The Junior Masterchef contract yarn was in the SMH today and I had to laugh that Max Markson said people should sign up to it. If you missed my blog post on my thoughts on the Junior Masterchef contract go here, and also it was a small part of a segment on Masterchef Australia on A Current Affair on Friday night.

Here is a column in The Age which talks about Renae from The Amazing Race Australia and how she is an unlikely beauty pageant contestant. Also reveals she is going out with one of the most eligible men in WA. Who would that be?

More information on the death of Australian Idol judge Jay Dee Springbett in the Daily Telegraph, it is looking more likely that he took his own life.

Gary Mehigan responds to what Masterchef Australia contestant Adam Quinn has been saying about producers and the show in the Daily Telegraph.

Kyle Sandilands thinks Project Runway Australia judge Megan Gale is a phony. Not sure what triggered off this attack. (Source: News.com.au)

Kumar is not coping with his cult status. (Source: Herald Sun)

Gordon Ramsay’s film bombs. (Source: Herald Sun)

Survivor’s Johnny Fairplay has split from his reality TV wife. (Source: Celebrity News and Style)

After a Survivor season has finished people immediately start discussing the theme of the next series. The next two seasons will be filmed in Samoa with Jeff Probst again as host.

However some clever person has put together his ideas for the new season of Survivor. He calls it Survivor: The Ultimate Catastrophe Edition. Basically a series with all the “crazies” competing. However he would have to add in Special Agent Phillip now. I could not stop laughing. The series would include Naonka, Coach, and Shambo.

Also he has suggest Survivor: Super Strategists series. Please note all the women are good looking. It would bring back Parvati and Brenda, as well as Johnny Fairplay, Yul and Richard Hatch. Shout out to Sourkraut your Natalie is in there….

Is there anyone you would add in or take out?

Jeff Prosbt tweeted this  photo of Boston Rob cashing his $1.1 million cheque. I am sure he must have also received an appearance fee as well to lure him back to go on Survivor.

Here is a brilliant interview with Boston Rob on Reality TV world. He covers a lot of topics including his strategy for the game. Also it was revealed that Julie the fire fighter is 35 years of age. I thought she was about fifty!

Also I bow down to Reality Blurred on this brilliant recap of the last episode and reunion.

I could not stop laughing at this part:

Matt was on Redemption Island for 29 days, winning 10 duels, but didn’t win the (second) one he really needed to win. His attitude changed from the time when he almost quit, though he still said that “God deserves all the glory and all the credit.” Great, now shut up. Forgetting the content of what he’s saying for a second, it’s obnoxious because he just keeps repeating the same thing over and over and over again.

By the way, while he was still on the island, Phillip referenced conversations with his great great grandfather, telling us, “I learned that it’s okay to tell the world that I have a relationship with someone who’s been dead since 1870.” Matt has a relationship with someone who’s been dead for 2,011 years, so I think he wins that duel.

Also Reality Blurred has a great article where crazy special agent Phillip talks about his alleged strategy.

Reality Blurred sums it up nicely about Phillips game plan:

“I decided to create this bigger-than-life character so that Rob would have someone to point the finger at. As long as he had someone to point at and as long as I took ownership of that role, he wasn’t going to eliminate me out of the game,” Phillip told TV Guide. “The more time went on, the more critical it was that there was someone who was going to do something that was over-the-top, bigger-than-life. I think I made a brilliant move in coming up with that idea for myself and playing this guy.”

Phillip said he did that because working around camp and being helpful “wasn’t getting me anywhere being the man that I normally am in my everyday life.” While Phillip said that Rob “understood me and stayed true to me,” he avoids answering a direct question about whether Rob knew that Phillip was faking.

Ultimately, this sounds like revisionist history. I think Phillip is probably a normal guy with some issues—and who doesn’t have issues—who was affected by the physical and emotional toll of the game. Because he’s not dumb, he eventually realized that this was working in his favor, and then maybe played it up a little bit, which is probably about the time we heard him saying that he’d surprise people. The consequence of that is obvious: He can conceal his less-than-desirable behavior in the cloak of a character. But I suspect most of his actions were genuine but atypical responses to an atypical situation.

 

Two issues emerged from tonight’s episode for me. Firstly has Boston Rob gone all Jack from  Lord Of The Flies and become some sort of freaky megalomaniac? Secondly is Special Agent Phillip faking the crazy as he says he is?

Phil has now revealed he has worked for three security agencies – did he get sacked by all of them? Or was he really a civilian? Anyway he has “revealed” his strategy as acting the crazy and then at some stage he will somehow become “normal” and win jury votes. Considering the make up of the jury will be starting soon he may want to show there is some lucidity there.

I am not fully buying his strategy, as he is so insecure and just wants to be accepted by the group. For example on tonight’s episode he asked Boston Rob why the other alliance had voted for him at tribal council and Rob knew to give him the reassurance and ego massaging he required.

Speaking of Rob he realises  Phil is exactly the person you want to take to the top three with you, as at this stage he will not pull one vote.

Boston Rob appears to have turned some into a control freak dictator with his tribe, as David said he was like a prison officer. He tries to ensure there is someone with the other at all times so they cannot be nobbled.

Also a certain amount of the old Rob arrogance is emerging, he would not let his alliance eat the fish Ralph had caught on the reason that they were in rigor mortis. Hello they are still a hell of a lot fresher than the fishmongers. Zapatera thought it was like a Boston Rob cult and it did feel like it. Grant tried to show he wasn’t completely under the control of Rob by taking a bit of fish, but he wasn’t so confident to sit down for a full meal.

I thought Rob was a little unhinged tonight but then he does admit that he has idol paranoia that he will be blind sided. His aggression when they thought the idol was under the flag was just over the top.  Also there is no way he can play his idol as his tribe will be peeved he had not told them about it, and they will be making up the majority of the jury.

However he did make me laugh when trying to decide who to eliminate he said to camera ”I’ve been known to have a mercy killing in me from time to time, haven’t I” on whether they should vote for Steve who has had enough and wants to go home.

Unfortunately for Mike he was dispatched, the rationale being that he might be able to beat Matt at Redemption Island.

There was a second immunity challenge which Andrea won. Tribe members also had the ability to sit it out and eat, and only two decided to do this – the old guys, Steve and Phillip.

This time Derek was eliminated who did think at this point it might be more advantageous to have control over your own fate over at Redemption Island. But first he needs to beat Grant and Matt in a challenge, and he does not have their physicality.

Here is Jeff Probst’s blog from the episode and also here is another blog post where he answers questions. One of the interesting answers is where he admits there is editorialising and how this can effect veiwers perceptions of what is going on. This was in response to a question about why the public can’t vote on the person who should win.

The other interesting thing is the reason his shirts fit so well he gets them made for him.

The episode started off with crazy Phillip snuggling up to Boston Rob under the shelter to keep warm. Boston Rob asks “Have you got your undies on?” and Phillip responded jokingly “That does not stop me brother,”.Boston Rob was saying that Phillip slept with his leg in his back he was lucky it was only that. Seriously if you were lying beside Phillip you would be worried as those hideous pink things he wears are so loose and baggy.

But first it was the Redemption Island challenge with Matt versus Christina, but Matt won again. I would not be surprised if he is the one propelled back in as that would be a huge thorn in Boston Rob’s side.

While Boston Rob was off watching the duel. Phillip was working on Andrea to try and make an alliance, and it worked I think. But then she might have been turned off by the crazy talk. He said he is used to “throwing people under a bus”.

On the other tribe everyone was getting a bit too comfortable and relaxed now Russell had been voted out.

The immunity challenge involved blindfolds and puzzles and Boston Rob knocked one of his pieces off the table, but he must have realised at some point of the challenge and he won it for his tribe. Again the legend of Rob continues.

Stephanie who had been leading the challenge was blamed when they lost. Everyone was saying David should have done it. It always pisses me off when people say after the event that they wanted something else to occur and they said nothing at the time. Yes Steve I am looking at you.

The targets were on Krista and Stephanie. Serita and David dislike each other so they might be the weak links in their alliance.

In an uneventful tribal council Krista was eliminated.

I am unclear why they got rid of Krista ahead of Stephanie. Stephanie is a schemer and smart, I would be wanting to get rid of her.

The next episode started off with Steve having an episode at Stephanie for casting a vote for him in tribal.

On the other tribe the tribe was getting peeved at Natalie and Ashley for doing nothing.Phillip thought it would be unfair if he went before them. Well Phillip Survivor is unfair.

Stephanie was trying to work on her team mates and tried to make Sarita collateral damage.

Zapatera lost the challenge again, they now regret throwing the challenge to get rid of Russell. Any long time Survivor watcher can tell you that if you throw a challenge it usually goes pear-shaped after that. David was desperately trying to say to his alliance to vote out Sarita, and turned on her in tribal council.

However if Sarita wasn’t voted out David was going to have a huge target on his back as she will be out to get him.

Stephanie was voted off to Redemption Island. I hope she beats Matt and gets back into the game as I thought she was an interesting player. I would love to see a Survivor series where they gave the contestants who should have gone further another shot at the title of sole survivor.

Here is a link to Jeff Probst’s blog for episode five and six.

We saw Redemption Island for the first time tonight and I like it. It adds a bit more frission to the show. Francesca lost at the challenge, which I thought was unfortunate I would have liked to have seen a lot more of her.

Maybe one series in the future could be players that got knocked out early that had the potential to go all the way.

First – why did Russell shave his armpits? It was gross having to look at their pustules. It would be interesting to know his rationale on that one.

Also I know they wanted to get rid of Russell, but when will teams learn not to throw challenges,  this can lead to it all going downhill after that. Zapatera decided not to go for the comfort items, something that will cause fear and loathing the next time that cold chill goes through the camp, but throw the challenge to boot Russell out.

Stephania who is in Russell’s alliance was faking she had the idol, but as we know Ralph has it. So the major alliance decided to split the vote. Again I was impressed with Ralph for not cracking and telling his alliance he had the idol. As he knew once he did he would be vulnerable. However at the beginning of the next episode he did ‘fess up.

Russell was voted out of the tribe.

It was classic Russell when he said to camera ” This is the first time I have been voted out. I was pissed off, I wanted to bitch slap every single one of them”.

And he was off to Redemption Island expecting to find Francesa but instead there was Matt.

In the head to head challenge Matt beat Russell and he was out of this game. He looked devastated and started sobbing I have to say I don’t care that he is gone, as he just plays the same strategic game each time.

He let off a spray about the tribe, telling the two observers from the other tribe who the alliances were.

Ralph’s ego finally cracked and told Russell that there was a new immunity king in town and he had found the immunity idol “within 15 seconds”. Russell tried to goad him into showing it to him, but Ralph’s team mate told him to zip it. So he then back tracked and lied that he didn’t have it. Special Agent Phillip didn’t believe him.

Now speaking of dumb Phillip, who finally says he worked as a field sanitation officer , so not a spook,  thinks he can use this information to his advantage. He says to Boston Rob and his sidekick, I will tell you the information if you don’t eliminated Christina next.

Christina, who I quite like, is smart enough to know he has the potential to shoot himself in the foot stays right out of it. And she was almost safe as Boston Rob and co realised Phillip could not be trusted, or was a lunatic, or both. It looked like Phillip was gone.

However when Christina was playing around implying she may have the idol, Boston Rob realised she was a bigger threat than Phillip who no one likes. I mean seriously I wouldn’t be surprised if he sticks around awhile as why wouldn’t you want to take him with you to the top three?

Rob in the meantime had found the clue to the immunity idol and went hunting for it whilst pretending to be constipated as he set the team up on the beach so he could search the camp. Will he tell his team mates he has it? I don’t think so, as it will put a double target on his back.

Christina was voted out and she was off to Redemption Island.

Below is an interview Jeff Probst did with Russell Hantz the night his elimination episode aired in the US. It is interesting. I still find him a bit unhinged.

Also here are Jeff Probst’s blog posts for episode three and episode four.

Finally we have the latest season of Survivor and it is the usual mix of attorney’s, hill billies, and type A personalities, and of course a few nut jobs. I do notice this season they look like they have cast a lot of looks, there are a lot of fit bodies and attractive young women. Some of whom I have not figured out who they are yet.

And didn’t those young women scream when they saw Boston Rob, and then got even more excited when he was put on Ometepe tribe.

If you had not heard this season they brought back Evil Russell and Boston Rob to face off in different tribes.  So battle of the Alpha males.

The other twist is Redemption Island – where  you go if you are eliminated to dual with the previously eliminated contestant to stay on the island. If you are the player on there when they decide to let you back in the game then you get a second chance to have a crack of winning the Survivor title.

I think they do need this as Boston Rob and Russell do have targets on their backs. Personally I would be getting rid of Boston Rob as quickly as possible as currently he is giving his tribe a masterclass in how the game is played. Not so much Russell – he doesn’t have the social game to win.

On Boston Rob’s tribe there are certainly some personalities.

All I can say is how nutty is Phil – former federal agent? – yes note the question mark. Is this because the FBI have disowned him? Glad he wasn’t caught by the Russian’s as he would have sung like a budgie. Nut job or not he is certainly entertaining. I loved his explanation about being in a “hyper state of arousal”, because of the physical and emotional stress they were under. Personally I thought he was on a verge of a nervous breakdown.

Also he seemed think by saying he was a “former special agent” that he had more integrity and trust then other people.

So Katrina was smart enough to find the frigging immunity idol, but then was wanting to vote Boston Rob out. However as Francesca says well that is fine however once we have him out we still don’t have the numbers. And that was her big mistake for staying in an unworkable alliance.

After Boston Rob’s tribe lost the immunity challenge, it was game on. The was barely any talk about voting out the weakest member it was all strategy. Boston Rob had guessed Kristina had the hidden immunity idol, came up with a strategy so either her or Francesca would be gone.

It was a bold move considering in the previous season he was on he was eliminated on a similar manouvre.

Kristina and Francesa were looking pretty smug at tribal council. But Francesa doesn’t seem to know when to shut her mouth. She told Boston Rob he was safe, and Phil who was in an alliance with the girls suddenly cracked and started gibbering away about how the girls were in fact planning on voting Boston Rob out. If that wasn’t enough he also divulged that Kristina had the hidden immunity idol. The girls were squirming.

Boston Rob just took control and made her show it to him, he was enjoying her discomfort, as you would.

In the end the two girls voted for Phil, and the other tribe members split the votes and Francesca who had said at the beginning of the episode she wouldn’t be eliminated was. It was one of the best tribal council’s ever and Jeff Probst was extremely amused throughout.

Francesca was sent to Redemption Island to wait for the next contestant to arrive.

On episode two we got to see more of Russell and how he was playing this season of the game. For those who don’t know when Russell played the all-stars season, his original season had not yet aired in the US so no one knew his style.

They do now so you would think he would change it – he hasn’t.

He aligns with two younger pretty girls who he thinks he can manipulate and dominate both physically and mentally. I really don’t like that he is such a mysogynist. The way he keeps on touching Stephanie is just creepy.

Ralph who is Darwin’s missing link, has there been anyone so hairy ever, seems to have Russell’s measure. He found the immunity idol, plus called Russell out when he knew he had one of the clues to find the idol.

Russell reacted predictably by being a bully ,”your either with me or against me” said Russell. Basically warning him there was now a target on his hairy back.

Not that it mattered this time around as Boston Rob’s team lost again in the immunity challenge. Phillip could not hit the tiles to break them.

This time the strategy was to break up a close couple Matt and Andrea as Rob was having a Rob and Amber flashback, and knew they could be dangerous. Matt did look blindsided, and Andrea had a WTF happened there look on her face.

It will be interesting to see when Rob’s tribe will make a move on him, and if they want to win they will have to.

Here is Jeff Probst’s blog from episode 1. And here is episode 2 . If I can just put a caveat on this – beware of spoilers so once on the page/website don’t start jumping pages as we are 4 episodes behind the US.

Good news to Survivor fans who have not downloaded the latest season of the show, Survivor Redemption Island will be premiering on GO Channel on Tuesdsay 22 March at 7.30pm.

It will be a double episode, which would will mean if this continues we should catch up to the US.

The big thing of this series is Russell Hantz and Boston Rob are back in a showdown. It will be interesting to see how they go, as there must be big targets on both their backs. I would probably keep Boston Rob around for awhile for a bit of camp eye candy, but why bother with Russell.

The other big twist is the Redemption Island where the person who has been eliminated from the game will have an opportunity to seek redemption and return for a chance to win the million dollar prize. Each week at Tribal Council when a castaway is voted off, they will be sent to an isolated island called “Redemption Island,” where they will live alone in exile. To stay on Redemption Island, they will need to compete in a duel against the next person eliminated at Tribal Council and sent to the Island. The winner of each duel earns the right to continue fighting for an opportunity to return to the game and the chance to compete for the title of Sole Survivor; the loser is sent home.

This could be very interesting indeed.

Ladies you thought it would never happen, but here is your chance to check out where, Jeff Probst the host of Survivor lives. He has Vloged from his home to announce his new website www.jeffprobst.com.

His new site will be a lot about Survivor, but also have other projects he is working on.

Jeff has also been on the media this week, talking about a Celebrity Survivor, which intrigued me. However when I heard it was only going to last seven days I lost interest a bit. But then out on those islands a day must seem like a week.

Names that have come up have been Neil Patrick Harris, and Ryan Seacrest. Personally I would like to see Oprah out there as well.

Ok this story is no surprise, that Season 21 Survivor winner Fabio was picked up in Santa Monica for skateboarding under the influence.

During the last few episodes of Survivor I thought his strategy acting dumb was a good one, where everyone underestimated him. But after watching this video on TMZ of Fabio talking to the paparazzi after he was finally let out of jail I am not sure how bright he is. He does seem to be rambling and slightly paranoid. But he is still likeable even though his favourite word is “dude”. Also props for being picked up from jail in a limo.

Also announcement of the new seasons cast, and the worst kept secret was confirmed Boston Rob and Russell Hantz are back to go head to head.