wife has been pushing for that anyway. Most of the arguments that I had against it were taken away when I won [SURVIVOR] so that’s another reason she’s happy.
Digest: What do your fellow firefighters think about you being on a soap opera?
Westman: If you stick out from the crowd at all in the firehouse, you’re just wearing the abuse sign. To go on reality TV and then to follow up with the other kinds of things that I’m doing, like the cover of TV Guide, gives them a lifetime of ammunition. Maybe that’s the real reason that I need to retire now. I’m just too big of a target [laughs].
Digest: How has the fame affected your home life and your family?
Westman: It’s been crazy at home and the kids have started to chafe at it a bit. Just in our small town, if we go up to get a half gallon of milk, it’s a meet-and-greet with the neighbors. I love it and it’s fun but my kids are getting to “Enough.” But they’re enjoying their moment of fame within their school and from their teachers.
Digest: So your whole town will probably tune in to see you on B&B?
Westman: Everybody’s been asking me, “What’s next?” and then I tell them, “I’m going to be on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL.” So there’s already a buzz about that.
Digest: Does Lorenzo make a believable fireman?
Westman: He’s not quite as good-looking as some of the New York firefighters [laughs], but he does have a better tan.
Digest: Are your uniforms as tight as Hector and his men?
Westman: Mine don’t fit me like that.
Digest:What do you think of this acting thing?
Westman: You can put me in front of a burning building and I have no problem with going in and doing my job. But standing in the watchhouse of a television set was a little rattling for me.
Digest: What would you do if you got discovered and you were offered more acting jobs?
Westman: I’m leaving all doors open. Winning SURVIVOR gave me a buffer year for me to figure out the next career and I’m casting a wide net. I’m not delusional enough to believe that reality TV leads into acting. It’s so funny because people tell me, “Oh, you’re going to be an actor.” To me, that’s as ridiculous as if they said, “You’re going to get picked up by NASA and go to space.” I’m not an astronaut and I’m not an actor, so to make that transition, I don’t get it. Once people see you on TV, they think you can be on TV, but the fact of the matter is, I’m sure I gave evidence today that I’m not an actor. Even if I wanted that, it would be acting classes and committing my whole life to a craft. I don’t believe it’s that easy.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.