December 21st, 2007
Denise Martin had a hard time telling lies during her 39 days as a Survivor: China castaway — however she apparently got more comfortable and had no problem bending the truth once she returned to the States.
During Survivor: China’s live reunion show broadcast Sunday night on CBS, the 40-year-old from Douglas, MA said when she returned from filming Survivor over the summer, her Douglas Public School District employer “didn’t give me my job back” as a lunch lady and instead — allegedly citing the fact that her newfound fame had made her “too distracting” — made her a custodian. But there was apparently one big problem with the hard-luck story Martin told on live national television: it wasn’t true.
According to Nancy Lane, the school district’s superintendent, Martin was only transferred to the custodial position after she applied for it. And in addition to representing a significant promotion, she began the new position in March — several months before she filmed Survivor: China this past summer.