Survivor: Redemption Island

[Melanie]

Official bios are up at cbs.com.

So yeah, 'redemption' has double meaning here. Bolded is the part I had read a while back and am not thrilled about. If you want to know who is returning, I've put it in spoiler tags below, and within the article is a paragraph I'm going to place in spoiler tags as well.

Boston Rob and Russell Hantz

It's a given, at least for now, I'm pulling for Mike, a former Marine who is a friend of a friend. Oooh rah!!


CBS reveals 'Survivor: Redemption Island' cast, confirms returnees

CBS has announced the identities of 16 of the 18 the castaways who will be competing on Survivor: Redemption Island and confirmed rumors that the 22nd Survivor edition's cast will also feature two additional returning all-star contestants.

Survivor: Redemption Island -- which CBS formally announced during Survivor: Nicaragua's reunion show last month -- will premiere on Wednesday, February 16 at 8PM ET/PT and feature a new game-changing twist in which castaways who are voted out of the competition will get an opportunity to earn "redemption" and return at a later date.

Instead of being eliminated from the game after being voted off at Tribal Council, a castaway will be taken to Redemption Island, where they will live alone in exile until the next voted-off castaway joins them at the site.

Once a second castaway arrives, the two castaways will then compete in a "duel" challenge and winner will get to continue fighting for "redemption" while the loser will be eliminated from the competition for good. At an undisclosed point, the Redemption Island's exiled castaway will get to return to the main game and resume competing for Survivor: Redemption Island's $1,000,000 prize with the remaining contestants.



While CBS won't formally reveal the identities of Survivor: Redemption Island's two returning castaways until later this week, rumors that Survivor: Redemption Island -- which was filmed back-to-back with Survivor: Nicaragua in Nicaragua during August and September -- would feature a rematch between Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains all-stars Russell Hantz and Rob Mariano have swirled since last summer.

Survivor host Jeff Probst had even publicly voiced his support for the rumored twist at the Television Critics Association press tour in late July.

"Oh, I love that twist. I'm all for that," he told HitFix.

Survivor: Redemption Island will begin with the competition's 18 castaways -- more than half of whom are from California -- evenly divided into two tribes: the Ometepe tribe and the Zapatera tribe. Each tribe will also contain one of the two all-stars.

The eight first-time members of the Ometepe tribe are:

- Andrea Boehlke, a 21-year-old former U.S. Marine from Random Lake, WI

- Matt Elrod, a 22-year-old pre-med student from Nashville, TN

- Francesca Hogi, a 36-year-old attorney from Washington, DC

- Kristina Kell, a 46-year-old law student from Malibu, CA

- Grant Mattos, a 29-year-old yoga instructor from West Hollywood, CA

- Phillip Sheppard, a 52-year-old technology executive from Santa Monica, CA

- Natalie Tenerelli, a 19-year-old professional dancer from Acton, CA

- Ashley Underwood, a 25-year-old nurse and former Miss Maine USA from Benton, ME

The eight first-time members of the Zapatera tribe are:

- Mike Chiesl, a 31-year-old student from Del Mar, CA

- Ralph Kiser, a 44-year-old farmer from Lebanon, VA

- Krista Klumpp, a 25-year-old pharmaceutical representative from Columbia, SC

- David Murphy, a defense attorney from West Hollywood, CA

- Stephanie Valencia, a 25-year-old waitress from Long Beach, CA

- Sarita White, a 36-year-old visual effects producer from Santa Monica, CA

- Julie Wolfe, a 50-year-old firefighter from Oceanside, CA

- Steve Wright, a 51-year-old former NFL player from Huntington, CA

[SBETigg]

I'm a little more excited than I was, though I heard about the spoiler segment and not entirely thrilled with that-- though it could be worse, I guess. I do like it when they add some new twists, so of course I will give it a shot. I haven't missed a season. But I still can't believe I totally wiped the previous Lillian comeback from my mind.

I don't know who I will be cheering for yet. We'll just wait and see who stands out in the first show. One guy looks a lot like last season's winner, Jud/Fabio. They reportedly filmed not far from where they shot the Nicaragua season.

[Ian]

[TheDuckRocks]

A new Survivor, Amazing Race and American Idol. I seriously need to cut back on the number of DVDs I have coming from Netflix.

[MNNHFLTX]

I had heard rumors about the returning contestants and was hoping it was just speculation. Not looking forward to one member of the duo at all.

Otherwise it will be good to have fresh blood (so to speak) playing. One question--I wonder why they didn't mention that Grant Mattos was also a former NFL player? To just list him as a "yogo instructor" seems kind of strange.

[SBETigg]

They've announced the two returning Survivors officially now, so I think we can reveal it here. It's Russell and "Boston" Rob. I've seen more than enough of both of them and I'm really not thrilled to see them again. They're both players of the game, which is good, but Russell isn't the mastermind he thinks he is (unless he has finally learned from past performance) and Rob, nothing against him, but come on already-- again?

We've had several former NFL players, a coach, and some NFL cheerleaders by now. Also ten out of eighteen players are from CA (maybe more, because sometimes they like to list original hometowns instead of current) so it feels like another season straight out of central casting. I suspect that they want to make sure the new twist is introduced in the best possible way, so I would expect it to make a difference in the game outcome. Maybe not. Sometimes they surprise me. And I always watch anyway.

[Ian]

Count me in for another dose of both Russell and Boston Rob! Say what you want ... you may not like them (I happen to like them both, but I recognize that's not an opinion shared by everyone), but they make for great T.V.

It will be really interesting, because on Heroes vs. Villains I kept thinking that if the two of them had teamed up they could have gone all the way. Instead they ended up at odds with one another and it really ended up hurting both of them.

Will they learn from that this time or will ego get the best of them and it will happen all over again? Also, I think they both have a huge advantage being experienced players as compared to being in with a bunch of newbies.

[Melanie]

It's Russell and "Boston" Rob. I've seen more than enough of both of them and I'm really not thrilled to see them again. They're both players of the game, which is good, but Russell isn't the mastermind he thinks he is (unless he has finally learned from past performance) and Rob, nothing against him, but come on already-- again?

It's a TIRED concept. Enough already!

[Carol]

Love watching Rob play. He is such a good strategist to this game. For me that makes you stand out.

BUT --What do I know? I liked watching the original schemer, Richard Hatch, play.

[magicofdisney]

I like the idea of redemption island. I've wondered about that concept in the past (something similar happened on a reality showed called Kangaroo Jack). Anyway, they need to freshen up the show and I think this is a great way to do it.

Whether I like the returnees or not, I do appreciate new players. For me, it looses its genuine-ness when players are constantly returning.

[laprana]

Yay! Can't wait for Survivor to start again! No matter what, it has to be better than last season...can't be much worse, can it?

I agree with Ian, I think having Russell and Rob back will make for good TV. I don't particularly like Russell, but I'm interested to see if they team up this time or butt heads again like they did last time.

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I've never been a huge fan of the "reunion" type seasons, especially in Survivor. The core principle of Survivor is supposed to be 16 (now 20) individuals with NO pre-existing relationships struggling for 39 days, living together, voting each other off, until one becomes the ultimate sole survivor.

Introducing the dimension where people already know each other and worse, come into the game with already formed opinions of a player, to me really ruins the game.

Case in point, first all star season, Tina Wesson is the first survivor booted out, why? Soley because she won Survivor Australia and her tribe (particularly the moron Jenna Lewis) said no way she is going to win again. That should never had been a factor.

I was pretty indifferent to Rob in Marquessa (he was a prejury boot) then liked him a lot in all-stars, then started to dislike him (Amber) when they moved to the Amazing Race, then by the time they did their own turd of a show (Rob and Amber, Against the Odds) then came back for a 2nd Race stint, I really couldn't stand him. Surprisingly when he came back for HvV I found myself liking him.

Russel is just a paranoid, egotistical bully who, no matter how man times will play the game, will never win. As past seasons have shown, it really is a social game, and you can't run around for 39 days calling every one a dumba$$ then expect to win.

My biggest fear is that they will give Rob/Russell some type of immunity so they aren't targeted right away. That would ruin it totally for me.

[MNNHFLTX]

Russel is just a paranoid, egotistical bully who, no matter how man times will play the game, will never win.

I agree. I detest Russell, and that's not the "love-to-hate" type of detest. The minute he starts with his "I am the King" speeches on the the new Survivor, I will be fast-forwarding. About the only way he would be entertaining at this point (to me, anyway) is if he were to totally change type and shake things up. But with his arrogance, I can't see him doing this.

Personally I wish Russell and Rob would just move on to the next reality TV show. Can't you just imagine them on Dancing With the Stars? Now that would be more interesting!

[Melanie]

Personally I wish Russell and Rob would just move on to the next reality TV show. Can't you just imagine them on Dancing With the Stars? Now that would be more interesting!

I had hoped that since Rob had been away from TV for awhile having babies and all, that he'd gotten away from it altogether. Wishful thinking.

[MNNHFLTX]

I had hoped that since Rob had been away from TV for awhile having babies and all, that he'd gotten away from it altogether. Wishful thinking.

I know what you mean. I don't mind him as much as Russell, but still--is he going to be a professional reality TV show contestant for the rest of his life?

[The Hitchhiking Ghost]

I know what you mean. I don't mind him as much as Russell, but still--is he going to be a professional reality TV show contestant for the rest of his life?

I've always wondered what happened to Rob's reality show that he was hosting. It was called the Tontine, supposed to have the biggest prize, $10 million. They cast for it and I think maybe they even filmed it?? But as far as I know it's never seen the light of day. I think Rob's involvement was limited to early Probst like years in Survivor, just being the host (no producer responsibilities). It should have aired a couple years ago, but nadda.

[Ian]

I've always wondered what happened to Rob's reality show that he was hosting. It was called the Tontine, supposed to have the biggest prize, $10 million.

I did a little digging and there's very, very little information out there about it.

From what I can tell, there may or may not have been some sort of issue/scandal during filming, it may have never started filming, or some variation in between.

The lack of info, though, leads me to believe it'll never happen.

[SBETigg]

I've always wondered what happened to Rob's reality show that he was hosting. It was called the Tontine, supposed to have the biggest prize, $10 million.

Curious, I also looked it up. The Tontine is also the name of some sort of investment practice that has been banned in many countries because the stakes are high and investors often end up killing each other? Weird. It could be as simple as the show just not taking off or finding a network home or maybe there was some distaste or bad association with the name or the way it went? A lot of shows are filmed and never actually picked up, so maybe it was as simple as that. Though with a show of that nature, it seems a network would have been invested before filming.

I can't really blame Rob for milking the reality show career, though. If they keep paying him, of course he will keep coming back. It's the why they keep paying him that boggles my mind, but apparently he does have his fans.

[Melanie]

New commercial with giant Rob and Russell looming over Jeff. "This island isn't big enough for the both of us."

Watch me end up loving it!

[MNNHFLTX]

New commercial with giant Rob and Russell looming over Jeff. "This island isn't big enough for the both of us."

Watch me end up loving it!

Lol!! We'll see, Mel!