Have you ever read about an upcoming show and realized you’re the exact target audience? Well, that’s pretty much where I’m at with a new Netflix project. The untitled reality competition show (check) is hosted by Alan Ritchson (check) and looks to be a blend of social strategy (check) and real tests of survival (check). Yeah, as a Survivor/ Traitors/ Eco-Challenge/ Amazing Race fan, it’s exactly what I’m looking for. I’m even hyped on the rumored cast too, at least apart from two frustrating decisions.
Let’s get to the negatives later though. First, let’s talk about who is rumored to actually be on the show. The Instagram account Reality TV Fan, which is typically a very reliable source for casting news in the reality community, dropped a bunch of names over the weekend, and we’ve got some heavy hitters that should appeal to different fandoms. There’s some Survivor representation (Natalie Anderson and Andrea Boehlke), some Bachelor standouts (Corinne Olympios, Matt James and Jason Tartick) and even the always popular Tom Sandoval. You can check out the full list below…
I’m certainly not going to complain about who was picked. This group looks like it’s going to be a really nice blend of personalities and assumedly, a wide range of actual survival skills. We don’t know the full format of the competition, but diversity in ability level is almost always the right approach to casting a show like this. Besides, the execs over at Bunim/ Murray have been swimming in the reality TV pool for decades. They know what they’re doing.
That being said, we also have rumors of who the two alternates that got cut are, and I’m screaming internally at what we missed out on. Christian de la Torre, best known for the chaos he caused on the US version of Traitors Season 1, was apparently in the casting process until the end and got the boot. He was heavily rumored to be on a season of Beast Games and was reportedly an alternate that was cut too; so, that makes this doubly sad.
In addition to Christian, Lauren O’Connell was apparently also cut at the last minute. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because she was a prominent character on Survivor’s Edge Of Extinction season. She was perhaps overshadowed a little by the outrageous chaos of Rick Devens, but her determination in challenges and fun energy would have likely been real good fits in a competition like this. I’ll be watching the season and wondering in the back of my head what she would have brought.
It’s unclear when this untitled series might air or even get a name, but considering we’re getting all these pretty extensive casting rumors, I’d imagine that means the show is filming or about to start filming. That could mean we’ll see it on Netflix later this year. Whenever it gets here, expect to see a bunch of outdoorsy challenges that likely have more in common with early seasons of Survivor than something like The Amazing Race. Also expect to see host Alan Ritchson show everyone what a beast he is in real life too.
