Survivor 25 Cast Includes Facts of Life Alum, Former Baseball Star

Actress Lisa Whelchel and athlete Jeff Kent will compete on the show's new season, set in the Philippines, which premieres Sept. 19

Talk about a blast from the past!

CBS unveiled its 18 castaways set to head to the Philippines for Survivor's 25th season this morning and had a bit of a treat for fans of '80s sitcoms: A former TV star has joined the CBS reality show's cast!

Lisa Whelchel, aka The Facts of Life's Blair Warner, will be competing for the $1 million dollar prize, and she's not the only familiar face heading to the Philippines.

Also competing on Survivor's 25th installment is Jeff Kent, a former MVP major leaguer who played for the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Longtime Survivor fans can also expect some twists in the new season, including the contestants being divided into three tribes, named after animals in the region, for the first time in eight years: Kalabaw (water buffalo), Tandang (rooster), and Matsing (monkey). Another fun twist? Three former contestants who were medically evacuated from their respective seasons will be coming back on the show.

Here are the members of the three tribes:

Kalabaw Tribe
Sarah Dawson, 28, Silver Spring, Md., insurance sales
Katie Hanson, 22, Newark, Del., former Miss Delaware
Jeff Kent, 44, Austin, Texas, former baseball MVP
Dana Lambert, 32, Winston-Salem, N.C., cosmetologist
Carter Williams, 24, Shawnee, Kan., track coach
Jonathan Penner, 50, Los Angeles, C.A., writer (Survivor: Cook Islands and Survivor: Micronesia)

Tandang Tribe
Abi-Maria Gomes, 32, Los Angeles, business student
Roberta "R.C." Saint-Amour, 27, New York, investment banker
Artis Silvester, 53, Terry Town, La., computer engineer
Lisa Whelchel, 49, Dallas, former Facts of Life actress
Pete Yurkowski, 24, Holmdel, N.J., engineering graduate
Michael Skupin, 50, White Lake, Mich., professional speaker, author and coach (Survivor: The Australian Outback)

Matsing Tribe
Malcolm Freberg, 25, Hermosa Beach, Calif., bartender
Zane Knight, 28, Danville, Va., tire repair
Angie Layton, 30, Provo, Utah, student
Roxanne "Roxy" Morris, 28, Brooklyn, seminary student
Denise Stapley, 41, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sex therapist
Russell Swan, 45, Glenside, Penn., environmental attorney (Survivor: Samoa)

UPDATE: The three medically evacuated castmembers returning to compete this season are Russell Swan (Survivor: Samoa), who left the competition due to dehydration, Jonathan Penner (Survivor: Cook Islands and Micronesia), who was sidelined by a knee infection, and Michael Skupin (Survivor: The Australian Outback), who was forced to leave after suffering severe burns when he passed out into a fire due to smoke inhalation.

Survivor: Philippines premieres Sept. 19 at 9 p.m. on CBS.

(Originally published on Aug. 20, 2012, at 2:35 p.m. PT)