The cast for next month’s “Survivor: One World” was announced Wednesday, looking more like the buff young cast of “Big Brother.”
In a season that will emphasize the how men and women get along (and minus Redemption Island), it’s mostly big chiseled guys and bikinied women but at least without the returning players who have dominated the past few seasons.
There are a couple of older people involved, one little person, a former NFL wife, two people with a nickname derived from Tarzan, and a gay Republican.
The game twist for “Survivor: One World” is that the men will play the women in challenges, but other than that, there will be no tribal separation between them. Left to their own devices on the same beach, they can make separate camps, make one big one or sneak overnighters.
The rules for hidden immunity idols have changed as well; when one finds one, he or she has to give it to a member of the other tribe, forcing some intertribal strategy along the way.
Also, host Jeff Probst, stung by criticism from Cochran last year that he only wore blue shirts, has adjusted his wardrobe so that he wears blue T-shirts.
Here are the players named:
- Jay Byars, 25, a model from Gaffney, S.C.
- Colton Cumbie, 21, a college student from Monroeville, Ala.
- Michael Jefferson, 33, a banker from Seattle
- Leif Manson, 27, a phlebotomist from San Diego
- Jonas Otsuji, 37, a sushi chef from Lehi, Utah
- Bill Posley, 28, a stand-up comedian from Venice, Calif.
- Matt Quinlan, 33, a lawyer from San Francisco
- Troy Robertson, 50, a swimsuit photographer from Miami
- Greg Smith, 64, a plastic surgeon from Houston
- Nina Acosta, 51, a retired Los Angeles police officer who lives in Clovis, Calif.
- Christina Cha, 29, a career consultant from Los Angeles
- Monica Culpepper, 41, who lives in Tampa, Fla., and is the wife of a former NFL player
- Kay Edorsson, 22, a timeshare salesperson from Orlando, Fla.
- Chelsea Meissner, 26, a medical sales rep from Charleston, S.C.
- Kourtney Moon, 29, a motorcycle repair technician from Austin, Texas
- Alicia Rosa, 25, a special education teacher from Chicago
- Kim Spradlin, 29, a bridal shop owner from San Antonio, Texas
- Sabrina Thompson, 33, a high school teacher from Brooklyn, N.Y.
“Survivor: One World” begins Feb. 15 on CBS.