‘Survivor: Kaoh Rong’ cast officially revealed; impressions on Scot Pollard, ‘Big Brother’s’ Caleb Reynolds, more
Today “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” has finally made their full season 32 cast official, and most of the rumors (plus the obvious video footage) have turned out to pay dividends for identifying several members of the cast. It’s interesting, though: In looking at this group there are many people who are just as interesting as the people whose names have been floating around on the internet for some time.
We’re going to preview the new season in waves. Today, we’re just giving you a couple of photos and also first impressions based solely on the pictures, jobs, and ages of many of the castaways. Over the coming days until the show premieres on February 17, we’ll start up a spotlight series highlighting how we think each person is going to end up faring in the game. Here are a few other things to remember here.
1. Early indications are that this season may turn into an episode of “ER” based on how many injuries there are.
2. There will be some new twists, including a way for two regular immunity idols to be turned into a super-idol when played together. It’s at least a way to make this Yul / Tony idol a little bit more challenging to implement.
3. Once again, we are black to Brains, Brawn, and Beauty.
Ready to dive in? Here we go…
The Brains a.k.a. Chan Loh
Peter Baggenstos – 34-year old ER doctor from Minneapolis. Hopefully, CBS gives him a job halfway through the season based on all the injuries.
Aubry Braco – 29-year old social media marketer from Cambridge, Massachusetts. It’s a good thing the network lets Survivors tweet now…
Joseph Del Campo – 72-year old former FBI agent from Vero Beach, Florida. Why can he tell us what agency he works for and The Specialist couldn’t? Anyway (and perhaps more importantly), Joseph may be the oldest contestant we’ve seen on the show since Rudy in “All-Stars.” The guy is ripped, but we’re interested to see how he fares.
Neal Gottlieb – 37-year old co-owner of Three Twins Ice cream from Sausalito, California. For those who are wondering, this town is across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.
Elisabeth Markham – 27-year old quantitative strategist (we have no idea what that means) from Brooklyn, New York. Hey, the last person on the show to spell her name like that went pretty far.
Debbie Wanner – 49-year old chemist from Reading, Pennsylvania. Cool job. Have no clue if it will help out there.
The Brawn a.k.a. To Tang
Cydney Gillon – 23-year old bodybuilder from Douglas, Georgia. In theory she’d be an athletic force in the challenges, but can she handle such a dramatic change in diet? This is so far from what bodybuilders have to do to stay in shape.
Darnell Hamilton – 27-year old postal worker from Chicago. We have no clue how this makes him a brawn; maybe he played sports growing up.
Alecia Holden – 24-year old real estate agent from Dallas. Virtually the same issue here.
Kyle Jason – 31-year old bounty hunter from Detroit. Kyle’s facial hair is somewhat terrifying; his job is even more so.
Jennifer Lanzetti – 38-year old contractor from Salt Lake City. This is the sort of profession we’d want on our tribe; she’ll work hard and probably be useful in setting up camp.
Scot Pollard – 40-year old former NBA star from Carmel, Indiana. He’ll probably be recognized. What we’re more interested in is if a well-known athlete can actually go far in this game. Jeff Kent’s the best success story so far.
The Beauty a.k.a. Gondol
Michele Fitzgerald – 24-year old bartender from Freehold, New Jersey. Typical “Survivor” casting archetype.
Anna Khait – 26-year old pro poker player from Brooklyn. We don’t think she is well-known to this world as Vanessa Rousso was on “Big Brother”; hopefully she does better than Garrett and Jean-Robert did on their seasons.
Nick Maiorano – 30-year old personal trainer from the Los Angeles area. Full disclosure: We’re already a fan of Nick’s, as he was a contributor to Rob Has a Website ironically for the first Brains, Brawn, and Beauty season.
Caleb Reynolds a.k.a. Beast Mode Cowboy – 28-year old former “Big Brother” player from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. He may do well with the survival component on this show, but his biggest weakness in the “Big Brother” game was that he was oblivious to most of the strategy.
Julia Sokolowski – 19-year old Student from Boston. Is it too early to call her in the final three for being a complete non-threat?
Tai Trang – 51-year old gardener from San Francisco, and possibly the most entertaining person out there based solely on appearance and what we saw in the preview.
You’ll be able to get the rest of our “Survivor” coverage over at this link, so be on the lookout! Also, sign up over here to score some additional TV news on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)