Tina's Take On New Contestants

The third installment of Survivor officially kicks off Thursday night. And like its predecessors, "Survivor: Africa" features 16 contestants trying to outwit, outplay and outlast each other for a million-dollar prize.

Tonight's premiere suggests the newcomers are well prepared -- plenty of infighting, bickering and back-stabbing, which may be both a good and a bad idea to start off the game, according to last season's winner, Tina Wesson. She visited The Early Show to give us an insider's look at the teams.

"Communication is always important, always. So if there's a problem, let's get it out in the open. But it's how you communicate. You don't want to be bossy. You don't want to act like you're trying to push people around. So you gotta be diplomatic in your communication," she said.

She should know. She stayed under the radar for a while and was very well-liked by the other contestants.

"I'm not a conflict-oriented person. I don't like conflict, period. I think I can get my point across without causing too much of a ripple," she said.

And so after looking at the team pictures of the contestants, she is taking the role of amateur psychologist to offer a tribe analysis.

The Samburus, she noted, make a happy tribe. "They've got their arms around each other. Every single person is touching someone in that picture. They're a happy group. Look at the Boran tribe on the left. The only person touching is Clarence touching Tom. He's got his arm up on his shoulderÂ…. They look miserable. Their body language is not happy. And I don't know how long this is into the game, whether it's at the beginning or one, two, or three days in. It says a lot."

Her assessment in no way indicates that the Samburus are better equipped to compete, Tina noted.

"I'm saying that they will participate better as a team. I think that they'll click a little better -- that, you know, they may have the upper hand. Now the Boran tribe actually has four of my favorites in there. So I hate that," she said.

One of her favorites is soccer pro Ethan Zohn.

"He's kind. You know, I was looking at their audition tapes, and he is just probably one of the kindest people that I saw on the tapes. And you know, I gotta pull for the sweetheart of the group," she added.

Apart from doing this Survivor analysis, Wesson has been busy having fun.

"I don't really have a career, so I said with my fame, I want to play. That's exactly what I've been doing for five months," she said.

The U.S. Army invited her to join the Golden Knights last month for a parachute jump.

"One of the greatest things about this is me and my husband, Dayle, we're both adventure junkies, and I was so afraid he wouldn't get to jump. He actually jumped that day, as well," she said.

But what she looks forward to most is hanging out in the sprawling 4,500-square-foot Colonial house that she, Dayle, and two teen-age children moved into this summer. This might explan why her "Survivor" money is all gone now. She also helped some friends pay off some debts, and she kept the promise she made to Colby.

"I was going to buy him the bike. We made our promise that I bought him the bike. Well, he had three bikes by the time that he won the Survivor thing. And so I just gave him the money for a bike and he could do with it what he wanted," she said.

As for her 15 minutes of fame, aside from a commercial shoot for Reebock, Wesson has been playing in charity softball games, golf tournaments and doing speaking engagements.

"I'm doing a lot of things I'm very proud of. I'm working with the Arthritis Foundation and we're developing a new program called Survive and Succeed, and we help people who suffer with rheumatoid arthritis. I'm doing things that can make me feel good about what I'm doing," she said.

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