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Edina Man Competing In New 'Survivor' Season

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 26-year-old Minnesota man is in the running to outlast the competition in the newest season of the reality TV show "Survivor."

Keith Tollefson, a water treatment technician from Edina, Minn., was named one of the 16 new contestants set to try and outlast everyone else on a Samoan island in the South Pacific.

The 16 new contestants will reportedly be joined by two former castaways, to be named later this week.

"Everything about this game I feel like is perfect for me. I grew up in Minnesota, hunting, fishing, camping. So I love to do that," said Tollefson in a promotional interview for the show. "I love being outdoors. That's kind of why I got my degree in environmental science."

Tollefson said he has a congenital heart condition and currently has a pacemaker.

"The only thing that has restricted me is that I couldn't play contact sports," he said. "I would really like to downplay it, but with the scar, you can physically see it."

Tollefson's competition includes a Lingerie Football League player, a country music singer, a Harvard law student, a baseball/dating coach and a medical marijuana dispenser. They'll all be plotting to win the $1 million prize.

This will mark the 23rd season of the reality TV hit, which first debuted on CBS in 2000.

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