News Article - SurvivorFever

WGHP's Varner Takes His Southern Charms North

HIGH POINT — Jeff Varner tells everybody the same thing. This time, it's a bartender named Sophie.

"Well, I'm no longer at Fox 8, and I'm happy about it," Varner told her the other day at Bemini's, a seafood restaurant off High Point's North Main Street drag.

"Well,'' Sophie said, "You've got a fan right here."

"Thank you, darlin'," Varner responded, smiling.

Always the charmer.

We first saw Varner beam six years ago when the "Survivor'' craze infected the Triad like the flu. He landed on "Survivor: The Australian Outback'' and became Greensboro's latest reality TV star.

After "Survivor,'' we saw him working the red carpet for the TV Guide Channel, pouring on his Southern-fried charm and yelling to celebrities, "What's up, lady? Come on over here!"

In the process, he snagged a car from talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell by climbing atop her desk and kissing her on her show. Or, as he says: "I shoved my tongue down her throat. So, she gave me a car."

But two years ago, at age 39, he traded in the red carpet for reality. He wanted to work as a serious broadcast journalist and put to good use the broadcast journalism degree he earned at UNC-Chapel Hill.

And he wanted to do it back home, in the Triad. After graduating from Southern Guilford High, he hardly ever came back.

That is, until 2005. WGHP hired Varner as weekend anchor and field reporter. He covered everything and made his weekend news report feel as casual and saucy as any talk show.

Here's what I mean:

A guy was suing a donkey in court. Before the commercial break, Varner told his audience: "Ladies and gentlemen, we got a story about an ass in a courtroom. And it's not an attorney."

Varner's former weekend co-anchor Nico Bella, a native of Colombia, made a horrible faux pas in the racin'-happy South. In mentioning the

NASCAR race at Talladega, she said "Ta-LIG-gula,'' as in Caligula, the ruthless Roman emperor.

"Girl,'' Varner responded, "People will shoot you for that around here.''

You can imagine Varner butted heads with the WGHP brass. At the same time, though, he was named "Rookie of the Year'' by The Associated Press of North Carolina, and his weekend news audience grew.

He kept his anchorman makeup in a metallic Superman lunchbox, and for his 40th birthday, he had tattooed on his right forearm two Japanese Kanji characters whose literal translation is "bravery in courage.''

Now, he's gone.

Varner's contract ended April 8, and WGHP offered to extend his on-air agreement to June 15. He says WGHP wanted to keep him — and he thought hard about staying because of his family.

But a local news director from another market called with a better offer.

And Varner says he was suspended with pay May 2 only after WGHP executives found out he had accepted another news gig.

A spokeswoman for Fox Television Stations confirmed Wednesday Varner is no longer with the station.

In a few weeks, Varner will become the main morning anchor for a CBS affiliate in a larger market up North. That's all he can say right now because the station, as he says, "doesn't have all its ducks in a row.''

He's heard from many viewers like Sophie, the bartender. And he admits it's hard to leave, particularly his young niece, McKenna, who calls him "JJ."

But he's ready to move on. With his Superman lunchbox in tow.