Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers spotlight: Meet Mike Zahalsky, urologist
Does that zeal for Survivor help when it’s raining and cold and miserable in the middle of the night? Probably, but it doesn’t quite help you to win the game.
Age – 43. He comments in his video below about being one of the oldest to play this season.
Location – Parkland, Florida. It’s close to Boca Raton, and given the heat and the humidity of South Florida he’s probably more familiar to the conditions of Fiji than some other players.
Bio – He’s very successful in his field as a urologist specializing in sexual dysfunction, which is why he’s a part of the Healers tribe. He’s married and has three children, and pretty much all of them are diehard fans of the show. His second child is named after Ethan Zohn, and it was probably the moment after he said this that producers decided to cast him on the show. (He also apparently used to live close to Ethan in New York.)
Past Survivor comparison – Alas, it’s not Ethan, and it’s not Boston Rob even if Mike wants to make that comparison. He’s got some of the neuroses of a David Wright combined with the status and success of a David Samson. This is not a guy who can go on the show and act as though he’s unsuccessful in life.
Strengths – He’s familiar enough with the game to know the wide array of things he should be doing at all times, including when and where to look for immunity idols and how to become an asset to the tribe. He’s probably not going to be a huge physical competitor, but he should be okay enough to not be a liability and not so good that he becomes an asset after the merge.
Weaknesses – Meanwhile, Mike may be too much of a leader for his own good. David’s big problem in the early going is that he was made into a de-facto leader and was an easy target as a result of that. We could easily see him falling into the same trap, since we’re not sure his neuroses is enough to be endearing as it was David Wright.
Also, Mike’s got a job that dictates that he’ll have a harder time at the end of the game convincing people to give him the money.
Pre-show prediction – We like it when successful people go on the show since it exhibits a real love for the game. It’s nice to see someone with Mike’s skill set on there, but we just don’t see it working all that well for him since he’ll be an easy target. It’s easy to take out intellectual guys in his age range; plus, it’s hard to fathom a situation coming up where he manages to get to the end of the game and win.
How well do you think that Mike Zahalsky is going to do on Survivor: Heroes vs. Healers vs. Hustlers? Let us know in the comments below!
Also, click here to see some of our other CarterMatt spotlights on this season. You can get more between now and the start of the season by also visiting our Facebook. (Photo: CBS.)