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The first time Utahn Tyson Apostol was on "Survivor," his behavior surprised his girlfriend. Sort of.

"I thought there would be some nudity, but not EVERY episode," said Rachel Foulger. "That was a little alarming at first."

"It's my signature move," he said.

Apostol didn't win that season ("Survivor: Tocantins"). He didn't win when he return for "Heroes vs. Villains." But he did make a big impression — and not just because of the nudity, which CBS blurred out.

There are certain contestants who are quickly voted out and even more quickly forgotten. Apostal is certainly not one of them.

He's a funny guy. Arrogantly funny, at first take. Just plain funny after you realize he's having fun with you. And with the game of "Survivor."

Which is why he's back on the show when "Survivor: Blood vs. Water" premieres Wednesday at 7 p.m. on CBS/Ch. 2. And Foulger was invited to go with him this time. And that, despite a few reservations, she went.

"He can tell you all day long it's hard," Foulger said. "But you don't really know how hard it is until you get out there. And I was also really excited to learn all the different survival techniques and kind of learn to live off the land.

"No. 1 'Survivor' technique — let everyone do everything for you," Apostol said.

The twist in "Blood vs. Water" is that half the 20 contestants are returning from previous seasons,; the other half are their loved ones. (Three married couples; two dating couples; two mother-daughter pairs; an engaged couple; brothers; and uncle-niece.)

What they didn't know is that each pair would be separated and put in different tribes.

Which, at least for a while, breaks up what could be one of TV's top comedy teams. Apostol clearly likes to kid Foulger, and she gives it right back to him. Like when he chided her for (in his words) not paying attention during our interview.

"Re-ask the question to Rachel because she was busy browsing the Internet, Googling her name," Tyson said.

Is he always like that?

"All the time," Foulger said. "It's constant."

"No, I go to work sometimes," Tyson said.

"Oh, yeah, sometimes he goes to work. That's from 12 to 2 in the afternoon," she said, as Apostol laughed.

Despite her reservations, Apostal said it wasn't too tough to convince Foulger to sign on.

"It wasn't too hard," he said. "My selling point was — it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we can share together. So why wouldn't you?"

Well, it's a three times-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him.

"I've had it three times, yes," he said with a laugh. "But this is her first. And together — how often would we get to do that?"

Scott D. Pierce covers television for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.