My favorite show is ready to return for an incredible 43rd season, and an eastern Iowa native is one of the participants.

The new season of Survivor is called Cutthroat Island, and CBS describes it as "one of the most dangerous seasons in the history of the show." A total of eighteen cast members will be competing in Fiji for the chance to win $1 million. One of them is Iowa native Cody Assenmacher, pictured below and above with the Vesi tribe.

Robert Voets/CBS
Robert Voets/CBS
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Assenmacher is 35 and is a native of Preston, about 20 minutes east of Maquoketa, in Jackson County. In his Survivor profile, Assenmacher shares that he has a youthful spirit, a fun-loving personality, and is skilled in the great outdoors. Those are all great traits when it comes to the game of Survivor.

When Assenmacher was a kid he says, "... my older brother strapped me into a sled behind an ATV in a frozen cornfield, and the sled flipped over." If you're thinking, 'ouch!', you're absolutely right. Assenmacher says he lost several bottom front teeth in the incident and has fake ones in their place. He also shares that his hero is a high school classmate who died of cancer. Assenmacher says in his profile, "His loss lit a fire in me at a very young age. That fire continues to drive me to live my life differently."

Assenmacher will try to follow in the footsteps of a pair of Cedar Rapidians who have won Survivor. Sara Lacina was a three-time contestant and the $1 million winner in Season 34. Denise Stapley was the winner of Season 25.

The full cast for the new season of Survivor is below. A total of 18 members on three tribes. Survivor, which debuted on CBS on May 31, 2000, begins its 43rd season on the same network on Wednesday, September 21. I'll be watching, as I have since day one.

Robert Voets/CBS
Robert Voets/CBS
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