Celebrity Welcome For 'Survivor' Rudy

Rudy Boesch returned home to a celebrity's welcome after a reunion with his fellow Survivor castaways in Los Angeles.

"He's a lot younger-looking in person," said 9-year-old Andrew Lampella of Virginia Beach, who had no trouble persuading the 72-year-old retired Navy SEAL to pose with him for a picture at the airport Saturday evening.

There was handshaking and backslapping galore as Boesch and his wife, Marge, made their way to a shiny black chauffeured limousine hired by CBS.

Boesch won $85,000 for his third-place finish in the network's game show, Survivor, filmed over 39 days on an island in the South China Sea. CBS gathered all 16 competitors in Los Angeles for a reunion show after Wednesday night's finale.

The interviews seemed endless, said the Boeschs.

"I did 20 myself," Marge Boesch said.

Although the Boeschs are home in Virginia Beach - "It'll give us a chance to wash our clothes," said Rudy - the whirlwind will soon resume. After Rudy Boesch Day at the Little Creek Amphibious Base on Tuesday, they're off to Minneapolis where Boesch makes a personal appearance on behalf of one of the show's sponsors. Then comes a Survivor seminar in Chicago.

But as fans surrounded him for pictures or autographs, Boesch put his instant fame in perspective.

"This won't last," he said.