Survivor: Blood vs. Water is the 27th season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The cast consists of 10 pairs of loved ones, each composed of one new player and one returning player with varying relationships, including mother-daughter, spouses, fiancees, dating, brothers, and uncle-niece. The cast includes former NFL player Brad Culpepper, competing alongside his wife, Survivor: One World castaway Monica, and Big Brother 12 winner Hayden Moss, playing alongside his girlfriend Kat Edorsson, also from One World. Moss is the first former Big Brother contestant to appear on Survivor. Redemption Island, a twist formerly seen in Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: South Pacific, was utilized after a three-season hiatus. In conjunction with the "Blood vs. Water" twist, remaining contestants were given the option to switch places with their loved one if their loved one was on Redemption Island. The game began with a twist called Day Zero, in which each of the ten pairs was marooned in a separate location, spending the night together before congregating as a full cast the following morning and dividing into two tribes. Due to this twist, this season is one of three to last longer than 39 days. This season also marks the second occurrence of the rock-picking tiebreaker. This is also the first time in 13 seasons, since Survivor: Fiji, to not feature a fan favorite vote that would award one player with US$100,000.
