Meet the cast of Survivor (Picture: PA)
Survivor will challenge 18 people to compete in some of the toughest physical and psychological challenges to become victorious.
As well as testing their brains and strength, they’ll also have to outwit each other and dabble in betrayal in order to become the lone survivor and walk away with £100,000.
The contestants are flown out from the UK to a tropical location, where they are split into two tribes. Eventually, they will merge after people are are voted out of their tribes at the tribal council.
They will find themselves going head-to-head, as there can only be one winner!
The format originally came to the UK in 2001 and ran for two series, and now, over two decades later it is being rebooted for our viewing pleasure.
Sitting on the sidelines will be Joel Dommett, who will be hosting the BBC series, which was filmed in the Dominican Republic.
Let’s meet the Survivor contestants…
Ashleigh
Ashleigh wants to test her limits (Picture: PA)
Age: 34
From: London
Occupation: Brand strategist
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I love every opportunity to live life to the fullest and to challenge and push myself. Whether it’s in work e.g. starting my own business, in fitness with my boxing or in life and taking on skydiving, I have always wanted to test my limits.
‘I suffer from imposter syndrome and struggle to believe in myself, so this is why I push myself, to try and find my limits. What better test to understand what I’m really capable of than the ultimate challenge – Survivor!’
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part?
‘I have coeliac disease and I actually had a gluten flare-up three weeks before the show started which massively impacted my training. I usually run three times a week and weight train or box twice a week, but I had to cut right back during my coeliac recovery so I was not at my peak fitness when I started.
‘I did try and eat lots to make sure I was ready for the calorie deficit though – thank god for gluten-free pizza!’
Christopher
Christopher is extremely competitive (Picture: PA)
Age: 36
From: Bridgend
Occupation: Singer/songwriter
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I wanted to be a contestant on Survivor because I wanted to take myself out of my comfort zone and face my fears. I wanted to undertake the hardest challenges, on land, in the air or in the sea. I want to prove to myself that I have got what it takes, that I can achieve anything.
‘The idea of having nothing but the clothes on my back seemed a million miles away from what I do in real life. Having all luxuries taken away and food restricted whilst having to undertake the toughest game show on earth just excited me. I thought it’s the best way to push myself, to learn how to survive and do challenges as I’m extremely competitive.
‘I am at the stage in my life where I am more confident and determined to do something which I feel I can do well with the determination and competitive spirit to outwit, outplay, and outlast.’
How competitive are you?
‘I am extremely competitive, I will just keep going even when I feel like I can’t give anymore. I will do whatever it takes to outlast the biggest strongest contender. I am one not to be messed with, I play to win!’
Doug
Doug watched the original UK series of Survivor (Picture: PA)
Age: 32
From: Isle of Mull
Occupation: Flood risk consultant
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘When I was younger I vividly remember watching the original UK Survivor back in 2002. As a family we loved the show, even going as far as re-enacting some of the original challenges.
‘When I saw that it was returning to TV in the UK I wasted no time in putting my application in. Next thing I know – I’m on a desert island building a shelter from bamboo! I came on Survivor to make my family back home on Mull proud, and have the adventure of a lifetime.’
Did you have a strategy of how you were going to play the game?
‘My strategy coming into the game comprised of 2 key elements; firstly establish myself as an indispensable member of the tribe during the early phase of the game by performing well at Challenges and working hard around the camp.
‘Then secondly was to find myself a “shield” player, or failing that, to create one. Someone ideally who would take a real leadership role within the tribe and more importantly, is regarded as a bigger target than myself. I’ll sit right behind them as long as I can!’
Hannah
Hannah is a semi-professional footballer (Picture: PA)
Age: 30
From: London
Occupation: Semi-professional footballer
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘Survivor really became my go-to TV show to watch during lockdown. I got totally hooked, binge-watching season after season and the more I watched, the more I thought: “I’d absolutely love to be on that show!”‘
How competitive are you?
‘I’m incredibly competitive and football has been a huge part of fuelling that fire. Competing at a semi-pro level has given me a taste for competition and the drive to succeed. I brought that same spirit to Survivor, ready to battle it out in every challenge.’
Jess
Jess describes one element of the show as her ‘literal worst nightmare’ (Picture: PA)
Age: 38
From: London
Occupation: Fitting model
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘It’s the ultimate challenge of a lifetime and I fancied doing something wild as I approach 40. I also thought the 100K might come in handy!’
How did you cope with living on a beach with no home comforts?
‘Everything about it was my literal worst nightmare, I was so out of my comfort zone but I did it.’
Laurence
Laurence runs a health-tech start-up (Picture: PA)
Age: 29
From: London, born in Vienna, and raised in Costa Rica
Occupation: Entrepreneur/Cambridge Student – MPhil in Artificial Intelligence Ethics
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘Coming across Survivor and getting chosen to be one of the contestants was an enormous coincidence as I run a health-tech start-up selling anti-hangover capsules with the same name as the show!
‘The show hit the spot as I felt I’d become too comfortable in life and I’ve come to depend on all sorts of unnecessary creature comforts. It was time to shake things up a bit and prove to myself that I could live on bare necessities, in order to appreciate the luxuries of life.
‘I wanted to see whether my character would remain the same when put to the test, or whether I would crack under pressure like most other fellow soft millennials.
‘I also celebrate absurdity – and instead of doing the rational thing and working in some dull accountancy firm towards buying an overpriced house and a boring retirement, I would much rather do something absurd like this. I crave new experiences.
‘As George Mallory said, on why he wanted to climb Everest: “Because it is there.” And finally, I thought I could at least make a big enough fool of myself on national television to amuse myself for the next few years.’
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part?
‘I bought a flint and proceeded to practice setting fire to the kitchen, much to my family’s horror. I asked a friend to join me at a Thai restaurant famous for serving bugs and forced myself to eat every creepy crawly in sight. I went all-out on sports – convincing a terrifying Austrian Schwarzenegger-lookalike to be my coach. He nailed it by brutalising me daily with cruel and unusual forms of exercise. On top of this, I did a fair amount of rock climbing, allowed my father to thrash me thrice at squash, a lot of long-distance running, and some strange balancing acts in the garden.
‘I had not watched a single full episode of Survivor, so I set about absorbing Survivor highlights and strategy reels on YouTube, and reading forums and Quora articles chock-full of advice, with questionable results. I did, however, absorb various books on survival skills, and very geographically specific books on flora and fauna.’
Lee
Lee is a professional boxer (Picture: PA)
Age: 28
From: Belfast (originally Limerick)
Occupation: Professional boxer
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I thought it was a great opportunity to test myself and let the world see me for who I really am. Survivor shows people at their most vulnerable selves and I was excited for the Irish and British public to see me as my true authentic self.’
Did you have a strategy of how you were going to play the game?
‘My plan was to just to be myself and perform well in challenges, I felt like that’s where my strengths would lie. In terms of a proper strategy, I came in blind as I haven’t seen the show before – I’m an idiot!’
Leilani
Leilani left the series feeling like a ‘much more powerful woman’ (Picture: PA)
Age: 45
From: Hertford
Occupation: Barista/yoga studio cleaner
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘Tongue-in-cheek humour, general immaturity and ignorant bliss mixed with lots of love, cuddles and unity.’
What did you learn from being on the show or what is the biggest takeaway?
‘I learnt just how resilient and adaptable I am. My mental strength is super strong to be able to bear the pain of leaving my child at home during filming. I left Survivor a much more powerful woman.’
Matthew
Matthew wanted the ‘ultimate challenge’ (Picture: PA)
Age: 21
From: Cumbria
Occupation: Hospitality
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I wanted to be a contestant on Survivor because I knew this was the ultimate challenge! An amazing chance to really get stuck in and see what I’m made of. I turned 21 a few months ago and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my summer, I’m so thankful for the opportunity.
‘I really wanted to push myself to the limits and I genuinely mean that – this is a dream. I was looking forward to playing the game of Survivor because there’s so much to think about, it tests you physically and mentally and I was ready for both challenges!’
How did you cope with living on a beach with no home comforts?
‘I just embraced the dirt and the conditions and I wasn’t scared to get my hands dirty, I just wanted to get stuck in! I realised that in everyday life I take all my home comforts for granted but the fact I have a comfy bed to sleep on and food in the fridge is such a privilege. But on the beach not having these home comforts brought everyone in the tribe together because all we had is each other and we were all living in the moment.
‘One of the home comforts I missed most was definitely a cup of tea… I drink so much of it at home, it was a big shock to my system!’
Nathan
Nathan needed no convincing (Picture: PA)
Age: 35
From: Manchester (originally London)
Occupation: Fitness instructor/operations manager
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I very much believe in the concept of Kaizen – a Japanese term for continuous improvement – and I try to apply this concept to every part of my life. When I reflect on when I’ve grown the most, it has always been on the back of significantly challenging times, adversity, or hardship. So, when the opportunity to be a part of one of the most challenging experiences someone can face, I needed no convincing.’
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part?
‘Mentally, it was a case of daily positive affirmations, reminding myself that if I’m able to get through the things I have got through so far in life, that I will be able to get through anything the game would be able to throw at me.
‘On the physical side, prior to confirmation of my involvement in the show, I already had a fairly intensive training programme, however, I introduced more cardio and calisthenic exercises into my training and undertook swimming lessons.’
Pegleg
Pegleg is employing his Gen X attitude (Picture: PA)
Age: 54
From: St Agnes
Occupation: Surf school owner
What qualities did you think you’d bring to the game?
‘Life experience as a 54yr old, a Gen X attitude for just getting on with it and not whining and moaning about the hardship of it all.’
Did you have a strategy of how you were going to play the game?
‘To try and be Mr middle-of-the-road; I didn’t want to be seen as a threat but also didn’t want to be a weak link in the chain who wasn’t worth keeping around. As an older one-legged guy I had to prove I could hold my own.’
Rachel
Rachel wanted to teach her children an important lesson (Picture: PA)
Age: 40
From: Whitstable
Occupation: Insurance claims handler
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I have always been an adventurous, strong, outdoorsy, sporty person who loves a challenge and my mum knew I had wanted to take part in a show like this for years so when she saw an advert for contestants online she tagged me in it. My motivation was that I wanted my children to know that not having a dad around does not mean that one parent isn’t enough and to show them that anything can be achieved if you put your mind to it.’
What did you learn from being on the show?
‘That I am capable of anything and my gut instinct is always right. Also, I need to stop putting everyone else’s needs before my own! I have met some amazing people and cannot wait to try new adventures with them.’
Rach
Rach had never heard of Survivor until the start of this year (Picture: PA)
Age: 23
From: Glasgow
Occupation: Personal trainer
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I had actually never heard of Survivor until the start of this year when I watched the Australian series and immediately knew that this would be something that I would enjoy.
‘My boyfriend and I binge-watched every single series and I fell in love with the show. I love challenges and adrenaline rushes so taking part in Survivor was a perfect match for me.’
What did you learn from being on the show?
‘I learned from the show that I really am capable of anything. If someone had told me at the start of the year: ‘you will live on a beach in the Caribbean this summer’, I would have laughed in their face.
‘Being so young and giving up everything in my life to take part in Survivor was huge for me and I was so grateful to have been given the opportunity. It also encouraged me to visit my family a lot more than what I did, I think being away for such a long time made me realise how much I missed them.’
Ren
Ren is obsessed with Survivor (Picture: PA)
Age: 28
From: London
Occupation: Network Data Scientist
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘Survivor has been my all-time favourite show since I found it when I was 14, obsessed is an understatement. It combines so many things I love into this intense and awesome package where you get to do stuff you don’t get to regularly as an adult.
‘I also just love the mental and social aspects of the game – it’s not about playing the game you want to play, it’s about playing the game the jury wants to see you play.’
What kind of challenges were you most looking forward to?
‘I was really excited for the Survivor classic – an epic obstacle course where you have to use each other to get through different elements, ending in a solid equalizer puzzle, which I’d reluctantly volunteered to do, and then dominate, duh.’
Richard
Richard got used to the hunger (Picture: PA)
Age: 36
From: Dalkeith
Occupation: Pensions manager/RAF reservist
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I am always looking for a new challenge and this gave me the opportunity to challenge myself physically and mentally.’
How did you cope with the hunger?
‘It was a struggle early on but then you get used to it.’
Sabrina
Sabrina has been doing ultramarathons in preparation (Picture: PA)
Age: 45
From: Stroud
Occupation: Ultramarathon runner/charity founder/author
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘It hit me at the right time! If you were told on a cold UK winter’s night about a show that was highly likely to be filmed on a tropical island, involved physical and mental challenges, and meant you couldn’t be contacted for the whole time you were there – wouldn’t you be interested?’
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part?
‘In the months before I ran two multi-stage 300K off-road trail ultramarathons. One of them being in the remote Scottish highlands. I camped out. I ate rations. I gladly put myself in a deep dark hole physically and mentally.’
Shai
Shai is a Survivor super fan (Picture: PA)
Age: 33
From: London
Occupation: Finance risk manager
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘Being a super fan! I remember watching the show as an 11 year old in Sri Lanka where I grew up till the age of 17 and have watched most previous seasons across the 23 year period. When the opportunity arose, I jumped at it! Who wouldn’t want to be stranded on a random island with nothing but basic rations against a bunch of random strangers, competing in the best game ever!’
Did you have a strategy of how you were going to play the game?
My strategy before going into the game was to lay low at the beginning, not drawing any attention to myself and then try and seize control in the mid game. Which it turns out is much easier said than done!
Tinuke
Tinuke has been doing her homework (Picture: PA)
Age: 30
From: London
Occupation: Professional roller skater/adventurer
What made you want to be a contestant on Survivor?
‘I have always loved the show alongside all other survival shows since I was a kid. I was so excited when I saw it was coming to the UK. I want to go on the show for my late parents and to prove to myself that I am so much stronger than I thought I was.
‘This is a complete game-changer for me, I am ready to change my life and fill it with adventure and challenge and this is the first stepping stone to get me there. I am ready to leave behind the troubles and grief of my past and prove that anyone can turn around any dark experience.
‘You always have more in the tank than you think you do, and I am ready to show that! I want to be a massive inspiration for anyone who has also experienced deep loss and sadness.’
How did you prepare yourself mentally and physically for taking part?
‘To prepare I have watched every season of Survivor and I read FBI interrogation persuasion techniques and body language books to give me the upper-hand.
‘I also lived in the woods for four days learning all the basic bushcraft and survival skills which was wild. From my real life I already had a lot of general resilience and life skills to get me through the show.’
Survivor UK will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this Autumn.
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The cast competed for £100,000 and bragging rights.
