It’s starting back up, everyone. CBS has announced which 18 contestants will be competing on season 24, called Survivor: One World. Every season when they arrive at their camp and start the game, first impressions are everything. They don’t know each other yet, so all they have to go by is what they see in front of them and the first words out of everyone’s mouths.
Our opinions of these castaways may change over the course of the season as we see how they play the game. But for the castaways themselves, first impressions are critical at the start because it may determine the early alliances and who is voted out first. So here are my First Impression Awards for Survivor: One World.
Most Likely to Beat the Boys: Nina Acosta
Based on her answers to the questionnaire on the Survivor website, Nina’s going to be one to look out for. She’s tough, will work hard around camp and in challenges, and may prove useful in an alliance. She hates whining and being called a girl. I have a feeling she’s going to get pissed off when all the young women decide to just lie around, sunbathe and flirt with the guys. Since she is 51, I wonder if she’s going to withhold the fact that she’s a retired LAPD officer and also tried out for the SWAT team two times. The others may see her as old, but then she’ll show everyone by dominating in challenges.
Most Likely to Ride the Coattails of Others: Monica Culpepper
In the contestant introduction video, Monica said that wisdom is experience, and that being the wife of an NFL athlete equals wisdom. Umm…what? Being the “sidekick” on the arms of an athlete doesn’t mean you have wisdom. Then you read her bio and most of what she mentions is about her husband and what he has done. No, I want to know about you. Based on first impressions, it looks to me as if she used her husband’s career to get on Survivor. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t be surprised if she uses the same tactics (riding other people’s coattails) to further herself in the game.
Most Cocky / Most Likely to Choose Himself as Leader: Michael Jefferson
I decided to bestow two awards onto Michael, though it may be that one leads into the other depending on how he starts out the game. He says that he’s going to bring surprises this game has never seen before. Really? What kind of surprises could you really bring to this game that haven’t already been done before by the likes of Russell Hantz, Boston Rob or any of the many others?
He keeps bringing up that fact that he’s a leader, or rather, a natural leader. Here are a few of the things he wrote in his bio: “[I] know when to keep my mouth shut. People always listen to my opinions … with all the back-stabbing that goes on with Survivor, I don’t see it happening to me. … can usually get what I want … will gladly step aside to take the spotlight off of me. … I am unstoppable!” Something tells me he’ll be proven wrong on many of these counts. I bet people will not want to listen to him, he will be back-stabbed and he won’t get what he wants at times.
Most Likely to Prove Everyone Wrong (& Future Fan Favorite): Leif Manson
When the castaways get their first impressions of everyone just by looking at them, I’m sure there are going to be at least a few who will say that because Leif is a little person, he won’t make it very far, that they will get farther in the game than he will. I, and I’m sure many others out there, am hoping that he can prove everyone wrong and go far in the game, if not win. Unless he becomes a villain to the point where it’s hard to root for him anymore, I’m betting he will win the Fan Favorite award during the Reunion show. Plus, I love that, in the intro video and in his bio, he never once mentions his size. It shows that he’s trying not to leverage that as a way to win; he wants to win based on merit.
The Coach Award (Most Likely to be Coach 2.0): Troy Robertson & Greg Smith
It’s a tie! The Coach Award goes to someone who I think seems a little out there along the same lines as Coach was. And both Troy and Greg seem to fit that bill. Troy raises and studies monkeys, lives in the jungle and considers himself a jungle boy. Plus, his nickname is Troyzan. People that know Greg know him as Tarzan, and he considers Tarzan an inspiration in life. Two people in the same season that mention Tarzan in their introductions? Sounds like Coach 2.0 to me. They could either turn out to be people we love to watch every week, or people who nobody wants around anymore.
Most Likely to Annoy Others: Kimberly Spradlin
She says she is quirky and weird. Plus, she likes to tell people what animal they would be. I could see her being the one that we the viewers end up loving because she is quirky and weird. We might laugh at everything she says. But that may also mean she ends up getting on everyone’s nerves around camp. If she starts out on that wrong footing in the first few days, her tribe may easily vote her out if they lose the immunity challenge.
What First Impression Awards would you hand out to the new castaways?
Survivor: One World premieres February 15 at 8pm on CBS.
(Image courtesy of CBS)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
Jeff Dodge, a graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena.
