Akihiro Sato & Jon Hall stir Survivor Philippines anew

MANILA, Philippines - Survivor Philippines Celebrity Doubles Showdown viewers are in for another surprise as first Celebrity Sole Survivor Akihiro Sato and former celebrity castaway Jon Hall visit the island this week.

Aki and Jon, two of the hottest hunks in the previous season of Survivor, get to relive their Survivor days as they set foot on the camps of Tala and Bulan. Will the two hunks be kind enough to share some tips to the remaining castaways to survive the game?

Last week, host Richard Gutierrez announced a tribal shuffle. Castaways KC Montero, Gino dela Peña, John Odulio, Betong, Isabel Granada, and Arthur Solinap went to Bulan; while Chuckie Dreyfus, Carlo Gonzalez, Maey, Arnold Aninion, and Mara Yokohama completed the new Tala tribe. Stef Prescott, who was flown to Manila because of a snake bite, later on joined the Tala tribe.

Bulan tribe members took the hot seat during the first tribal council after the shuffle. In the episode, another twist was introduced in the game — this season will no longer be played in pairs. Thus, Bulan tribe members were told to vote off just one castaway — and this resulted to an intense tribal council.

For the first time this season, a tie-breaker was held after castaways belonging to the new Bulan tribe tried to save their alliance. It was a close fight between former Tala castaway Isabel and original Bulan castaway Gino in terms of votes. The former That’s Entertainment star, however, lost when the Artist Center talent managed to make fire first which cut the rope during the tie-breaker challenge.

Will the presence of Aki and Jon be a welcome surprise for the castaways? And now that Survivor Philippines Celebrity Doubles Showdown has dropped the “pairing scheme,” how will this new twist change the game plan of the remaining castaways? Survivor Philippines airs weeknights after Munting Heredera, on GMA 7.