The rumor mentioned in the Jan. 28 Chronicle-Independent was true: A Lugoff woman, Patricia Jackson, will be a contestant on the new ``Survivor`` series beginning at 8 p.m. Feb. 28.

The series has already been filmed on the South Pacific island of Marquesas. The winning contestant on ``Survivor`` receives $1 million, but results of the series are top secret.

Jackson`s 20-year-old son, C.J. Jackson, said his family is proud of his mother, who was chosen from more than 60,000 applicants to become a ``Survivor`` contestant. The application process was four months long, he said.

``We are very excited,`` he said. ``When she says she is going to do something, she goes out and does it.``

When his mother first applied for the show, C.J. Jackson said he didn`t believe she could be chosen. Then, she continued to make each cut.

``She kept on interviewing and interviewing,`` he said. ``There were 60,000 people who applied, and she was (one of 12) chosen.``

Jackson`s mother, Gertrude Clay, who also lives in Lugoff, said that ``Survivor`` representatives at first told her daughter that she hadn`t made the final cut.

``In the very beginning, they told her she wasn`t (going to be on the show), but then they called back a week later,`` Clay said. ``She came waltzing into the kitchen, and I thought she was going to jump out of the house. She was so excited.``

When she heard the news, Clay said she ``was very, very surprised, and I think (Patricia) was, too.``

The family could only tell close friends about Jackson`s unbelievable selection. Under CBS guidelines, Jackson can`t speak with the media until she is either voted off the series or wins the $1 million prize.

Anna Williams of Elgin is one of Jackson`s close friends who was in on the selection secret. Williams took care of Jackson`s horses while she was gone and had to sign a confidentiality agreement with CBS.

Williams, who has known Jackson since 1984, said she wasn`t surprised her friend was chosen for the internationally famous show.

``I wasn`t shocked at all,`` Williams said. ``I knew all along that she was going to make it. Tricia can do anything she sets her mind to.``

Melody Schaeffer of Winnsboro is another close friend who has known Jackson for 15 years.

``Tricia had said that she wanted to (be a `Survivor` contestant), and we all just kind of laughed,`` Schaeffer said. ``But I knew when she was putting in for it that she had a good shot at it. She`s like a bulldog ... she really sticks to it when she gets after something.

``I was really excited.``

C.J. Jackson, whose older brother lives in Boston, said his mother`s experience was unforgettable. ``It was something,`` he said. ``A once-in-a-lifetime experience.``

While the Jackson family has discussed how Patricia`s time on TV may change their lives, C.J. Jackson said he is confident his mother will handle the fame that accompanies national exposure.

``I really don`t think it will change her too much,`` he said. ``She`s not the type of person to let fame get to her. I`m sure she`ll take it all in stride.``

C.J. Jackson, a 1996 graduate of Lugoff-Elgin High School, said his mother was gone to shoot the series ``for two or three months.``

``I missed her so bad when she was gone,`` he said. ``She`s more than a mother, she`s a best friend. We`re all very proud of her ... the whole family is.``

In addition to missing her daughter, Clay also said the trip to Marquesas caused her worry. ``After New York, I was worried about (her traveling),`` Clay said. ``But everything turned out really well.

``She had a wonderful trip.``

Clay said she was confident her daughter could handle anything the show called for her to do. ``I knew she`d try to accomplish everything they put before her,`` she said. ``She`s an achiever.``

Schaeffer probably speaks for many friends of Jackson -- and many residents of Kershaw County -- when she says her eyes will be glued to ``Survivor`` during the next few months.

``I`ve watched it off and on (before),`` she said. ``I`ll definitely be watching this time.``

Born in Columbia, Jackson moved to Lugoff 20 years ago with her husband, David Jackson, and attends Springvale Baptist Church. She will be called only ``Patricia`` on the show. Her biography currently appears on the ``Survivor`` section of the CBS.com computer Web site.

The subtropical Marquesas Islands lie between 400 and 600 miles south of the equator, approximately 1,000 miles northeast of Tahiti. Filming of ``Survivor: Marquesas`` was completed last month.