Gorham’s “Survivor” TV contestant Dan Foley has become a real idol among fans – including a cousin he never knew he had until last week.

Last week, Foley, a postal technician, survived the ninth episode, moving ever closer to the quest of winning $1 million as the sole survivor on the CBS reality show. This week’s10 episode was aired on WGME-TV at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, after the American Journal deadline.

Each Wednesday, Foley hosts viewing parties at local restaurants, where he and fans watch the show.

This season’s “Survivor” was filmed last summer in Nicaragua. The number of contestants has been sliced to nine from the original 18. The show began with three tribes, but the number has been reduced to just one – Merica.

The contestants use skill and strategy to not get voted off the show.

Two weeks ago, Foley was targeted with four votes in an unsuccessful effort in tribal council to oust him, but last week he received only one vote.

“I would say he’s looking much better,” Bob Crowley, who was the 2008 “Survivor” winner, said on Tuesday.

“You’re always nervous in tribal council,” said Crowley, a retired Gorham High School physics teacher. “He didn’t seem to be nervous.”

At last week’s viewing party at Thatcher’s Restaurant in South Portland, fans Ellen and Chris Mazuzan of Cumberland introduced themselves to Foley. Ellen Mazuzan, a former adult education teacher in Gorham, had a surprise for Foley – she’s a cousin he never knew.

“We’re huge “Survivor” fans,” she said.

In researching her family tree, Ellen Mazuzan found Foley through family Facebook postings a year ago. Foley’s appearance on “Survivor” led to their meeting.

“It floored him,” Chris Mazuzan said about the occasion. “He was so happy.”

“That was pretty awesome,” Foley, who since was invited to dinner at the couple’s home, said Tuesday.

The Mazuzans join– a growing legion of Foley fans he greets at the weekly viewing parties. Last week, the personable Foley held 4-month old Waylon Frazier after asking the baby’s mother, Kaylynn Frazier of Biddeford, for permission.

Kaylynn Frazier, one of Foley’s postal co-workers, described Foley as very polite and always laughing.

“I think he’s got to be himself,” said Frazier, when asked what posture Foley should take to stay on the show.

Often appearing at Foley’s parties, Crowley, who was in Los Angeles last week, planned on attending Wednesday and said he’d come with an entourage. Crowley observed that Foley last week seemed to be in a better mood on the show.

“He now is flying under the radar,” Crowley said.

Gorham’s “Survivor” cast member Dan Foley, right, meets for the first time a cousin, Ellen Mazuzan, and her husband, Chris, at Foley’s weekly viewing party. Staff photo by Robert Lowell