NEWARK — When the new season of the longtime CBS reality show "Survivor" debuts next month, it will have a student from Newark in the cast.

The network announced that 21-year-old Desiree Afuye will be one of 20 cast members vying for the prize in the show's 36th season. Afuye has been cast as a member of the Naviti Tribe. The network said the castaways are "divided into two groups of 10 and centers around the bad decisions of past players." Contestants can also be sent to a haunted island filled with relics from seasons past.

"The question is: will these new players be able to learn from the past mistakes of others and "reverse the curse," or will the past come back to haunt them?"

Afuye said that her claim to fame is getting back on her feet after being homeless for almost two months. She said after her freshman year in college she didn't have anywhere to live while her parents were in Nigeria.

Now living in Brooklyn with seven women, she lists her hobbies as traveling, debating, and "binging on Youtube videos."

Afuye said that Beyonce is her inspiration in life because "she works so hard and is constantly topping herself," and is "one of the few super humans to walk the Earth."

"The million dollars would change my life drastically," Afuye says on her page. "I would have a story for the books — the girl that went from village to Versailles. I've seen it all, from the slums to the fast-paced, hard working student life in NYC."

The new season premieres on February 28 at 8 p.m.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com

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