CBS has announced 15 of the new cast of 18 who will compete in the upcoming season of "Survivor: Philippines," including an '80s TV star and a major league baseball player. The series returns for its 25th installment at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 on CBS. MONTY BRINTON/CBS
CBS has announced most of the cast of castaways for "Survivor: Philippines" is returning in September. But it is saving the identities of the final three until the season starts.
Still, two names should be familiar to many.
The cast includes 1980s "Facts of Life" star Lisa Whelchel, a self-described "superfan," and Jeff Kent, who played major league baseball for the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
New twists planned this season also include dividing the contestants into tribes named after animals indigenous to the area and allowing three as-yet-unnamed former contestants who were medically evacuated from their respective seasons to return to finish what they started.
The final three could include Colton Cumbie (whose appendicitis turned out to be a bacterial infection), Michael Skupin (fell face-first into a fire), Bruce Kanegai (bowel obstruction), Gary Stritesky (challenge injury/insect bites), Jonathan Penner and James Clement (challenge injuries), Joe Dowdle (challenge injury), Mike Borassi and Russell Swan (challenge injury plus collapse due to dehydration) and Kourtney Moon (challenge injury), reported eonline.com.
The members of the tribes will include:
Kalabaw (Water Buffalo) Tribe:
Sarah Dawson, 28, Silver Spring, Md., insurance sales
Katie Hanson, 22, Newark, Del., former Miss Delaware
Jeff Kent, 44, Austin, Texas, former baseball MVP
Dana Lambert, 32, Winston-Salem, N.C., cosmetologist
Carter Williams, 24, Shawnee, Kan., track coach
Tadang (Rooster) Tribe:
Abi-Maria Gomes, 32, Los Angeles, business student
Roberta "R.C." Saint-Armour, 27, New York, investment banker
Artis Silvester, 53, Terry Town, La., computer engineer
Lisa Whelchel, 49, Dallas, former "Facts of Life" actress
Pete Yurkowski, 24, Holmdel, N.J., engineering graduate.
Matsing (Monkey) Tribe:
Malcolm Freberg, 25, Hermosa Beach, Calif., bartender
Zane Knight, 28, Danville, Va., tire repair
Angie Layton, 30, Provo, Utah, student
Roxanne "Roxy" Morris, 28, Brooklyn, seminary student
Denise Stapley, 41, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sex therapist.
"Survivor: Philippines" kicks off its season Sept. 19 on CBS.
Here's Whelchel's interview video.
