‘Survivor: San Juan del Sur’ castaway spotlight: Nadiya Anderson
Today marks the beginning of something we do for every season of “Survivor“: Castaway spotlights! We’ll spend the next several weeks breaking down every castaway, their strengths and weaknesses, and it will all eventually build up to our semi-annual predictions article.
We’re going in alphabetical order here, and with that, we’re beginning with one half of the famed Twinnies from “The Amazing Race”: Nadiya Anderson. One way that we’ve learned already to tell them apart is that Nadiya has dark hair, while Natalie has some blonde in hers.
Name – Nadiya Anderson
Location – Edgewater, New Jersey
Occupation – Crossfit Coach / Project Coordinator of Bridge2Peace
Age – 28
Strengths – We’ve seen a lot of Nadiya, and we know thanks to that she is a fierce competitor. She is fairly athletic, but above that she is just incredibly determined. She will work hard to get a job done at all costs, and she can at times be one of the best motivators out there. In competitions, she’ll be great to have around.
Weaknesses – She and Natalie both ran their mouths a ton on “The Amazing Race,” and in the context of this show especially, that’s not good. There is no escape from you on a tribe, and while we find them supremely entertaining, it may be different for others who have trouble with big personalities. Also, we worry that they may play so hard that they end up making a few obvious strategic mistakes in the process.
Past “Survivor” comparison – It’s almost like you combine the determination of Stephenie LaGrossa with a little bit of Sandra Diaz-Twine’s humor. We have a hard time comparing people we know so well from other shows, but that’s the best we can do.
Prediction – It’s very hard to separate Natalie from Nadiya, since they both seem to have similar philosophies on the game. The only reason we feel like Nadiya may struggle more is that she compared herself on her CBS bio to Sarah and Cliff from last season … and neither one of them proved to be that great a player. Really, their success will depend most on if they are recognized from their past TV work and also their tribemates. We do feel like both will be somewhat underestimated at first, and once they prove themselves in competitions, it’s hard to imagine both being gone before the merge.
You can see more of our “Survivor: San Juan del Sur” cast coverage now over at the link here; also, sign up today to get more on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter.
Photo: CBS