"Survivor: Redemption Island" has just fueled the fire that Boston Rob Mariano and Russell Hantz are joining the cast this season. CBS has said that there are 18 cast members, but there are only 16 revealed so far on their site.

Furthermore, the show is always gender-equal and nine of the 16 are women, meaning if they add two surprise guests who are both male, there will be nine of each gender.

Are you excited at the prospect of Rob and Russell facing off (or perhaps joining forces) on "Survivor"? We aren't sure how we feel about it. Their rivalry during "Heroes vs. Villains" wasn't that fun to watch, to be honest. But it sure would be fun to see them work together.

The cast members so far are as follows:

Andrea Boehlke, student, Random Lake, WI

Mike Chiesl, former Marine, Del Mar, CA

Matt Elrod, pre-med student, Nashville, TN

Francesca Hogi, attorney, Washington DC

Kristina Kell, law student, Malibu, CA

Krista Klumpp, pharmaceutical rep, Columbia, SC

Ralph Kiser, farmer, Lebanon, VA

Grant Mattos, yoga instructor, West Hollywood, CA

David Murphy, defense attorney, West Hollywood, CA

Phillip Sheppard, technology executive, Santa Monica, CA

Natalie Tenerelli, professional dancer, Acton, CA

Ashley Underwood, nurse, Benton, ME

Stephanie Valencia, waitress, Long Beach, CA

Sarita White, visual effects producer, Santa Monica, CA

Julie Wolfe, firefighter, Oceanside, CA

Steve Wright, former NFL player, Huntington Beach, CA


"Survivor: Redemption Island" premieres Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Boston Rob and Russell will be tribal Captains and will have immunity until the merge. I don't like this because it could screw up the DVDTalk Survivor game.

Hate the guy, think he's one of the worst players in Survivor history, but it's always fun to see a grown man cry on TV.

Agreed. I'd only be happy if they then were not eligible for the prize money if they won.