Tough As Nails Season 2: Casts, Characteristics revealed

Valerie February 28, 2021 | 15:50

Season 2's cast includes a steelworker, pipe welder, travel nurse, UPS delivery driver, and a retired Air Force colonel who served as a combat aviator for the Navy and Air Force, among others.

Tough As Nails Season 2: Casts, Characteristics revealed

Photo: Parade

After becoming the smash hit of the summer, Tough as Nails is back for another season! The series from The Amazing Race host Phil Keoghan has returned with 12 more contestants with callused hands and open hearts, ready to personify what toughness is.

“Tough as Nails is a celebration of the hard-working men and women who are not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty to do a hard day’s work,” says Keoghan (who also hosts the series as well as serving as showrunner and creator). “Over the past year, we have a renewed appreciation of the essential workforce’ that keeps the country running and I’m excited for viewers to meet the new crew members because this is a group of amazing folks who are real people in real life who are really tough!”

Launch the gallery to see the 12 members of this season’s cast, which includes a steelworker, pipe welder, travel nurse, UPS delivery driver, and retired Air Force colonel. Tough as Nails season 2 premiered Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, said Parade.

Read full information and interview of Tough as Nails season 2 cast below:

Photo: CBS

Tara Alverson

Job: Mariner

Age: 38

Hometown: Bothell, Washington

Current residence: Endurance, a tug boat in Alaska

What do you do? Work on tugboats, push fuel, gravel, heavy equipment, log rafts.

What is a typical day like for you? Work half days, that's 12 hours plus. Sweat, coffee, and making and breaking tow, climbing down into tanks and confined spaces to clean the bilge, whatever it takes to keep the boat floating.

Photo: CBS

Sarah Burkett

Job: Pipe Welder

Age: 41

Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia

Current residence: Petersburg, Virginia

What do you do? Mechanical pipe welder.

What is a typical day like for you? Layout, blueprints, cut, weld pipe, hang pipe, layout mechanical rooms.

What makes you tough as nails? Being able to get back up and keep going after many setbacks.

Photo: CBS

Angel Castillo

Job: Construction Foreman

Age: 29

Hometown: Miami

What do you do? Coordinate and manage construction sites that associate themselves with waterproofing and restoration. Project Manager/Foreman/Superintendent.

What is a typical day like for you? I head out for work at 4 a.m. and work till 5:30 p.m. Clean the house/cook, go to school/study for GC license/construction management degree, finish side jobs, train clients/power lift, music studio, and figure out ways to visit my son.

What makes you tough as nails? I am the hardest worker in the room. I finish what I start. I hold my hand out for whoever needs it. My consistency and determination towards any task are unique—if I fall, I get back up. Even if I were pinned down, I'd find a way to get back on my feet. Failure isn't an option to me. If you tell me it's impossible, I'll make it possible. I take pride in my line of work. I'm a loving father and I battle it out every day with any obstacles or challenges in life to have my son succeed. I'm a family man. I do everything I can for my team and friends I know in/outside of work. I don't go in for a slice, I grab the whole thing and share it with those I love. I am tough as nails. My hands can prove that.

Photo: CBS

Aracelis "Celi" Garcia

Age: 31

Job: Travel Nurse

Hometown: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Current residence: Philadelphia

What do you do? I'm a nurse.

What is a typical day like for you? On a good day, I wake up at 5 a.m. to meditate and get a workout in. Then start work at 7 a.m., off at 7:30 p.m. Working is nonstop on my feet all day, saving lives, long 12 hour days. After work, I cook and if I'm feeling motivated, I get another workout in.

What makes you tough as nails? Why aren't I? I'm a woman, a nurse, and a diva that's not afraid to get my hands dirty!

Photo: CBS

Michael "Eyebrows" Guerriero

Job: Bricklayer

Age: 43

Hometown: Queens, New York

Current residence: Staten Island, New York

What do you do? I'm a union bricklayer in New York City.

What is a typical day like for you? I wake up at 5 a.m., out of the house by 5:45 a.m., get to work at 6:30 a.m., shift starts at 7 a.m. I'm currently working nine-hour days, six days a week. I get off at 4 p.m., get home at like 5:15 p.m., shower, eat, go to the gym for about 40 minutes. Then, I go home to take care of my son and put him to sleep. Around 10 p.m., I'm sleeping.

What makes you tough as nails? I'm tough as nails because my job requires me to be tough mentally and physically.

Photo: CBS

Patrick "Freight Train" Hargan

Job: UPS Delivery Driver

Age: 49

Hometown: East Greenville, Pennsylvania

Current residence: Flourtown, Pennsylvania

What do you do? Deliver packages for UPS.

What is a typical day like for you? I deliver 125-200 delivery stops and pickups and 260-400 packages. I strive for excellent customer service.

What makes you tough as nails? I've had nine surgeries on different parts of my body, eight pins still in my body, and a pulmonary embolism that could have killed me, but I am still doing my job and showing the young guys how the job is done right.

Photo: CBS

Scott Henry

Job: Construction Superintendent

Age: 40

Hometown: Orem, Utah

Current residence: Ogden, Utah

What do you do? I run jobs in the geotechnical field such as stopping landslides, lifting buildings, building retaining walls, and dam repair.

What is a typical day like for you? Safety meeting with the crew. Make goals for the day. Meet with G.C. to make sure we are all on the same page. Traincrew. Order materials.

What makes you tough as nails?

My heart! I don't give up on anything. I want to be the best at what I do. I compete at a very intense level.

Photo: CBS

Iraida Mujica

Job: Transport Track Repair

Age: 43

Hometown: Miramar, Florida

What do you do? I am a track repairer who works on full maintenance of the tracks of Miami-Dade Transit.

What is a typical day like for you? At work from 6 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and complete work orders that are open based on track maintenance. After that, I go home, get ready to head out to the gym for about two hours, and then go home around 6:30-7 p.m. to attend to my family. I work long hours on Saturdays and Sundays.

What makes you tough as nails? My endurance, mental toughness, never-give-up attitude, positive personality, hunger, drive, and fearlessness.

Photo: CBS

Liz "Knuckles" Nichols

Job: Cement Mason

Age: 36

Hometown: Waltham, Massachusetts

Current residence: Portland, Oregon

What do you do? I pour, finish, and repair concrete.

What is a typical day like for you? I'm usually on a deck pouring by 6 a.m. and in the summer it can be 3 or 4 in the morning. We begin our work rodding the concrete to grade, balancing on rebar the whole time. As the concrete gets harder we skate across it on sliders with different trowels or hand floats. When we leave there's a finished floor or sidewalk, something completely new that didn't exist that morning.

What makes you tough as nails? Being a concrete finisher makes me tough as nails. We work long hours doing backbreaking work. I also consider myself tough as nails for working through my pregnancy. I was rodding and troweling concrete at nine months pregnant.

Photo: CBS

Cyril "Zeus" Ontai III

Job: Lineman

Age: 29

Hometown: Honolulu

What do you do? I work on high-voltage power lines. I keep the lights on and businesses running. I maintain power lines on utility poles and various types of structures to ensure efficient power to residential and commercial areas. I install and repair cables used in electrical power or distribution systems.

What is a typical day like for you? On a typical workday, I usually wake up and get my usual at Starbucks (Venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew). I head to work, kick it with my homies, and stretch. After stretching, I get the job for the day and start prepping materials for the job. Execute the job of the day. A normal work shift for me is 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. IF there are no outages. If there are outages, prepare for a long workday! If I finish work on time, my wife and I will do a HIIT workout for about an hour. After working out, the rest of my day goes to my kids!!!! The majority of my time goes to my family, they are my #1 priority!

What makes you tough as nails? I'm not afraid to fail. I meet failure head-on. My mental tolerance is high due to past life experiences. I never doubt myself. I am confident in my abilities.

Photo: CBS

Swifty Sanders

Job: Steelworker

Age: 43

Hometown: East Chicago, Indiana

Current residence: Merrillville, Indiana

What do you do? I am a Steelworker with the USW1011.

What is a typical day like for you? All work, no play!

What makes you tough as nails? I never quit.

Photo: CBS

Merryl Tengesdal

Job: Retired Air Force Colonel

Age: 49

Hometown: Bronx, New York

Current residence: Sacramento, California

What do you do? I'm a retired Air Force Colonel, veteran, and (Naval/Air Force) aviator. I'm the first and currently only African American woman to fly the U-2 Aircraft. I have over 3,400 flight hours in six different aircraft and over 300 combat hours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I'm currently a fitness trainer at a local sports club.

What is a typical day like for you? Making sure my kids get to and from school and to their other activities in the morning. During the day, I motivate people of all ages through fitness training. I also attend various speaking engagements where I share my life story and strive to inspire young minds and future leaders to greatness.

What makes you tough as nails? I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish the goal, regardless of what people think or say.