Survivor: Exile Island, Preview, TV Guide Channel Exclusive by LauraBelle
Just like every other Survivor season, this one has been prefaced with lots of speculation. Only, this time it seems for real. Survivor: Guatemala winner Danni Boatwright leads us through a preview of the twelfth season, Survivor: Exile Island, seen exclusively on the TV Guide Channel.
Returning to Panama for the third time, the series gets its name from one of the five islands it will use during filming. Certain members of the four tribes will be "exiled" to the island loaded with pesky fire ants, and be forced to live on their own, for days at a time. Their only shelter will be the huge skull that has been erected on the island, that is, if they choose to use it. There will also be a hidden immunity idol, just like in Guatemala. Although this time, the players don't need to announce they hold it until after they have received enough votes to be voted out. After they save themselves, then the person with the second most votes will leave.
As mentioned before, this time there are four tribes, separated by age and gender. On the older men's team will be Terry, 46, a pilot. He watched Tom win Survivor: Palau, and thought "Hell, yeah!" he could do it too. Dan, 52, is retired astronaut, and thinks it's interesting how everyone gets along in something like this. Shane, 35, is in Marketing. He decided he was done yelling at the TV. He'll yell at people on the show instead. Bruce, 58, is an Art teacher and has spent four decades as a karate instructor. He likes to do 2000 techniques a night, although I'm not sure whether he means different ones or 2000 altogether by the time he's done training. Jeff Probst predicts he'll be gone soon, but in martial arts myself for four years, I think he'll have people skills that people don't realize, and he'll stay for awhile.
On the older women's tribe is Ruth Marie, 48, a Real Estate developer. Can I say she doesn't look anything close to 48? Which could have something to do with the fact she is a long distance runner. Wisconson-born Tina, 44, is a lumberjill, and when she talks, she reminds us of Sue Hawke. She was due to be on Survivor: Guatemala, but her 16-year-old son was killed 10 days before she was to leave. (Reportedly Amy filled in at the last minute.) Survivor told her if she wanted to still do it, there would be a spot left open for her. She took them up on it. Melinda, 32, is a singer, and cautions people that she won't just crank out a tune on the show. Cirie, 35, is an O.R. nurse, and self-proclaimed couch potato.
Over on the younger men's tribe we have Aras, 24, a yoga instructor. He will be trying to apply yoga principles to the game. Jeff Probst believes he's all talk. Nick, 25, is in financial sales. He fears being over-prepared. Austin, 24, is an author. His family was in the running to be on The Amazing Race Family Edition, but didn't make it. Apparently CBS liked him, and brought him alone over to Survivor. Bobby, 32, is an attorney. He calls himself "Bob Dog", and Jeff Probst points out he talks like a world wrestler.
The last of the four teams is the younger women's team. Sally, 26, is a social worker. The fifth time's the charm for her, as she actually tried out for Survivor four times before. Danielle, 24, a sales rep, is from Boston, and believes she'll have to bite her tongue while on Survivor. Jeff says she's interesting, as in casting she was all personality, but on the island, she never says a word. Misty, 24, is a rocket scientist, and has also been in beauty pageants. Courtney, 31, is a performance artist, wearing dreadlocks, who has performed in the Cirque Du Soleil.
For the filming of the series, the construction crew built an indoor, underground cave. It took them nine weeks to build, and ended up to be a massive project. In the tribal council, there will be 150 fires and 75 candles. The candles are individually controlled to burst out in flames at any minute. Danni Boatwright insists there will be more fire there than at a Kiss concert. To put out the torches will be a skull snuffer. The cave was built with a lot of foam with allows to sound to carry very far, meaning when voting someone out, you will have to whisper very lightly.
All of the challenges on Survivor are always tested thoroughly to be sure to work out any bugs. During the filming of this special they tried out one particular challenge, out on glass-bottomed boats, pitting the production staff against journalists. It's not clear who won, so I'm thinking it must not have been the journalists.
We also find out there that Jeff Probst will be around on Survivor for another two seasons, which most of us already knew. He signed up again when he realized he really did love doing it. Before this he had been doing Rock-n-Roll Jeopardy. Many of the cast of this upcoming season talk about him, many of the girls thinking he's cute. However, Cirie says Jeff can't shake her, as she's from New Jersey!
It looks confusing with the four separate tribes, but it definitely looks promising. And with that interesting mix of people, an astronaut, a lumberjill, a couch potato (from New Jersey!), a karate instructor, a rocket scientist, etc, it's bound to be good.
Looking forward to Survivor? You can email me at LauraBelle@realityshack.com
Interested in American Idol? See my blog at Belle's Blog. And play the Idol Go Home game while you're there to win a trip to the Finale!
For a report on what Wanda Shirk thinks of this year's cast, see her report Wanda's Words of Wisdom
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