TV Guide Channel Helps Us Meet the ‘Survivor: One World’ Contestants

Then we have 28-year-old Kim, who just got divorced and is using her time on the show as a new beginning. She owns a bridal boutique (irony alert!) but is also outdoorsy and athletic, which she worries may make her stand out as a target. Again, I say any woman who has that attribute this season will be seen as a positive, not a negative, in at least the early stages of the game.

Kim also majored in communications and is fascinated by all the social situations in the game. Probst thinks viewers will root for Kim because she’s likeable, quiet, and attractive, but not a doormat. OK, but that doesn’t tell us what Probst thinks about her actual chances.

The next woman on our tour of contestants is Alicia (pronounced A-lee-see-ya), who showed up in five-inch heels. Immediately, I have a negative opinion of her – unless the producers tricked her into wearing them to highlight her as “the biggest fish out of water here,” as Probst describes her.

She expects to be underestimated, given her manner of dress and designer handbag and all. I expect her to be stereotyped, which may mean an early vote-out if she can’t use her self-described social game to convince the ladies otherwise. She seems to think she can use her looks (and her butt, which is hanging way out of her shorts) to reel in some guys and stick around. Boy, won’t she be surprised by the men vs. women aspect. Whoops!

Probst thinks she’ll do well as an asset by getting the guys to help the ladies. I wonder what he’s been smoking. To make matters worse, Alicia says she has a bad Puerto Rican temper and gets annoyed easily. Oh, well, that will go over well on Survivor!

Who can follow Alicia? Tarzan. No, not Troyzan – we met him earlier. This is Greg, who calls himself “Tarzan.” He is like Alicia in that he apparently has a temper and is extremely competitive – to the point that Probst thinks he will be his own worst enemy. I wonder if that means he’ll fight with Troyzan over who gets to use the nickname.

Greg doesn’t look the part, but he is a plastic surgeon and Probst calls him “just so smart” and wants everybody to know it. Greg may be older, but he thinks he’s in good enough physical condition to compete. Oh, and his favorite contestant is Coach because he showed moral fortitude and didn’t try to hurt other people in the game. Yeah, good strategy there. It worked wonders for him…

Next up is all the artsy stuff, but I’m not here to focus on that. So we’ll skip ahead to the next batch of contestants – beginning with Leif, the first little person on Survivor. He knows people may not take him seriously, but he’ll try to use that to his advantage – though I’m not really sure how. Probst says we’ll root for him as the underdog. He adds that Leif definitely knows the game and could be dangerous if the others let him stick around too long.

Somebody who doesn’t initially strike me as dangerous is Christina, who admits she doesn’t know survival skills. But she goes on to say she’s been an avid viewer and it’s really not about those skills – it’s about working with others. She claims to be “socially smart” and can manipulate people. Probst calls her “aggressive” and somebody who won’t be afraid of the men, which may work to her advantage here. She even admits she may be portrayed as a villain due to her being straightforward and perhaps coming off as “harsh.” Er… I don’t see how that goes along with being “socially smart.”

One more thing about Christina: She writes for Food and Travel magazine and thinks she can make their food a lot more interesting. Personally, I’m not counting on it.

Our next contestant is Jay, the model – though he doesn’t plan on telling the others that. Probst says he comes across as a quiet Southern country boy, but may understand the game better than everybody thinks. Hmm, didn’t we have a winner like that already? Anyway, he hopes the others will think he’s strong in challenges and keep him around. That might work in a mixed tribe situation, but won’t be as big a factor with the tribes split by gender.

Jay is also a Christian but won’t let that get in the way, as he says he’ll lie, cheat, or steal as necessary. He’ll also be blunt with people and if that hurts their feelings, so be it. And here I thought Probst said Jay knows how to play the game! But Probst still believes Jay will be well-liked all around.

Fellow southerner Chelsea follows Jay, saying she’s in good shape and ready to compete. She knows she comes across as the girl next door, but considers herself a tomboy who will be able to hunt and fish. Probst has high regard for her as well.

Following a bit about some traditional Samoan blessing for the show, we move on to 51-year-old Nina, who plans to keep her life experiences to herself. She doesn’t feel like she looks 51, so she probably will lie about her age. She’s a veteran of the police department and even made the SWAT team as the first woman after the police department did whatever they could to exclude her (in her words) and she ended up suing to get her place.

Probst thinks Nina needs to make alliances in a hurry or she may not have time to make the right relationships. If the women let her stick around long enough, they will come to see what an asset she may be.

On the flip side – that is, somebody who should be able to make social bonds quickly – is 27-year-old stand-up comedian Bill. Probst thinks he will be flexible enough to fit in no matter what. Also, we should note that Bill was in the military, which certainly gives him more outdoor and physical skills than your average comic. Probst figures if Bill plays his cards right, he could be our big winner!

I doubt Probst sees the same for 22-year-old Kat, who compares herself to the dumb blonde Fabio. Way to aim high there. She thinks she can compete in any challenge and plans to play the middle-of-the-road – she won’t make big moves and she won’t be the weakest link. Probst thinks her downfall could come if she says something regrettable early and can’t recover, but she seems to understand that, saying it’s a social game and she can befriend anybody. The best Probst can say about her chances are, “She could do okay” if she gets in with the right group. What high praise!

Next we have Michael, who is either cocky or confident, depending on how you look at it. He thinks he can come across as a nice guy but get away with anything – including backstabbing. He even says he’ll “hurt a girl” in a challenge if he has to. And it looks like he may be the one who grabs the women’s supplies in the initial moments of the game. Probst puts it plainly: “He’s a villain.” Michael doesn’t care how he’s portrayed – he’ll do whatever he has to do to get to the top.

With all the contestants introduced, we get a brief preview of a challenge. The contestants will use a coconut slingshot to knock out five tiles (in a five-by-five grid) in a row. We also see the actual Survivors begin their first immunity challenge – they have to jump into nets, walk across a balance beam, and… well, they’re not going to show us more than that, are they?! We’ll just have to tune in Wednesday night (and I’m thinking almost everybody reading this article was planning on doing that anyway!).

But before we get to the season premiere, be sure to check back here at Reality News Online for our pre-show articles! We’ve already posted the beginning of a multi-part series on the best Survivor players ever, which will continue for the next couple weeks. We’ll also be posting our Roundtable discussion for predictions on how this season will go. And once the show begins, you know we’ll be jam-packed with articles covering it. We’ll see you then!

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If you haven’t already, be sure to check out these other recent Survivor: South Pacific articles here on Reality News Online:

David Bloomberg is the Editor of Reality News Online and has been covering Survivor since the very first season. He can be reached at RNO@pobox.com. You can also follow him on Twitter!

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