On Friday, CBS introduced the cast of Survivor: Fiji on The Early Show. The new season is set to premiere on Thursday, February 8.
Reality Dish will post individual photos later, but for now, here’s a shot of all the competitors:
And here’s some information about the cast:
Alex Angarita, 28, Los Angeles, CA (originally from Columbia), attorney.
Kenward “Boo” Bernis, 34, Lafayette, LA, construction worker.
Yau-Man Chan, 54, Martinez, CA (orginally from Hong Kong), computer engineer.
Earl Cole, 35, Santa Monica, CA (orginally from Kansas City), ad executive.
Jessica deBen, 27, Los Angeles, CA (orginally from New Orleans), fashion stylist.
Erica Durousseau, 27, Lake Charles, LA, fundraiser.
Cassandra Franklin, 42, Los Angeles, CA, civil engineer manager.
Liliana Gomez, 25, Oxnard, CA, loan officer, former Marine.
Andria “Dre” Herd, 25, Wilmington, NC, cheerleading coach.
Stacy Kimball, 27, Boulder, CO, internet producer.
Sylvia Kwan, 54, Ross, CA (originally from Hong Kong), architect.
Mookie Lee, 25, Wheeling, IL (originally from South Korea), loan manager
Lisette “Lisi” Linares, 36, Los Angeles, CA (originally from Miami), customer service rep.
James Reid, 28, Los Angeles, CA (originally from Boston), bartender.
Edgardo Rivera, 28, Miami Beach, FL (originally from Puerto Rico), advertising executive..
Anthony Robinson, 32, Compton, CA, expert witness locator.
Gary Stritesky, 55, Ramsey, MN, school bus driver.
Rita Verreos, 38, San Antonio, TX (originally from Venezuela), single mother.
Michelle Yi, 23, Cincinnati, OH, college student.
Quick thoughts:
– About one third of the competitors were born outside of the U.S.
– The producers have once again given us an ethnically diverse cast, although if you’re looking for South Asians, you’re SOL. Again.
– We can’t have a reality show without having L.A. represented, can we? Sure enough we’ve got eight castaways from the Los Angeles area.
– SHOCKINGLY, the two HK transplants are in the San Francisco area. I swear, you’d think that HK nationals (and technically, I’m one) only emigrate to four places in North America.
If you’re counting, that’s nineteen competitors (10 men, 9 women). So obviously, there’s going to be a twist right off the mark. Could it be a former castaway inserted in as competitor #20? Could someone be voted out right off the mark? Or will it be something convoluted like picking two tribes of 9 with the odd person out going to Exile Island and joining a tribe after the first Tribal Council a la Bruce in Panama? We’ll have to wait until February 8 to find out!
