On the Vokai tribe, our next cast assessment: Noura Salman isn’t afraid to share her story and has the athletic ability to succeed in Survivor challenges.
Of course, every person who’s about to enter the world of Survivor has a measure of excitement, but there’s always a few that are exceedingly passionate about themselves and this opportunity. Last season it was Big Wendy, and now for Island of the Idols, Noura has filled into that role. That said, Noura and Wendy are very different people and have different strategies coming into their respective seasons.
Noura Salman is a 36-year-old Entrepreneur born and raised in Maryland, although her parents are from Lebanon. As we learned in her interview with Josh Wigler on RHAP, for most of her life, she was in the financial world working as an accountant. However, she began to get sick of sitting at a desk for 15 years and wanted to do something more active and something that she’s more passionate about.
In her CBS bio, four of her hobbies are related to fitness and healthy eating. As a result, she decided to pursue her love for health and wellness as a career, creating her own business. Her dedication to fitness really came out in her podcast with Josh Wigler, and there’s no doubt that she’ll be one of the most athletic women this season.
Now we know that Noura has the physical ability and the mental toughness to play the game, but what about her social and strategic aspects? Another thing that was clear from her RHAP interview is that she’s a talker, and she’s not going to have to problem starting and continuing conversations with her tribe members.
She definitely gives off the feeling of someone who’s going to connect to certain players and commit to them, so I think Noura will be leading with her social but has to be wary of her strategic side. She mentioned in her interview with Mike Bloom on Parade that she will be looking to make genuine connections but just has to know when to cut ties.
I think Noura has the ability to make a deep run in Survivor: Island of the Idols, but at this point, I don’t see here as a top winner candidate. Her enthusiastic and talkative personality might get on some player’s nerves, but if she can build those social connections early, I could see Noura becoming a key part of a majority alliance. Noura comes off as a loyal person and is someone who you want in alliance, the only question is if she can make those key moves when she needs to step up.