Survivor Island of the Idols cast assessment: Janet Carbin is on guard

Janet Carbin, a 59-year-old lifeguard from Florida, is ready to bring her swimming skills and determination to Survivor: Island of the Idols.

Over the past few seasons of Survivor, production has pushed very young casts out on the island. It felt like we would never see a castaway over 50 again, losing that fun age gap dynamic, but that changed quick with a new casting director. On one tribe we have a 60-year-old former NHL Player, and on the other, a 59-year-old Chief Lifeguard.

In fact, Janet is the oldest woman to play Survivor in 22 seasons! However, she is more equipped to play this game than most people her age. Janet has been a lifeguard for over forty years and she mentioned in her CBS bio how she prides herself on being one of the few female Chief Lifeguards in the country. Besides Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel, it’s hard to imagine anyone else being more comfortable in the water than Janet.

Not only has she lived by the water for most of her life, but she saves people for a living! That’s someone I would love to have on my tribe, and I think that might help prevent tribe members from viewing her as a weak link. Besides swimming, she’s still physically fit and her strong work ethic will render her a key contributor in making camp life a success.

Early departures are sometimes common among older players, not only for their physical skill level but also due to being a little too bossy and assertive when making tribal decisions. Look no further than the first two eliminations in Borneo. Janet is aware of that stereotype and plans to be extra careful with her social interactions.

She wrote in her bio how laziness is a pet peeve of her’s, but she’s going to try hard to not let that attitude get under her skin. In her interview with Mike Bloom on Parade, Janet plans to simply not say anything to castaways who aren’t doing their part around camp. She rather just let them do what they want and have the tribe as a whole address the situation.

I believe that holding her tongue when facing disagreements will be crucial to her success. I also found it interesting that she values strategy more than social dynamics, especially since this whole cast is shouting social game in their bios. That’s not to say that Janet will have a problem making relationships, it just goes to show that she’s not one of those older players who haven’t adjusted to Survivor‘s evolving strategy.

It’s tough to predict how far Janet will go since she’s such a unique castaway. If she avoids asserting herself as a leader, I could see Janet making it to the merge. That said, she doesn’t strike me as the type to pull off big enough moves to put herself in winner territory, but I hope she proves me wrong!