by Thinus Ferreira
The 20 former Survivor South Africa castaways who are returning for the 9th season of the reality series called Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts on M-Net (DStv 101) from 18 July, include contestants from 5 previous seasons who all have "demons" they want to lay to rest.
Battling each other in Survivor SA tribes called Yontau, and Masu after merge, and once again filmed in South Africa's Eastern Cape province and its Sunshine Coast, M-Net revealed the names of the 20 castaways of Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts on Sunday night.
There are a whopping 13 castaways under the chosen contestants who are 30-somethings, with five who are all aged 31.
Important to note, is that the Inside Survivor fan site got the
rumoured season 9 cast and location exactly correct as leaked to that site in March this year.
Nico Panagio is also once again returning as host.
The massive leaks from the Afrokaans production company damaged M-Net's press machine, with the pay-TV broadcaster that was no longer willing to engage with media around any queries about the upcoming season to try and deflect media attention and exposure of the production secret which turned out to be 100% accurate.
It led to media not being able to do the "the latest season of Survivor SA has wrapped filming" type stories similar to after previous seasons had completed principal photography, since M-Net feared questions about the rumoured but correct Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts cast reveal.
M-Net didn't respond to questions posed in a media query about Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts made on 25 May, the second media query about the upcoming season made this year after the show had finished filming.
In a prepared general statement from M-Net about the upcoming season, quoting Leroux Botha, executive and creative producer of Survivor SA, he says the Sunshine Coast "is the ideal setting for this daring and
different season".
"We saw
last season that the Wild Coast lived up to its name and presented the
castaways with plenty of unique challenges – just because the location is
closer to home, doesn't make it any more familiar. The Sunshine Coast lives up
to its name most of the year, but it also has a tempestuous and brooding side
that can change the game at a moment’s notice."
Leroux Botha further says "This isn't an 'All Stars' season – in fact, it’s a totally unique concept."
"All of the castaways returning to the game this season have demons to lay to rest, with the added challenge of everyone knowing exactly how everyone else played their game, before."
Shireez Latief, M-Net senior marketing and publicity manager, says in the statement "We've drawn castaways from across almost all previous seasons and brought them together on
the Sunshine Coast to give them a chance to play their games again – but this
time, everyone knows their style of play, who they shared alliances with and
who they double-crossed during their season".
"All bets are off and
it'll be a brutal game, despite the cordial-sounding location."
M-Net is scheduling four episodes of Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts per week from Mondays to Thursdays, starting on 18 July and ending with its finale on 25 August.
"Having four hours
a week to explore the full intricacy of the game is going to lay bare every
machination. It's also a great way for newcomers to the magic of Survivor
SA to get to know these returning Castaways and appreciate why they’re such
masters of the game," Shireez Latief says.
The 20 returning players for Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts, and their bio descriptions, are:
Chappies Chapman (31)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island (S8)
Hometown: Centurion
Job description: Entrepreneur
Chappies is "addicted to growth" and has a
strong strive to improve in all aspects of his life, most notably in fitness, which he
takes very seriously. He lives in Centurion with his wife and son and is
involved in various online businesses, real estate and in the motivational
speaking space.
Since becoming a father, Chappies has a renewed
lease on life and is in constant pursuit of purpose. He is calmer and more at
peace than before, partly due to his son's arrival – but also because he no longer
feels the need to prove his worth as a Survivor player.
From his previous experience, he has learnt to
think before he speaks, to avoid alienating people. That was his pattern at the
start of his season – which ultimately put him on the back foot because he
couldn't reconcile with them when he needed to work with them.
Danté de Villiers (31)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets (S7)
Hometown: Dwarskersbos
Job description: Podcaster
Loner Danté has travelled the world, living in
Thailand and Israel – but has now returned home to the Cape West Coast, where
he grew up. The outdoorsy ocean lover believes he can provide for his tribe and
excel in the physical challenges – putting him in a winning position.
Having previously owned and operated a coffee
shop in Velddrif, he now hosts a podcast dedicated to interesting outlier personalities
who are making a difference in the world, however big or small.
In his previous season, he felt like he didn’t
have the words to convince people to believe him. That meant he struggled to
befriend other castaways, putting him on the back foot and forcing him to play
a defensive game. This time, he'll be looking to give himself more personal
time and space in the early mornings, so that he can recharge to participate
more in the social game at camp, during the day.
Dino Paulo (31)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island (S8)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Live escape game owner
The charming and likeable Dino's infectious,
child-like enthusiasm belies a powerful tenacity. He has been in a relationship
with his lawyer girlfriend - now fiancé - Kirsten for 11 years.
An escape game franchise co-owner, he was
forced to pivot during lockdown like so many South Africans and successfully
took the concept online. His work is a perfect match for his competitive
nature, which has also made him the perfect team player in sports like soccer
and rowing – while skydiving fuels his insatiable need for adrenaline.
From his previous Survivor experience, he has
learned to rely more on his game knowledge and instinct and to curb his paranoia.
He feels that since he has nothing to lose, there’s less pressure on him this
time around – so he’ll be playing with more freedom.
Felix Godlo (32)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets (S7)
Hometown: Pretoria
Job description: Key account manager
A proud Xhosa man from a very traditional
family, Felix is married with two children and is devoted to being a good
father and role model.
A natural leader and great sportsperson, his
mission in life is to succeed to provide for his family and make them proud of
him.
Having been humbled by his early exit in his
previous season, he did a lot of introspection and has grown, personally.
He
feels that he had a strategy for the game but didn't execute it because he
wasn’t in the right state of mind to play the game. Suppressing his natural
leadership instincts led to him growing frustrated and acting out of character
– so this time he's aiming to communicate better and working on connecting with
his fellow castaways on a deeper level.
Killarney Jones (51)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Champions (S5)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Martial artist
Killarney has competed in martial arts
internationally from a young age and has black belts in various disciplines. She's climbed
Kilimanjaro and has a degree in Fine Arts.
She grew up in a tight-knit family that
travelled extensively throughout Africa. Killarney is tough and talkative,
determined and dedicated and will fight to the bitter end.
When she competed in her previous season, she
didn’t understand the game well and expected to power through on the back of
her physical prowess – and was duly brought down by her neglect of the social
and strategic aspects of the game.
This time around, she understands the
concept better and will still be looking to compete physically but will be
bringing a softer touch to the social side of the game.
Marian de Vos (32)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Champions (S5)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Fashion buyer
Marian studied Fashion at the College of
Fashion Design in Cape Town and now works as a buyer in the retail industry. She grew up in a
big family and is the youngest of 5 siblings.
Marian is probably the biggest Survivor fan in
South Africa. She’s followed each season closely and has been a particularly
vocal commentator about the show, online. She knows the game inside and out,
but still struggled on her season when the addition of captains put her off her
game.
Despite that, she still made her mark on the
game as Survivor SA’s first true female villain – confident that she had a
better grasp of the game than her fellow castaways and was more astute than
them. Her biggest challenge this season will be adapting to the way the game
has changed in the 8 years since she played.
Meryl Szolkiewicz (31)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets (S7)
Hometown: Centurion
Job description: Holistic movement coach
Meryl studied toward a musical theatre degree
and started her career as a musician and performer, but that fell away after
she met and married her husband, and they had their three sons.
She saw her chance to appear on her season of
Survivor SA as a chance to hit the reset button – which she duly did,
rediscovering her strength and a newfound joy that has permeated all aspects of
her life.
She is a big Survivor fan but understood after
her season that she is not the biggest – despite Survivor being an institution
in her household. This time around, she’s looking to play a more rooted game,
be careful with her empathetic nature – and just have fun.
Palesa Tau (31)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Philippines (S6)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Radio presenter and producer
Palesa works as a radio presenter and producer,
hosting her own health talk show and is also a voice-over artist. She comes
from a close-knit family and spends a lot of time with her sister and mother.
Her appearance on Survivor South Africa:
Philippines boosted her confidence personally and professionally, seeing her
nominated for a number of radio industry awards over the last few years.
Palesa came into her season of Survivor South
Africa without much knowledge of the game – with no pre-determined strategy,
preferring to play instinctively. This time around, she’s aiming to be more
social and try to be more intentional and proactive.
Phil Dickson (40)
Previous season: Survivor
SA: Champions (S5)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Risk assessment manager
Phil is a firefighter and paramedic, originally
from KwaZulu-Natal, but now working as a fire risk assessment manager in Johannesburg. He has two
young children with his wife.
Before graduating in the top 5 of his firefighting
class, Phil lived in the USA for a while, where he was part of a popular church band. He counts
fishing, running, and training among his hobbies and studied game theory to prepare for
Survivor.
Phil is a likeable guy with a mischievous
streak. Although he is now a dedicated husband and father, he still resembles that naughty
trickster he was more than a decade ago in Survivor SA: Champions.
Phil says that you cannot compare the Survivor
game of season 5 to the current version of it. He feels that in previous seasons, the castaways had a lot to learn about gameplay – which meant he was unprepared
for the game and struggled at first to adapt.
Pinty Nkanjeni (30)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island (S8)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Yacht crew member
Pinty grew up in the small rural town of
Hogsback in the Eastern Cape, a magical town in the Amathole Mountains. After leaving
school at 15, she moved to Cape Town and built herself up from scratch,
receiving a scholarship to study UX design as well as getting her Divemaster
certification.
After her work as a rope access technician was
interrupted by lockdown, she got involved with a NPO that aims to unite
hospitality businesses with healthcare workers at the frontline of the fight
against Covid-19 to help them stay closer to where they are working – work in
which she has found a lot of meaning.
She feels she has grown a lot in the few months
since her season of Survivor, growing more self-aware and identifying and addressing her
character flaws. She had a strong work ethic around camp and was equally
valuable in challenges, but her lack of social finesse and confrontational
behaviour tripped up her game.
PK Phetoe (29)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Philippines (S6)
Hometown: Lephalale
Job description: Mining engineer
Ambitious, driven mining engineer PK has been living
and working in Lephalale in Limpopo for the past 2 years. He grew up in
Mafikeng and lived with his mother in Centurion most of his teenage and young
adult life.
PK has ambitions of starting his own mining
consultancy company one day. He also wants to contribute to society and give
something back. His job requires him to problem solve, adapt, and prioritize
his actions to optimize outcomes. – skills he wants to bring to the game of
Survivor.
Having originally thought Survivor was all
about playing a strong physical game, his experience taught him the importance
of the social side, which he splits into two parts: social for friendship and
loyalty for political gain.
Aiming to make people feel more comfortable around
him this time, he’ll be looking to trust sooner to allow relationships to
mature, to allow him to build a stronger alliance, earlier in the game.
Seamus Lind Holmes (29)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Philippines (S6)
Hometown: Durban
Job description: Sales manager
Seamus is a Durbanite who works as the regional sales manager of a commercial trucking equipment company. He channels his competitive
nature into excelling at endurance sports.
He is a massive Survivor fan - he has
researched the game, strategies, heroes, villains, and the game’s evolution
over the years. He watches Survivor religiously with his mother and sees this
as a big bonding experience for them.
Understanding that he played too hard, too fast
in the Philippines, which meant he didn’t pay enough attention to his
tribemates and how they were approaching the game. Seamus feels he has matured
tremendously since his season and is in a far better mental space than before.
With a second shot, he is determined to play the biggest game Survivor has ever
seen.
Shane Hattingh (50)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Champions (S5)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Set decorator
Shane has lived a very interesting, colourful,
sometimes dangerous life. He has spent several years working in military
counterintelligence, been a shoe designer, an outdoor advertising salesman,
worked in the art department in the film industry and is currently a set
dresser on an international reality show.
He has four children and admires their
independence, critical thinking, rejection of societal norms and labels and
proudly lists their achievements. He despises injustice, social prejudice,
racism and exploitation of the vulnerable.
Having felt in control of the game in his
season, he became complacent and allowed himself to get played. Losing out and
being blindsided with idols in his pocket was a massive blow – and a mistake he
won’t make again.
Shona MacDonald (33)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Champions (S5)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Entrepreneur
Shona is a successful, self-starting
entrepreneur with a lingerie and swimwear brand she has been running for the last couple of years. She
is also developing a new dating app and has been accepted to take this further at a tech
incubator in South America this year.
She successfully pitched her business idea on
Shark Tank and secured the investment she needed to boost her business when 3 of the 5
Sharks offered her capital. She is very proud of this moment, as she feels like she was seen
as a strong, confident businesswoman.
Shona wants to make a difference in the world
and advocates for body-positivity, independence and flying the South African
flag. She feels it is her purpose and study to contribute to SA, its economy,
and its people.
During her previous season, she was overwhelmed
and struggled to make connections, with her self-awareness and insecurity
taking over. Despite her strengths as a social player, being called out by her
captain as a weak physical player set her game back in a way that she found she
couldn’t come back from.
Steffi Brink (30)
Previous Season: Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets (S7)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Fitness coach and model
Steffi is a former "beauty queen" - but she’s
not your typical pageant princess. A self-proclaimed "jock", she has a long
history of excelling in the sporting arena, too, making her a formidable castaway.
After her appearance on Survivor South
Africa: Island of Secrets, Steffi was called up to a training camp with the Blitzbokkies – the SA Women’s 7’s rugby team – but seriously injured her knee
and had a long road to recovery.
She’s learned her lesson from her season and
will be working harder on the social side of her game, this time around. She
also struggled with the scrutiny of Tribal Council and so has worked hard on
speaking up when she believes she needs to.
Tania Copeland (53)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Island of Secrets (S7)
Hometown: Paternoster
Job description: Retired
Colourful Tania lives life on her own terms.
Born in South Africa before relocating to the UK – and then returning when she
was 21 – the now-retired business owner lives a quiet life on the coast.
An avid rock climber, she doesn’t let society’s
rules and restrictions constrain her any less than she does, gravity. She has a
strong bond with her children – 3 biological and some fostered – and her five
dogs.
She learned a lot about herself and the game of
Survivor in her season and is thrilled to get the chance to implement those learnings
now. Whereas she spent a lot of time off on her own looking for Idols before,
she plans to now spend more time with her tribemates. Tania is determined to
win by aligning herself with the strong players and making herself valuable –
at camp and as a vote.
Tejan Pillay (40)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Maldives (S4)
Hometown: Johannesburg
Job description: Engineer
Tejan is a 40-year-old electrical engineer with
a master's degree in engineering – originally from Verulam but now calling
Johannesburg home. The self-proclaimed "Prince of Darkness" has worked for
Eskom for 21 years and has been with his partner for 11.
He says he lives and loves life, considering
himself something of a Renaissance man and jack of all trades who enjoy the
simple things in life. Tejan is in the best physical shape of his life and has
trained hard for this moment to return to Survivor. He has a black belt in
karate, a final brown in kickboxing and did some cage fighting.
He took pride in his status as one of Survivor
SA’s early villains, getting a lot of validation from being part of the world’s
greatest game. He’s accepted his ‘Survivor Conniver’ nickname and embraced the
fact that his play made him a Castaway to be reckoned with. He’ll be keeping a
keen eye out to see who he can trust – but doesn’t plan to give his trust away
cheaply.
Tevin Naidu (28)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Philippines (S6)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Medical doctor
Tevin qualified as a medical doctor at
Stellenbosch University. He is interested in neuroscience and wants to specialize in that
field of medicine.
Tevin won the Mr India South
Africa title when he was 18 and was a presenter on Eastern Mosaic.
After a misguided social media post in the lead
up to the Survivor South Africa: Philippines season finale saw him
personally and professionally ostracised, he retreated to do some serious
introspection and has matured since then.
He and his mom have watched Survivor together
since he was 7 – he calls himself a ‘Survivor Encyclopaedia’. Tevin is
determined to cement his place in the Survivor history books as one of the best
the game has ever seen. He wants to be recognized and revered as one of the
best players in the world and he will stop at nothing to achieve it.
Thoriso M-Afrika (37)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island (S8)
Hometown: Uitenhage
Job description: Marketing manager
Marketing manager Thoriso is the single mother
of a son named Bulumko, meaning "wisdom" in Xhosa. Her name is a reflection of
the high regard in which she holds education and the application of intellect.
As much as she’s a huge Survivor fan, her main
aim for entering the game is to win the Sole Survivor’s prize money, to improve
her financial situation. Last time around, she felt she had the ‘moves’ but not
the social currency, playing herself out of the game.
Now, she’s looking to
play a more social game - even if it means pretending to like people. Thoriso
says that meeting people who were smarter than her was a huge blow to her ego,
which led to plenty of introspection – the lessons from which she’s bringing
back to the game at her second attempt.
Toni Tebbutt (41)
Previous season: Survivor South Africa: Philippines (S6)
Hometown: Cape Town
Job description: Content developer
Content developer Toni feels that changes in
her life post-Survivor SA: Philippines have released her to live her
full life. The devoted fitness fiend made the move to Cape Town recently – part
of her personal reinvention – and she says Survivor is an important part of her
story.
Toni is incredibly active in the Survivor
community, hosting online Survivor games, participating in Survivor fan events
and is very vocal on social media platforms. Her straight-talking persona from
the show is a reflection of her in real life, too. A bold character, she is
someone who isn’t afraid to address conflict.
She feels she made too many emotional choices
in her season, rather than listening to her gut. Understanding the need to form
social bonds early in the game, she says she’s had to learn to stroke egos –
and isn’t afraid to use that skill. She’s determined not to make the mistake of
forcing herself to choose between loyalty and strategy again.
