BENTON — Another Mainer will soon face the tribal council.

Ashley Underwood of Benton, a basketball star who was crowned Miss Maine in 2009, is among 18 castaways who will compete for a $1 million prize on the next “Survivor” show on CBS.

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“I really think pageants get a bad rap sometimes,” says “Survivor” contestant Ashley Underwood of Benton. Contributed photo

The network confirmed the cast of contestants Monday for “Survivor: Redemption Island,” which will begin airing Feb. 16.

Underwood, 25, is a nurse who graduated from Cony High School in Augusta and the University of Maine. As a basketball player, she scored more than 1,000 points at each school.

On Monday, neither Underwood nor her parents, Charles and Theresa Underwood of Benton, could speak about the show because of contractual obligations with CBS.

In a promotional video for the show, posted on a CBS website, each contestant is introduced for a few seconds. Underwood talks about becoming Miss Maine.

“I really think pageants get a bad rap sometimes, but in all honesty, it really takes a lot of mental toughness,” she says in the video.

According to CBS, the 22nd installment of the Emmy Award-winning show was filmed on the beaches of Nicaragua, where the previous show was filmed.

It features a new twist. A contestant who is voted out of the competition by the tribal council doesn’t immediately leave the show, but instead is exiled to “Redemption Island.”

There, the contestant duels with the next person to be voted off. The winner of that duel avoids elimination and earns a chance to return to the game to compete for the show’s title.

Underwood was one of 16 people announced Monday by CBS. The group includes former NFL players, an Iraq War veteran and a cheerleader. The remaining two contestants were not announced. They are former contestants who will be named later this week.

In a biography posted on a CBS website, Underwood cites her claims to fame as “spending time abroad in Switzerland, playing basketball professionally and competing in the Miss USA competition.”

The three words she uses to describe herself are “feisty, competitive and athletic.”

She says her hobbies are basketball, sports, four-wheeling and helping out on her family’s strawberry and vegetable farm in Benton.

She says her inspiration in life is “my momma,” who “raised four kids while managing two businesses and has always been the perfect example of the most devoted wife and doting mother.”

Asked why she thinks she’ll survive the competition, Underwood says she’s “strong, competitive and athletic” and has “the ability to think under pressure.”

Underwood attended Cony High School from 1999 to 2003 and played a key role as the Rams played in Maine’s Eastern Class A basketball final in each of her four years. As a senior, she was a finalist for Miss Maine Basketball.

She then attended UMaine and was a key player on the women’s basketball team, finishing 10th on the all-time list for the Black Bears with 1,195 points. Underwood, a 5-foot-8-inch shooting guard, graduated in 2007 with a degree in nursing and went on to play basketball professionally in Switzerland.

She has worked full time as a nurse for School Administrative District 49, which serves her hometown of Benton as well as Albion, Clinton and Fairfield.

She was named Miss Maine in 2009 over other 12 contestants and went on to compete in the nationally televised Miss USA pageant.

If Underwood’s preparation for basketball and the national pageant is any indication, she likely studied extensively for “Survivor.”

Underwood previously told the Morning Sentinel that she spent months preparing for the Miss USA pageant by watching videos of winning contestants and observing how they walked, turned and posed.

“It’s kind of like in basketball when I used to study film,” Underwood said at the time.

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