Three Minnesota women competing on season 44 of "Survivor"

MINNEAPOLIS -- Three Minnesota natives are competing on the 44th season of "Survivor" in Fiji premiering Wednesday night on CBS and WCCO.

Each will have to outwit, outlast and outplay 17 other competitors to win $1 million and the title of Sole Survivor.

All three women we are dubbing "The Minnesota 3" are superfans of the hit reality show, and more importantly, Minnesota Proud.

Research coordinator Frannie Marin is the youngest of the Minnesota natives competing on "Survivor," at 23 years old. She grew up in St. Paul.

"It's such a friendly community place. There's so much to love. I love the snow so every year that's my favorite thing, when it's blanketed in snow," said Frannie Marin, a St. Paul native now living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Surprisingly, she says Minnesota weather helped her in the typically warm, tropical climate of Fiji.

"It gets kind of cold out there. If it's raining, at night. The harsh winters prepare you more than you'd think," explained Marin.

Marin discovered "Survivor" in her sophomore year of high school and was instantly hooked. At 19, she applied for the first time at an open casting call in Minneapolis.

"I was terrified, and I was pacing around it. It was where the auto show was and I went up and I said something weird in front of the camera, I didn't hear back," said Marin.

Her persistence paid off. Now a contestant, Marin prepared by attempting to recreate the "Survivor" experience on a camping trip.

"We're not going to bring food. We got caught in the rain in the middle of northern Wisconsin and we're trying to do all these balance challenges," said Marin.

Sarah Wade is a 27-year-old management consultant who grew up in Rochester watching the competition as a little girl with her brother.

"He was following along on the entire journey of getting to Survivor," said Sarah Wade, a Rochester native now living in Chicago, Illinois.

Wade's brother was excited but worried for her.

"He said, 'Sarah, you haven't suffered enough. You need to figure out how you're going to suffer out there,'" Wade explained.

Wade took it upon herself to toughen up.

"I read a lot of books on mental toughness, books by Navy SEALs," said Wade.

She also practiced a variety of physical challenges.

"I started swimming a lot. While I was swimming, I would do laps. I bought these lead pipes that I would tie ropes to and tie knots to underwater and I would see how many of the lead pipes and how many knots I could get through without coming up. I was slacklining to work on balance," said Wade.

Wade was also working to, as she put it, get chubbier.

"For a while I was eating six toaster strudels a day to gain weight," said Wade.

Rounding out "The Minnesota 3" is 35-year-old drug counselor Carolyn Wiger. Wiger lives in Hugo and has thrived in the outdoors her entire life.

"Growing up here is being outside. Being outdoors sledding, skiing, skating," said Carolyn Wiger, a North St. Paul native.

For many years, watching other contestants from home, she felt her big personality would keep her from making it to "Survivor."

"They seem so normal, some of them seemed so normal and I didn't feel like I could fit in out there. I'm a lot to handle," said Wiger.

While watching the season 41 premiere, Wiger got a push from her then 8-year-old son.

"He said, 'you would do so awesome out there, Mom.' It made me feel like oh my gosh yes, I can do it," said Wiger.

She prepared for a long time before getting selected.

"Whether it'd be jogging, lifting weights, doing puzzles, doing fire. I would literally walk around with a machete. That sounds really terrifying," said Wiger.

While the women could not reveal any spoilers, they were able to tell us about the moment the competition begins and they see host Jeff Probst for the first time.

"I'm stepping into my TV screen. This is the craziest thing I've ever seen," said Marin.

"This is the craziest moment. I've been dreaming of this since I was 5 years old. And then the other part of me is like, I know this moment. I've watched it 42 times," said Wade.

"I was shaking. This isn't happening. It's too good to be true," said Wiger.

The two-hour "Survivor 44" season premiere begins at 7pm on Wednesday, March 1 on WCCO.