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puddin:
Jeff Probst Promises a Season of Compelling Survivor Fiji Castaways  2/1/07

With a new reality show popping up every week or so, how does one last for fourteen seasons while 10 are gone and forgotten in one season - or sometimes less?  If you think about the shows you Tivo and the ones you watch if it happens to be convenient, where are the differences?  For one thing, to hold an audience a show must have compelling characters.  Viewers need to really care about what these people say and do, and what happens to them as a result.  They don’t even have to be likeable; they just have to hold your interest.

In a recent media teleconference, host Jeff Probst revealed that in a world awash with reality shows, it’s getting harder to find that unique individual who will keep viewers tuning in week after week.  So rather than sit back and sift through the applications that come in, Survivor now goes out and actively seeks the kind of contestants that make for great TV.  In selecting the final cast, group dynamics are also considered.  It’s hard work, but it pays off in entertainment value and ratings.  Probst promised a compelling cast of castaways for the fourteenth installment of Survivor.

http://www.celebrityspider.com/news/february07/article020107-11.html
Take Andria ‘Dreams’ Herd, who grew up literally on the streets of Wilmington , North Carolina .  Sleeping in dumpsters, eating in soup kitchens on good days and scrounging on bad, he and his brothers took care of one another, honed their gymnastic abilities and eventually earned a living as street performers.  Dreams uses these skills today to coach cheerleading and is training to be a boxer.

Yau Man grew up in the same area of Borneo in which the first season of Survivor was filmed.  He was completely at home in Fiji ; many of the ‘survival skills’ were a part of his everyday life as a child.  In a season with a preponderance of strong young guys, Probst says that that “frail looking” 54 year-old really holds his own, and that viewers will come to “adore” him.

Rita Verreos is a very attractive single mom from Texas , who becomes the nurturer of the group.  A former Miss Venezuela contestant, runway model and actress, she is unabashedly proud of her beauty and hopes to be able to use her looks to further herself in the game.

Probst really enjoyed James ‘Rocky’ Reed, whom he describes as “Stallone, only about 150 pounds lighter.”  He walks and talks like his namesake and shares many of his mannerisms.  Probst describes Reed as “funny, challenging, and sometimes irritating.”

At 23, Michelle Yi is the youngest of the group, but according to Probst she has a “huge impact” on her tribe very early on.  Probst further teases that Yi is “responsible for something that hasn’t happened [on Survivor] since Africa .”  Other castaways might disregard her at first, but Probst describes Yi as “feisty, deceptive, and more of a player than she seems.”

Probst found all three Louisiana contestants to be “nice, respectful, good people.”  Boo is a big athletic guy, but perhaps the most injury prone survivor ever, to the point that it was “almost funny.”  Erica is a “quiet force” in the game, “someone who is not easily swayed, who has her own opinions and will act on them.”  Jessica, the “the quintessential girl next door,” has experienced family tragedy making her life has been a struggle at times.  Jessica wears her father’s shirt on the island as a tribute to his memory.  Probst feels that viewers will root for Jessica as a likeable underdog.

Perhaps the most colorful castaway is someone viewers will never meet.  When questioned about the odd number (19) of initial contestants - a Survivor first - Probst explained that they had originally cast twenty people for the show.  However, as the time drew near for the ‘marooning,’ one woman became increasingly overwhelmed by anxiety, which escalated into a panic attack requiring medical attention.  With only about six hours to go before show time, the producers decided it would be best not to attempt to talk the woman into staying.  No alternates were on hand, as none of the contestants had seemed “iffy,” so the producers went with the odd number, and it “all played out fine.”

The diversity of life experiences this group of castaways brings to the show should make for one of the most fascinating seasons of Survivor we have ever enjoyed.

Kogs:
ok so what hasnt happened since survivor africa?  ???

TPorter2:
The tribe switch when the younger players on Samburu were running things?  The one that sent Silas to Boran and then home?

puddin:
Heres the girl that quit..
Interview Clip With Survivor Fiji Castaway Who Quit Before the Game Began began...
http://cbsmediagroupftp.com/clips06/CBS_Survivor.wmv

puddin:
Survivor Bombshell: Fiji's "Babe" Reveals Why She Bailed!
by Ileane Rudolph

Survivor: Fiji almost-ran Melissa McNulty
 She was going to be one of those Survivor babes. You know, the kind who uses her beauty and her cleavage to help her stick around on the island. Only 28-year-old Melissa McNulty didn't even make it to the first Tribal Council. The night before filming of the CBS series' new season (premiering Thursday at 8 pm/ET) began, the West Hollywood talent manager became the first player to quit. (At least Pearl Island's Osten and Palau's Janu survived a few challenges.) Melissa's exit left the producers with their own challenge: Since there were no alternates on hand, what to do with the odd number of players? "It played out just fine," host Jeff Probst said in a recent press conference. TV Guide spoke to Melissa on the eve of Survivor: Fiji's debut.
TV Guide: Why did you quit when you had already made it so far, out of all the thousands who applied?
Melissa McNulty: Doing Survivor was a huge challenge for me. Everybody who goes on the show has different reasons and goals. Part of mine was that I suffered from panic attacks, and I thought, "What better way to face that challenge?" I was there in Fiji for almost two weeks before I took myself out of the game and came back to Los Angeles.

TV Guide: What triggered your panic attacks? Was it the prospect of being hungry, wet, dirty and full of bug bites?
McNulty: No. I'm a girly-girl, but that doesn't bother me. For 40 days? C'mon. My No. 1 trigger is being in a situation where I can't get out. I get a claustrophobia kind of panic. I had multiple panic attacks in one day, which I've never experienced before. I tried to pull myself together, but....

TV Guide: When you were auditioning, did you tell the producers about your anxiety attacks?
McNulty: Yes. They did ample research to assure that I was in a good mental state. My doctors and I thought I was ready.

TV Guide: What did you do when you knew you couldn't make it?
McNulty: I talked to my point person and said I was getting overwhelming panic attacks. They sent me to the on-site psychologist, and the producers talked to me. They were very accommodating. They wanted me to stay, and it was my decision to decide that I was not in the mental state to participate.

TV Guide: Do you have any complaints about how you were treated? They didn't ask for any monetary reimbursement, did they?
McNulty: No. [Laughs] I have nothing negative to say about the experience. It was wonderful. They got me home very quickly. They didn't make a big deal or make me feel bad.

TV Guide: Can you give us any tips on the players?
McNulty: I never even heard their voices! We weren't allowed to talk to each other before the game. I wasn't there long enough to know what was going on. Not that I'd tell you, if I could. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Will you watch Survivor: Fiji?
McNulty: Sure. I'm so excited, I'm TiVoing it. But I'm kicking myself in the butt. I know I should be on this! I was chosen, I was ready. I know I could have won some challenges. Outwit, outlast, outplay. I had it down, but I didn't last.

TV Guide: Do you feel like a failure?
McNulty: In many people's eyes, they'll think I failed, but in my own eyes, I succeeded. I was really pressing my limits to even go on the show. It was really awful when I came back, but now I can fly on a plane without a panic attack, I can sit in the back seat of a car.... There's many things I can do that I couldn't before. I'm a stronger person because of this. Also, before I was embarrassed by my panic attacks, and now I've decided to be honest and not shy away. Forty million people deal with this!

TV Guide: Would you try out for another reality show any time soon?
McNulty: I don't know if they'd even consider having me back, but I would absolutely try Survivor again next year. I'm a stronger person. There are a lot of people laughing at me right now, and I'd like to have the opportunity to tell them I'm not this "weak prissy model" that everybody is calling me on the Internet. I'm a lot stronger now.

http://www.tvguide.com/News-Views/Interviews-Features/Article/default.aspx?posting={565F1379-DCBC-405D-BBB6-C0A384C9661D}

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