Jon Dalton

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Jon Dalton
Image:Jonny-fairplay.jpg

Statistics
Ring name(s)	Jonny Fairplay
Billed weight	130
Born	March 11, 1974 Danville, Virginia
Resides	West Hollywood, California
Debut	1998

Jon Dalton, also known as Jonny Fairplay (born March 11, 1974), is a professional wrestler and former art consultant from Danville, Virginia who came in third place as a competitor on the reality TV show Survivor: Pearl Islands.

Dalton started in wrestling in 1998 in North Carolina, then moved to Oregon where as Jonny Fairplay he started his own somewhat over-the-top promotion, New Dimension Wrestling (not to be confused with a similarly-named Carolinas promotion). There he served as promoter and heel commentator. During this time he also ran his own weekly online professional wrestling radio talk show, having various wrestlers on as guest commentators.

On Survivor, Dalton used his wrestling techniques to draw considerable heel heat on the show, leering at the camera, behaving obnoxiously, and channeling Ric Flair and Randy Savage when casting his votes. At this he was quite successful: by poll he is the least popular player ever to play Survivor, with a popularity rating of only 18%. His masterminding the ouster of audience favorite Rupert Boneham also contributed to his unpopularity. While Jonny Fairplay's obnoxious behavior might have hurt him, one cannot discount his strategy of lying and manipulation.

Dalton became most infamous on Survivor after constructing what host Jeff Probst called the greatest lie in Survivor history. [1] Before Dalton left to compete on the show, he told a friend of his that if the friend were ever invited to Panama as part of a loved-one-related challenge to tell Dalton that his grandmother had died. There was indeed such a challenge, and Dalton's friend told him, according to plan, that his grandmother had died. Other cast members took pity on him and let him win the challenge, all according to his plan. Dalton then continued to milk the lie for all it was worth by always saying "I swear on my grandmother" when someone didn't believe him about something. (During the reunion show that aired after the season finale, Probst did a brief interview with Jon's grandmother who was in fact alive and healthy.) Doing so allowed Dalton to constantly switch alliances, earning him a spot in the final four. Then, when he was likely to be voted off, he instigated a fight between 'Lil' Morris and Darrah Johnson, causing Darrah to be voted off instead of him. Jonny Fairplay was so hated that it was only logical that anyone would want to face him against the jury. However, at the final three, Lil (who won the final immunity challenge, and therefore could choose either Dalton or Sandra Diaz-Twine) despised Dalton so much that she could not bring herself to take him into the Final Two, and chose to take Diaz-Twine instead. This turned out to be a bad move for Morris, as she was subsequently beaten by Diaz-Twine in the group vote by 6-1.

Probst has since publicly said: [2]

"... [then] you have Jonny Fairplay, who's completely despicable. It was actually fun to work with Fairplay on the show because he's a producer's dream. When he shows up drunk or flips somebody off, he's bringing you gold every time. I wish we had a Jonny Fairplay every season. Personally, however, he's an absolute jackass whose actions at the Vanuatu finale after-party pissed me off so much that he's banned from any event that I'm at from now on. I'm done with Jonny Fairplay."

After Survivor, Dalton was signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling where he appears under the Jonny Fairplay moniker.

In 2005, Dalton appeared in the reality television program, Kill Reality, which follows various reality television personalities as they film a horror movie. Dalton turned out to be the "star" of the show as it detailed his outrageous antics which culminated in him defecating on another cast member's bed and getting kicked out of house. The horror film, The Scorned, aired on E! in October 2005 and was subsequently released as a DVD with extra nudity and violence.

Dalton blogged for CBS' official Survivor website during Survivor: Guatemala.

Dalton was featured on an episode of the A&E reality show Inked. Upon entering the store Dalton stated, "Time for a tattoo for Johnny Fairplay, the most hated man in reality television." A couple next to him began to tell him how hated he is, and he gave them a middle finger salute from. Upon seeing this transpire Thomas Huntington, the shop owner, had Dalton thrown out of the store. Given that a reality show was being filmed in the store, it is quite likely that Dalton used the incident as some sort of publicity stunt.

In August 2005 Dalton appeared in an all-reality stars opening round of tournament six of Celebrity Poker Showdown.

In October 2005, Dalton (as Jonny Fairplay) was a co-host along with Jeremy Borash of TNA Wrestling's syndicated show Xplosion. However, he is currently no longer under contract to TNA Wrestling.

On June 26, 2006 he appeared on Fear Factor Reality stars special edition.

On February 2, 2007 he appeared on Judge Mathis as a "witness" to the defendent.

An autographed picture of Dalton hangs in the NASCAR collectibles store Gasoline Alley Diecast in Mooresville, NC. The picture was given to the store's owner by Dalton's father, Pete Dalton, who is a semi-regular customer. In the picture, the pair are standing behind a 2007 Dodge Caliber with a Virginia license plate that reads "FAIRPLA".