Manhattan ? Brandon Bellinger changed his cell phone message recently.

“Hi, it’s Brandon. I’m in New York right now, but I’ll be back on Saturday. And yeah, I know. It (stinks).”

Bellinger, of Manhattan, was the ninth person voted out of the CBS reality show, “Survivor: Guatemala.” He flew to New York City for an interview on CBS’s “The Early Show,” then returned to Manhattan earlier this month. His plans involved giving interviews, cultivating ground at the family farm and planting winter wheat.

In person, Bellinger exhibited the same quick wit and sense of humor that earned him a lot of screen time on “Survivor.”

“I haven’t had corn since I got back,” he said, after giving an involuntary shudder. “We’ll give it a few more months.”

While in Guatemala, Bellinger ate crushed and cooked corn kernels for basically every meal.

Another example of his humor and candor came when he described how his priorities changed in Guatemala.

“You change your mental aspect of things,” he said. “Your priorities are completely different. Like, you don’t think about sex. There are a bunch of half-naked women running around, but you’re hot. You’re thirsty and hungry and tired, and you both stink.”

Judging by some of the “Survivor” fan message boards, female viewers of the reality show reacted favorably to Bellinger’s unwashed, scruffy look. One woman even created a Web site dedicated to him.

Bellinger said he looked at a few of the message boards, but he has been too busy working on the farm to read others.

His dating life has picked up, though, since his return.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,” Bellinger said, with a slight smile.

A frequent complaint among television viewers is that reality TV is only as real as the editing. Bellinger said many of the shows were “very accurate,” although others were less so. “Personalities, they hit pretty good,” he said. “What you see is what you get, for the most part.”

One of his team members was fellow Kansan Danni Boatwright, of Tonganoxie. Boatwright is a former Miss Kansas, Miss USA runner-up and an international model.

“I never really trusted Danni at first,” Bellinger said. “Here’s this Miss Kansas, beautiful woman. I thought she would try to use her appearance to get further in the game. But she was really the opposite of what I thought.”

Bellinger said he and Boatwright formed an early alliance and had plans for an all-Kansas final two. Those plans were dashed with Bellinger’s ouster.

Just before Bellinger left tribal council, he gave Boatwright a hug and said, “You’re like the sister I never had.”

Bellinger also spoke highly of most of the cast members.

He even had kind words for Jamie Newton, of North Hollywood, Calif. On one episode, Newton was vocal about the fact that he and his former team members were voting Bellinger off the show.

“I kind of like the dude, believe it or not,” Bellinger said. “He’s an all-right guy deep down. But still, he opens his mouth a little too much.”

Newton was voted out of the tribe on Thursday.

In true Brandon form, Bellinger has changed his cell phone message again. After greeting the caller, he says he has the car back and is trying to sell it.

FYI, there is no car. There never was. That’s just Brandon being Brandon.