Survivor Island of the Idols: RHAP pregame interview highlights part 2
From surviving a life-threatening tumor to a hilarious NHL draft day story, here are the highlights from the interviews with the five other Lairo members on Survivor season 39.
Last week we shared some of the most intriguing stories from Josh Wigler’s interviews with five members of the Lairo tribe. Now that part two of the podcast is up on RHAP for the remaining five Lairo members, we encourage all to have a listen because these castaways have some crazy experiences! Here are some of the cool points I gleaned from these five castaways set to play Survivor.
Missy Byrd is already a Survivor
As my co-writer discussed in Missy’s cast assessment, she’s got one heck of a story. While serving at the Air Force, for around a year she was going through odds changes with her body. It was only after that time did they discover that Missy had a tumor that was seriously affecting her mind and body. Thankfully the doctors were able to get rid of it and now she’s back to her strong, athletic status ready to wreak havoc on Survivor: Island of the Idols.
Karishma Patel is going against the grain to play
Unlike most people who get on the island, Karishma is the only one in her family or even her circle of friends who watches Survivor. As an Indian American, she also has to face the pressure from her culture for going on this adventure.
She mentioned how culturally it’s expected of a married woman her age to be making babies not to be finding her way on a reality TV show. Karishma is putting in a determined effort to fulfill her dream without letting the outside world get to her, and it will be exciting to see how she brings her experience as a lawyer to the table.
Ronnie Bardah is aiming to become the best poker star to play Survivor
Although there has been a few professional poker players enter the game of Survivor before, none seem as prepared as Ronnie. He went on a water fast, going almost 8 days consuming only water to see how he could think, strategize and operate with no food. That’s dedication! So he’s confident that he can handle eating rice and coconuts for 39 days without having an impact on his mental game. Pair that with his strategic mindset and his ability to read people and Ronnie could be a big force in this season.
Tom Laidlaw’s hilarious NHL draft day story
Despite being among one of the oldest players to ever play Survivor, Tom might just be among the toughest this season. Tom Laidlaw is a former NHL player who was known for getting into fights and being a tough defenseman. His story of reaching the NHL is an awesome one! Nowadays, when it’s draft day in one of the major sports, the prospective players will come to the venue in designer suits and wait in anticipation with their friends and family.
When Tom was drafted to the NHL in the early 1980s, he was cleaning horse manure on a farm! His employer told him that he got a phone call and it was his dad telling him that he just got drafted by the New York Rangers. After getting the news, Laidlaw went straight back to cleaning horse droppings for the rest of the day!
Next. Survivor: Ranking 37 Survivor seasons of the show. dark
Vince Moua taught in South Korea for 5 years
Vince is a 1st generation American whose parents went to astonishing lengths to leave their war-torn country and make it the US. That said, Vince hasn’t been in the States much lately as he recently spent five years helping lower and middle-class students in South Korea to learn English and reach their goals. Vince’s experiences will definitely help him to form genuine connections with others and build his social game.