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.
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The tribes will be segregated by political affiliation! No, by sexual orientation! Actually, the plan for Survivor: Fiji, premiering Feb. 8, is to group the 19 castaways as one tribe equipped with enough supplies and resources to fashion themselves an exceptionally cozy camp. But come Day 3, one player will be called upon to split the one mass into two. The tribe which then wins the first immunity challenge lives large at the existing camp, while the other is relocated to a separate island with only a pot, a machete and a water source. (Think The Apprentice: L.A., but with millions more viewers.)What's more, an immunity idol will be hidden at each camp, and Exile Island will now offer its visitor a clue to its whereabouts. I can see the promos now: "Fox offers you one Idol, but we've got two."
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