The cast for the 22nd cycle of the hit CBS reality series “Survivor” was announced on Monday and, to the surprise of some, was void of poker players. A thread on TwoPlusTwo before the announcement claimed that a poker player could be part of the upcoming season’s installment, but the rumors turned out to be without substance.
A total of 18 castaways will take part in the 22nd season of “Survivor,” dubbed “Redemption Island.” Nicaragua will once again serve as the backdrop for the upcoming cycle, which debuts on CBS on February 16th. One former castaway will join each of the two tribes, Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz.
The show marks Mariano’s fourth foray into “Survivor,” having already participated on “Survivor: Marquesas,” “Survivor: All-Stars,” and “Survivor: Heroes vs Villains.” For Hantz, 38, “Redemption Island” will be his third stint on the reality series. Hantz was part of both the “Survivor: Samoa” and “Survivor: Heroes vs Villains” casts, where he finished in the top three both times.
Two former National Football League (NFL) players will compete in the reality competition, Grant Mattos and Steve Wright. Mattos played with the San Diego Chargers from 2003 to 2004 and then signed on with the Denver Broncos in 2005. He was last seen in the NFL five years ago as a member of the Tennessee Titans and was a wide receiver at the University of Southern California.
Wright went to school at the University of Northern Iowa and was a member of the Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Colts, Indianapolis Colts, and Los Angeles Raiders. The 51 year old former offensive tackle is series’ the oldest castaway, while 19 year old Natalie Tenerelli is the group’s youngest member.
The “Redemption Island” twist is a new addition to the show. Text found in an MSNBC article details what you can expect to see this season: “Instead of immediately leaving the game, a voted-off castaway is sent to the isolated Redemption Island, living alone in exile until joined by the next person eliminated at Tribal Council. The two compete in a duel, with the loser of the showdown going home, while the winner continues on for a chance to return to the game and vie for the title of Sole Survivor.” When the last castaway standing on Redemption Island returns to the game remains to be seen.
Last May, a TwoPlusTwo poster named “HeyIzDro” wrote that “Survivor” producers had contacted him looking for a high-stakes poker pro to compete. However, he didn’t want to enter and pitched Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Shaun Deeb, and Tony “Bond18” Dunst to “Survivor” staff members. When the cast list for “Survivor: Nicaragua” (the 21st season of the show) was released and didn’t contain a poker player, speculation fueled that the industry could instead be represented on “Redemption Island,” which was shot back-to-back with Nicaragua.
According to Wikipedia, “Survivor: Redemption Island” was filmed in August and September. The online poker community gabbed en masse as to who could be representing it, throwing out names like Johnny Chan, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, and Eli Elezra. The poker community also rooted for former UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth to join the fray. One poster wrote, “I want to see Hellmuth suffering on an island. It would just be so sick when someone who couldn’t even spell ‘survivor’ outplays him.” Hellmuth is a rumored contestant on the upcoming cycle of the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.”
Bellande was a member of the “Survivor: China” cast in 2007 and was the eighth player voted out. Bellande, a self-proclaimed “bad boy” on the show, lasted 24 days and was the second member of the “Survivor” jury. In his final episode, he received five of the nine votes cast.
