Brentwood’s “Mama Julie” Finds Yet Another Second Chance on “Survivor”
It’s subtle but if you watch the newest season of “Survivor,” you’ll find a bit of Tennessee on Fiji’s Mamanuca Islands.
Watch closely, especially during challenges, and you’ll spot a red, tri-star Tennessee hat sitting on the head of Tennessean Julie Alley, a Brentwood estate attorney. She is now one of 18 brand new castaways chosen to compete in the milestone 45th edition of the reality competition show now airing on CBS.
(Credit: CBS) The new cast of castaways for “Survivor’s” 45th season. Alley is in blue on the front row, third from left.
So far, only four castaways have been voted off the island, all from the original LuLu Tribe. Alley’s newly reformed Reba Tribe went before the Tribal Council in the latest episode. However, Alley was not voted off, nor was her’s among the top names targeted for ouster.
If the name Julie Alley doesn’t ring an immediate bell, you may know her better by her show name, “Mama Julie.”
Alley’s story is one of starting over and second chances. The now-divorced, single mom found inspiration in the waiting room of an attorney’s office as she prepared for a round of settlement mediation. Instead of a client, she was mistaken for a new associate at the firm. This, it seems, switched on a light bulb for her.
”Four years later, [after] many nights at night school while teaching art classes during the day, I passed the bar the first time,” Alley said in a Survivor interview. “I’ve been a practicing attorney now for five years.”
Her LinkedIn page shows a unique resume. From 2008 to 2018, she taught ”art classes out of my house to elementary-aged children for 10 years.” She went from paralegal to an associate attorney at one Brentwood law firm, before joining a different firm later. In September, she landed a job as a trust and wealth advisor for the Nashville office of Pinnacle Financial Partners.
But before her job at Pinnacle, her LinkedIn lists Alley as a ”reality TV contestant on CBS Survivor.” The location for the job is set as Fiji and she was on site, according to her page, from April to May 2023.
(Credit: CBS via Julie Alley’s Instagram) Brentwood’s Julie Alley is no stranger to second chances, finding another as a contestant on the latest season of the hit reality competition “Survivor.”
Of “Survivor” and second chances, Alley was watching television one night as saw the show “Survivor: Cambodia — Second Chance,” which featured past contestants who did not win during their original season. She said, “this just summed up my life. This is my second chance at life.”
As far as the show goes, Alley is safe so far. But will she make it? She seemed to think so before the show began all those months ago.
“I’ve talked a big game getting here,” she said in her intro video. “I say, ‘yeah, I’m going to be the Sole Survivor.’ I’m serious! Why not me?”
Tune to CBS on Wednesdays to watch Alley’s run. See if you can spot the Tennessee hat, in like a Where’s Waldo situation.
You can find the show on Wednesdays on:
• Chattanooga – WDEF-TV 12
• Jackson – WBBJ-DT3 7.3
• Johnson City (Tri-Cities, Tennessee-Virginia) – WJHL-TV 11
• Knoxville – WVLT-TV 8
• Memphis – WREG-TV 3
• Nashville – WTVF 5
Follow Mama Julie’s real-life adventures on her instagram here.
