Gay
Survivor Contestant Charlie Herschel Develops a
Little Crush

The 17th season of Survivor kicked off last night on CBS as the contestants made their way to Gabon, divided into tribes, and began to set up camp. And almost immediately, gay contestant Charlie Herschel set his sights on a member of his tribe -- sexy doc Marcus Lehman.

The two contestants formed a near-instant bond after arriving in Africa, and while discussing their strategy for moving forward in the contest, Herschel took a moment to tell viewers at home how he felt about Marcus.

"I feel that I have a special bond with Marcus," he said. "Ever since I saw him on the mat and he picked me, I just felt this connection in his deep, blue beautiful eyes."

Lehman -- who was named one of Cosmoplitan magazine's sexiest bachelors of the year in 2006 -- picked up on the fact that Herschel had developed a little crush, and in an aside of his own, explained it was unlikely things would go any further than friendship.

"The thing with Charlie is, I think he's attracted to me, but you know, I'll be honest. I don't see any romance between Charlie and I. I think he's a great guy, you know. I can see that he's handsome and smart and all those things. I really can appreciate that about him. It's just not really the way I roll. I'm straight, so ... We're in Eden, but there's no two Adams here."

Earlier this week The Advocate sat down with Herschel to talk about his experiences filming Survivor. During the interview Herschel also discussed an online friendship he'd developed with recently out American Idol alum Clay Aiken while Aiken was still in the closet.