The cast of "SURVIVOR : GABON - Earth's Last Eden"

oops, the codes for the images went wrong, i'm reposting the whole thing:

This thread is for discussion on contestants of Survivor 18. Here's a brief intro of all the contestants -

CHARLIE HERSCHEL
]
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Lawyer
HOMETOWN: New York
CHARLIE SAYS: ''I haven't really noticed any crazy people, which kind
of makes me nervous that either I'm the crazy person or there are no
crazy people.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Charlie prides himself on being very bright and
educated. And the question I'd say for Charlie is 'Can he stand up for
himself? Does he really have a voice?' Or is he just going to look for
somebody to hang on to and see how far they'll pull him along.''

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MARCUS LEHMAN
]
AGE: 28
OCCUPATION: Doctor
HOMETOWN: Atlanta
MARCUS SAYS: ''In addition to trying to be charismatic and active in
the challenges, I have a little additional problem, which is that from
society's viewpoint I have been very successful already.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Marcus is a physician, as he likes to remind
people. And he is a true leader, an extremely bright guy. He's a hero.
He is a huge threat to win the game, for sure. He has looks, he's got
smarts, he's probably the fittest guy out there, so he's got a lot of
things going for him.''

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ROBERT ''BOB'' CROWLEY
]
AGE: 57
OCCUPATION: Physics teacher
HOMETOWN: South Portland, Maine
BOB SAYS: ''I'm a high school teacher. I enjoy younger people. I'm not
part of their group, agewise, but emotionally I'm about 12.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''He's the oldest guy out there. And unfortunately,
that works against people all the time, even though there's probably
nobody better equipped for this game. He's probably the guy who will be
the biggest asset, if they don't get foolish and vote him out.''

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JESSICA ''SUGAR'' KIPER
]
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Pinup/actress (Gilmore Girls)
HOMETOWN: Brooklyn
SUGAR SAYS: ''I want to make everyone fall in love with me. And I want
to be friends with everybody. That's all I got: my personality. I'm not
strong.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''She makes every decision from her heart and not her
head. She's very emotional, somewhat naïve, and I think when you first
look at her, the question is going to be 'Can she hack it out here?
Does she have what it takes?' It doesn't take much for Sugar to break
into tears.''

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ACE GORDON
]
AGE: 27
OCCUPATION: Fashion photographer/Cartier salesman
HOMETOWN: Naples, Fla. (raised in London)
ACE SAYS: ''I watch the game, I know how to play the game, I've done
sales my whole life, I'm good with people, and I'm physically adept.
And I'm a manipulative bastard.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''You would expect him to be like a villain in a Bond
movie who dies a horrible death at the end. It's almost like a blind
arrogance, and he's really fun to watch. And I think his accent could
work for him or against him, but there is something about the accent
that makes everything he says seem smarter.''

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CORINNE KAPLAN
]
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Pharmaceutical sales rep
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles
CORINNE SAYS: ''Honestly, like, I'm a girl. We've all starved ourselves
here and there. I can starve for a little while. I think there are no
losers in Survivor: We all come home skinny, detoxed, and tan. We're
all winners.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Corinne is a self-proclaimed über-bitch, and she
owns it. I think the meanest thing you could say to Corinne would be to
say, 'You're very pleasant.' She would take that as an insult of the
highest order.''

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KEN HOANG
]
AGE: 22
OCCUPATION: Pro video gamer
HOMETOWN: Westminster, Calif.
KEN SAYS: ''Gaming will help me because I do well under pressure. I
always come through. I rarely choke. I'm the underdog, I think all the
fans will root for me to win. I would root for myself if I was watching
TV.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Ken the gamer is one of my favorite people who has
been on the show in a long time. He is convinced his gaming expertise
is absolutely in line with what it takes to win, that he knows this
game backward and forward simply because he's a gamer. But Ken is a
true nerd. I think when the show began he weighed less than [China's]
Courtney did.''

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KELLY CZARNECKI
]
AGE: 22
OCCUPATION: Retail sales
HOMETOWN: Buffalo Grove, Ill.
KELLY SAYS: ''I'm funny, and I'm fun, and I'm energetic, and I bring a
positive vibe to the group — like a burst of sunshine.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''The way I would describe Kelly is that she is part
of the Text Message Generation. And she speaks that way, she'll say,
'OMG!' for 'Oh, my God!' That's Kelly. And just as a grown man looking
at her I could say, 'That's charming, she's young and has her whole
life ahead of her.' But as a tribemate I'd probably say, 'If she says
OMG, I'll probably say GTFOH.'''

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RANDY BAILEY
]
AGE: 49
OCCUPATION: Videographer
HOMETOWN: Eagle Rock, Mo.
RANDY SAYS: ''I'll step on toes if I have to. These people were not
friends of mine last week, and time will tell if they'll be friends of
mine two months from now. But a million dollars is more important than
their friendship. Except maybe with that one blonde with the big t---.
That might be worth a few hundred grand.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Randy is crotchety and clever. He's the guy who
will come to Tribal Council and try to challenge me, which is a huge
mistake, because I'm not playing for a million dollars. But I don't
think he's as evil as he wants you to think he is.''

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CRYSTAL COX
]
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Athlete (2004 Olympic gold medalist in the 4x400m track
relay)
HOMETOWN: Durham, N.C.
CRYSTAL SAYS: ''I will win Survivor because I have the three Bs —
brains, beauty, and blazing speed.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''I think Crystal's big dilemma is going to be 'What
does she say that she does? Who does she say she is?' Because it's
obvious she's an athlete. Crystal has a mouth on her. She does not
edit. That makes her great at tribal council but a liability in the
game.''

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PALOMA SOTO-CASTILLO
]
AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Student
HOMETOWN: Downey, Calif. (born in Chile)
PALOMA SAYS: ''I think I deserve it. I've worked really hard in my
life. I'm very competitive. I'm stubborn. I'm compassionate, and
passionate.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Paloma is sassy, cute. My question for her is 'Is
her attitude real, or is it a put on?' And if it is a put-on, how long
will she be able to sustain it when she starts getting hungry? Paloma's
going to have to pick the right alliance. Who you decide to team up
with early on has such an impact on how you do in the game, because if
you pick the wrong people, it can be hard to get out from under that.''

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DANNY ''G.C.'' BROWN
]
AGE: 26
OCCUPATION: Maintenance supervisor
HOMETOWN: Portland, Ore.
G.C. SAYS: ''I will win Survivor because I need this million dollars
more than anyone out here.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''G.C. is a fish out of water. Does he have the
fortitude to really do this? Because when I talked to him before the
show, it seemed like a lot of nervous energy masquerading as
confidence. But it was, really, I felt, fear, like 'What am I getting
into?' And that's not a good place to be because what you're getting
into is a big ol' headache.''

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GILLIAN LARSON
]
AGE: 61
OCCUPATION: Retired nurse
HOMETOWN: Temecula, Calif. (raised in South Africa)
GILLIAN SAYS: ''I love doing all sorts of crazy things. It doesn't
matter what age you are. As long as you can physically do it, do it!
And hopefully they'll look at me as a mom, and you know, who would like
to kick their mother out of the game?''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Charm is her strength because she's likable in
doses, and that's her liability. Does she know when enough is enough?
You can only hear someone say, 'I'm from South Africa,' so many times
before you want to say, 'Why don't you go back to South Africa!'''

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MATTY WHITMORE
]
AGE: 29
OCCUPATION: Personal trainer
HOMETOWN: Pacific Palisades, Calif.
MATTY SAYS: ''I'm a fierce competitor. I don't want to lose. I was
raised in the mountains and also in the city, so I got the wilderness
down and I got the humanity down.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''I think Matty will be one of the favorites this
season, someone people will absolutely love. I find him to be one of
the most endearing guys we've ever had on the show to the point where
it could work against him because he can't hide anything. If he's
confused, he says, 'I'm confused.' If he's happy, he's smiling. If he's
sad, he's crying.''

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JACQUE BERG
]
AGE: 25
OCCUPATION: Medical device sales rep
HOMETOWN: Santa Barbara, Calif.
JACQUE SAYS: ''It's kind of one of my natural instincts to flirt. I
don't mean to. That's actually going to be something I watch, because I
don't want a target to be on my back from the other girls.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''I think Jacque will be a bit of a dark horse. I
don't think she'll be a leader. I think she'll use her looks and her
charm to get in with the right guy and hope that she can ride with that
guy as far as she can. If Jacque gets deep into the show, I think she's
a legitimate threat at the challenges. She's pretty fit.''

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DAN KAY
]
AGE: 32
OCCUPATION: Lawyer
HOMETOWN: Walpole, Mass.
DAN SAYS: ''My Achilles' heel in this game will most likely be trust.
You have to have trust to win this game, but you have to know who is
untrustworthy, and that's probably the most difficult task.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''He's earnest, but he is his own worst enemy. He
means well and does not know when to shut up. He's like a cocker
spaniel, charming and annoying at the same time.''

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SUSIE SMITH
]
AGE: 47
OCCUPATION: Hairdresser/assistant teacher
HOMETOWN: Charles City, Iowa
SUSIE SAYS: ''The first player that I see going off thinking they're
gonna track an elephant or a hippo, I'm gonna kick their ass, because
we don't need them coming into our camp.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Susie is a mom, and she likes to talk. That's
definitely her biggest obstacle to overcome, that she can't shut up. If
I went in and played this game and got teamed up with Susie, I would be
wary of her hanging in there with me, because she seems to go with the
wind and doesn't even seem like she's paying attention at times.''

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MICHELLE CHASE
]
AGE: 24
OCCUPATION: Music production assistant
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles
MICHELLE SAYS: ''I will win Survivor because I'm the bombshell baller.
I'm bodacious, and I outwit, and outlast, and outplay. And I need a
million dollars really bad.''
JEFF PROBST SAYS: ''Michelle is a wild card for me because I actually
thought that Michelle had a good solid energy coming into the game. But
she's very small and very young. I think her life experience is the big
question mark. What will she do when the going gets tough?''

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Thanks Jeesan. Wow, I finally saw them. When is this going to be shown?

You're welcome Jon, I'm very glad that you joined me, I hope more forummers do :) . I think 3 episodes have already been telecasted in the USA but here it just premiered last Wednesday on an Indian channel called Zee Cafe. Hasn't it started on AXN SEA?

I really enjoyed the first episode & I hope AND think it's gonna be a great season. So far my favs are Charlie, Marcus, Bob & Matty.

Really? Oh man, I am so laid back. I can't find a channel braodcasting the show and I would love to read your recaps for every episode. I bet your focused on watching it.

Give us weekly recaps Jeesan.

Ooooh yes, ofcourse Jon, I'd love to do that. I actually thought I'd be all alone here but I'm reeeeally happy that you're here. I'll start a thread for weekly recaps post the first one tonight

No worries Jeesan. I would love to read your review for every episode. If only I can watch it on my TV I would have do that. But then and again, I have to rely on the net for any uploaders of the show. Definitely, I gonna ask you questuions every now and then if something interest me. Hehe.

no spoiler topic for gabon?

I'm also enjoying this series, so far the episode 2 was really exciting, I'm happy to see the Fang tribe winning both reward and immunity challenge. My favorite castaway is Ken, maybe because he's Asian and he's a pro-gamer, I also love to play computer games.
ASIAN REPRESENTZ!

I am still waiting for Jeesan's review. hmm what's taking him long?

I'm really sorry Jon, was a little busy. And to be honest, I did start writing a review on the first episode but I felt I'm not quite good at it, so I thought maybe I shouldn't just post a few lines of rubbish and maybe you've forgotten!

But now I promise that I'll post the reviews, atleast of the first episode, by tomorrow. I PROMISE!

No problem, Jeesan. I understand.

TOO MUCH WHINE

Although whe lived in Kenya once for 3 months, Paloma Soto-Castillo was not prepared for the Survivor : Gabon experience.

" I went to Kenya to do volunteer work, but I went to Gabon to try to win US$1 million," says the 24-year-old student.

She was the first to be voted off the Kota tribe, and the thrid to exit the reality TV show.

" I thought I knew all about Africa going into the game, but the different countries in Africa are so different."

In last Friday's episode, the fortunes of the two tribes turned when the Fang tribe, which has appeared the weaker side so far, trounced the seemingly invincible Kota tribe at both the reward and immunity challenges.

In a particularly physical reward challenge, a contestant from each tribe had to hang on to a pole while two members of the opposing team attemted to yank them off.

No wonder the petite Soto-Castillo says :" It was the physical aspect of the game that surprised me the most ".

She attributes the turn of eents to her tribe's overconfidence.

She tells Life! over the telephone from California : " We started underestimating our competition."

But ultimately, her downfall was an openly discordant relationship with Kota tribemate, photographer Ace Gordon, 27, who influenced the others to vote for her instead of 29-year-old pin-up model Jessica "Sugar" Kiper.

" It wasn't anything in particular that he did. It was just how he talked, it was very annoying. A lot of things he said were very condescending too," says Soto-Castillo, who is completing her studies to become a teacher while working part-time as a waitress.

Kiper had strengthened her alliance with Gordon after she found the hidden immunity idol on Exile Island.

" She's probably the only one in the tribe who genuinely like Ace. They cuddle together at night so you never know what might happen," says Soto-Castillo.

Looking back, she admits her initial game strategy of flying under the radar and getting along with everyone had backfired.

" If I were to do it all over again, I would be more prepared physically, and not whine about Ace so much, " she says..

(Sources taken from Straits Time, Singapore, interviewed by Jasmine Teo..)