NJ Firefighter To Compete On ‘Survivor’ Airing In March

HOBOKEN, NJ — He grew up in Hoboken in the 1960s and began fighting fires starting in the 1980s, rising to the rank of battalion chief. Now, Mike Turner of Hoboken will compete on the next season of "Survivor" when it premieres on CBS in March.

He'll be competing with a data scientist, an executive recruiter, and a beauty pageant coach — so maybe his work is cut out for him. One never knows with the twists and turns on the long-running reality show.

"My career as a firefighter has totally prepared me for a game like 'Survivor,' because everybody says they'd run into a burning building and pull a person out," he says in an introductory video for the show, whose cast was announced this week.

"But you never know what you're going to do until you're in that moment," he adds. "So hopefully I'm prepared to adapt to different situations."

He said his biggest challenge will be keeping his voice down. "I talk loud," he says. "It's called the 'Hoboken whisper."

Turner recently displayed his Hoboken pride by posting photos of the mile-square city in the snow.

Personal Details

Turner started with the department in 1985. Here are his answers to questions posed by CBS:

• Age: 58
• Use Three Words To Describe Yourself: Loyal, loud and fair.
• Pet peeve? People ripping open cereal boxes and leaving them open. People who are late.
• Heroes: Fire Captain Stankiewicz, John O'Brien, Aunt Ruth, Uncle David.

"I’ll make people believe I’m not a threat until it’s too late," he warns. "I also have the gift of gab! People will like me (even Jeff)."

Season 42 of Survivor premieres March 9.

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