The latest season of Australian Survivor comes to an end over two big nights starting Monday, September 16 and with the season finale airing the next night on Tuesday, September 17 at 7.30pm on 10 and 10 Play.
Making it to the final four are Baden Gilbert, Harry Hills, Luke Toki and Pia Miranda as they vie to make it into the final two and have a shot at being announced this year’s Sole Survivor receiving a whopping $500,000 in prize money. To do so they will require to survive two immunity challenges and two final tribal councils.
Making the final decision is the jury which features eliminated contestants Shaun Hampson, David Genat, John Eastoe, Daisy Richardson, Simon Black, Janine Allis, and Abbey Holmes with two more members to join out of the final four.
The season premiere of Australian Survivor launched with 807,000 after 716,000 tuned into the 2018 series premiere a year ago which made it the biggest Survivor launch ever for 10 and has consistently been one of the best performers this year for audiences under the age of 50.
The most recent episode saw another blindside during an explosive Tribal Council which saw Abbey Holmes go home after Luke announced that he wanted to play his game advantage, leaving both the tribe and the Jury stunned. After choosing to send Baden back to camp, Luke continued to wreak havoc throughout Tribal Council by first whispering a plan to Pia and then one to Abbey.
Network 10’s head of entertainment and factual Stephen Tate said the secret to a great reality show is the casting and used Luke Toki as an example: “The People’s Champion, Luke, is the person we debated the most. When you compare him to the other members of the Champions team he is an unusual casting. What he brings is possibly one of the best social games we have ever seen. That is not to be under-estimated. In the game of Survivor…or life! [Laughs]
“Luke certainly repays our faith in him. He’s a fantastic character. Because he was so popular in the series he was in we decided to give him a second chance. He is the first person to play Survivor twice in Australia.”
“People like Pia Miranda have been projecting themselves into the game since they were very young. Pia wasn’t on our radar until we saw an interview that asked her about the one show she would do that was non-drama. She said Survivor. She got a call from us the next day.”
“If you look at who has won, physical strength is very important in the early days of the game, but mental strength always wins out in the end.”
For the final episode of last seasons series, 1.18 million viewers tuned in to see Shane Gould beat Sharn Coombes in the final vote to win $500,000. Earlier in the evening, 1.16 million viewers watched the Grand Finale, which saw Brian Lake throw his hat in the water, ultimately leading to his elimination.
The fourth season and the second rendition of Champions V Contenders is hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia and is made for Network 10 by Endemol Shine Australia.