Australian Survivor: Blood v Water

After surviving 47 days in Queensland, Australia, returning player Mark Wales defeated Chrissy Zaremba and Shay Lajoie in a unanimous 10-0-0 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor. To date, two castaways from Blood v Water (Jordie Hansen and Nina Twine) have returned for a future season.

Production[]

Similar to Brains v Brawn, this season was produced locally as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, under the same health protocols. Production stayed in Queensland, but the filming location was moved from Cloncurry to the Charters Towers region. Endemol Shine, the company that produces the series, received AU$3.9 million through the Australian Federal Government's Location Incentive grant after filming Brains v Brawn in the previous year, which was heavily attributed as the reason for the series being produced locally again.^[1]

Twists/Changes[]

• Blood v Water: The castaways were pairs of loved ones competing against each other.
• Import Castaway: Two-time Survivor (U.S.) winner Sandra Diaz-Twine was invited to compete with her daughter Nina who was competing for the first time.
• Returning Players: Mark Wales and Sam Gash, who met in Australian Survivor (2017) and later married, returned as a competing pair. Additionally, Andy Meldrum from Champions v Contenders (2019) competed with his sister Kate.
• Rules regarding transferability of Advantages: Starting from this season, idols and advantages may no longer be passed to another player once their holder is voted out.
• Hidden Immunity Idol: Multiple Hidden Immunity Idols were planted:
  • A temporary idol was placed below Jonathan's podium where the voting urn was placed while reading the votes. Two copies of the same clue were hidden at the Water tribe camp. This idol was only usable at the first Tribal Council.^[2]
  • A pair of idols, one for each tribe, was made available during the castaways' trip to the Survivor Shop on Day 3. The idols can be combined to form one "super-idol", which can be played after the votes have been read.
• Tribe Switch
  • Mock Vote Tribal Council: On Day 9, under the pretense that the Blood tribe voted a member out for losing the Immunity Challenge, they unknowingly sent the person "voted out" (Sophie) to the Water tribe instead to be its newest member.
  • Tribe Switch: On Day 15, a tribe switch took place, randomly distributing the final 19 castaways between the Blood and Water tribes. The odd-person out had the option of deciding which tribe to join.
  • Kidnapping: On Day 22, the Water tribe lost the Immunity Challenge and went to Tribal Council. The castaways who received votes were eligible for kidnap. The winners of the Immunity Challenge then had the opportunity to vote to kidnap one of the eligible players.
• Fire-Making Elimination: On Day 24, instead of a tribal Immunity Challenge, both tribes competed in an individual Immunity Challenge. At Tribal Council, instead of voting someone out of the game, both tribes voted one member into a firemaking challenge, with the loser being eliminated.
• Purgatory: On Days 32 to 35, the people voted out were not sent home but instead sent to Purgatory to face each other to earn their spot back into the game.
• Double Elimination: At the Day 34 Tribal Council, two people were voted out.
• Safety Without Power: This advantage allows its user to send three castaways back to camp and without casting a vote.
• Expanded Jury and Final Three: For the first time in Australian Survivor, the Final Tribal Council had three finalists face a 10-person jury.

Castaways[]

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation					Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Post-Swap Tribe	Switched Tribe	Post-Kidnap Tribe	Merged Tribe
	Andy Meldrum 49, Noosa, QLD Champions v Contenders (2019) Kate's brother	Water					1st Voted Out Day 2	9
	Briana Goodchild 26, QLD David's daughter	Water					2nd Voted Out Day 5	10
	Kate Tatham 46, QLD Andy's sister	Blood					3rd Voted Out Day 7	3
	Alex Frost 26, VIC Jay's brother-in-law	Water	Water				Quit Day 12	2
	Jay Bruno 34, VIC Alex's brother-in-law	Blood	Blood				4th Voted Out Day 14	4
	Sandra Diaz-Twine 47, Riverview, FL Pearl Islands, Heroes vs. Villains, Game Changers & Winners at War Nina's mother	Blood	Blood	Blood			5th Voted Out Day 16	13
	Sophie Cachia 31, Melbourne, VIC KJ's sister	Blood	Water	Water			6th Voted Out Day 18	6
	Amy Ong 24, VIC Khanh's sister	Blood	Blood	Blood			7th Voted Out Day 20	9
	Nina Twine 24, Riverview, FL Sandra's daughter	Water	Water	Blood			Evacuated Day 22	0
	Croc Crocker 41, Sunshine Coast, QLD Chrissy's brother-in-law	Blood	Blood	Water	Water		8th Voted Out Day 23	4
	Ben Watson 33, Sunshine Coast, QLD Shay's partner	Blood	Blood	Water	Water		Eliminated Day 24	6
	Khanh Ong 30, VIC Amy's brother	Water	Water	Water	Water	Lava	9th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 27	10
	Mel Chiang 33, Melbourne, VIC Michelle's twin sister	Water	Water	Blood	Blood		10th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 28	17
	Jesse Hansen 22, Canberra, ACT Jordie's brother	Blood	Blood	Water	Water		11th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30	7
	Michelle Chiang 33, Sydney, NSW Mel's twin sister	Blood	Blood	Water	Water		Eliminated 4th Jury Member Day 36	10
	Jordan Schmidt 29, VIC Josh's cousin	Blood	Blood	Blood	Blood		12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 39	5
	Sam Gash 37, Melbourne, VIC Australian Survivor (2017) Mark's wife	Blood	Blood	Water	Water		13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 40	7
	David Goodchild 51, QLD Briana's father	Blood	Blood	Blood	Blood		14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 42	16
	Jordie Hansen 25, Melbourne, VIC Jesse's brother	Water	Water	Blood	Blood		15th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 43	22
	KJ Austin 37, VIC Sophie's sister	Water	Water	Water	Blood		16th Voted Out 9th Jury Member Day 45	16
	Josh Millgate 31, VIC Jordan's cousin	Water	Water	Blood	Blood		17th Voted Out 10th Jury Member Day 46	11
	Chrissy Zaremba 42, Sunshine Coast, QLD Croc's sister-in-law	Water	Water	Water	Water		Runners-Up	3
	Shay Lajoie 31, Sunshine Coast, QLD Ben's partner	Water	Water	Blood	Blood			10
	Mark Wales 41, Melbourne, VIC Australian Survivor (2017) Sam's husband	Water	Water	Blood	Blood		Sole Survivor	8

Season Summary[]

Voting History[]

		Original Tribes				Post-Swap Tribes		Switched Tribes						Post-Kidnap Tribes				Merged Tribe
Episode		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10			11	12			13	14	15	16	17		18		19	20	21		22	23		24
Voted Out		Andy	Briana	Kate	Mock Vote	Alex	Jay	Sandra	Sophie	Amy	Nina	Mock Vote	Kidnap Vote	Croc	Mel	Ben	Ben	Khanh	Mel	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	KJ	Michelle	Michelle	Jordan	Sam	Tie	David	Jordie	Tie	KJ	Josh	Shay	Chrissy	Mark
Vote		9-2-11	9-2	3-1-02	7-43	No vote4	4-3-02	9-11	6-2-1	6-2-1	No vote5	5-2-16	6-1-06	4-2-1	5-3	4-2	No vote7	7-4-2	6-4-1-1	6-4-1	7-2-1	8-1	4-2-1-1	6-1	Challenge8	4-2	5-3	2-2-02,10	4-1	5-11	2-2-110	2-1	3-1	10-0-0
►►►►	Mark	Andy	Chrissy	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	—	—	KJ	—	Mel	—	—	Khanh	Michelle	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	KJ	Michelle	—	None9	Jordie	David	David	Jordie	KJ	KJ	Josh	Jury Vote
►►►►	Chrissy	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	—	Sophie	—	—	Ben	—	Ben	—	Ben	—	Mel	Michelle	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	David	Michelle	—	None9	Jordie	Jordie	David	Jordie	Mark	KJ	Josh
►►►►	Shay	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	—	—	Ben	—	Mel	—	—	Mel	Mel	Jesse	Mark					Jordan	Sam	Mark	David	Jordie	Josh	Josh	Josh
►►►►	Josh	Alex	Briana	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	—	—	KJ	—	Mel	—	—	Khanh	Mel	KJ	KJ	Jordie	KJ	Michelle	—	None10	Sam	David	David	Jordie	KJ	None	Chrissy			Mark
►►►►	KJ	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	—	Sophie	—	—	Ben	—	—	Mel	—	—	Mel	Michelle	Josh	Shay	Jordie	Mark			Jordan	Sam	Mark	Jordie	Jordie	Josh	None				Mark
►►►►	Jordie	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	—	—	KJ	—	Mel	—	—	Khanh	Michelle	Josh	Mark	Sam				Jordan	Sam	Mark	None	Shay						Mark
►►►►	David	—	—	Kate	Sophie	—	Sandra	Sandra	—	Mel	—	—	KJ	—	KJ	—	—	Khanh	Mel	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	Sam	Michelle	—	Jordan	Sam	Jordie	None							Mark
►►►►	Sam	—	—	Sandra	Sophie	—	Jay	—	Sophie	—	—	Ben	—	Croc	—	Ben	—	Mel	Mel	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	KJ	Michelle	—	Jordie	Jordie									Mark
►►►►	Jordan	—	—	Kate	David	—	Jay	Sandra	—	Mel	—	—	KJ	—	KJ	—	—	Khanh	Mel	Jesse	Shay	Jordie	KJ	Michelle	—	Jordie										Mark
►►►►	Michelle	—	—	David	Sophie	—	Jay	—	KJ	—	—	KJ	—	Croc	—	Khanh	—	Shay	Jordie	Josh	Shay	Jordie	Mark	David	Eliminated											Mark
►►►►	Jesse	—	—	David	Sophie	—	Amy	—	Sophie	—	—	Ben	—	Croc	—	Ben	—	Khanh	Mel	Josh																Mark
►►►►	Mel	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	—	—	KJ	—	KJ		Returned	Khanh	Josh																	Mark
►►►►	Khanh	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	—	Sophie	—	—	Ben	—	Ben	—	Ben	—	Shay																		Mark
►►►	Ben	—	—	Kate	David	—	Jay	—	Sophie	—	—	Khanh	—	Croc	—	Khanh	Eliminated
►►►	Croc	—	—	David	David	—	Amy	—	KJ	—	—	Khanh	—	Jesse
►►	Nina	Andy	Briana	—	—	—	—	Sandra	—	Amy	Evacuated
►►	Amy	—	—	David	Sophie	—	Sandra	Sandra	—	Jordan
►►	Sophie	—	—	David	David	—	—	—	Khanh
►►	Sandra	—	—	David	Sophie	—	Amy	David
►	Jay	—	—	David	Sophie	—	Sandra
►	Alex	Briana	Briana	—	—	Quit
	Kate	—	—	David
	Briana	Andy	Chrissy
	Andy	Alex
Notes: ^1 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against the user. ^3 In a surprise twist, instead of a regular vote, the Blood tribe unknowingly voted for one member to be swapped to Water. Sophie was "voted out" and swapped to Water. ^4 Alex elected to quit the game due to a back injury. No vote occurred for his removal. ^5 Nina was medically evacuated over her injured ankle. No vote occurred for her removal. ^6 In a surprise twist, the people that received votes at Water's Tribal Council became eligible to be kidnapped by Blood. Blood then cast their votes to decide which of the eligible Water members to kidnap. ^7 Instead of being permanently eliminated from the game, the two castaways competed in a fire-making challenge to determine who would be eliminated, with the other re-entering the game. ^8 The last four castaways voted out (KJ, Jordie, Michelle, and Shay) competed in a duel for three of them to re-enter the game, with the last castaway being permanently eliminated. ^9 KJ played an advantage, allowing her to send three castaways back to camp without voting. ^10 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Australian Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.

Trivia[]

• Blood v Water is the fourth season internationally to have pairs of loved ones as contestants, following Celebrity Doubles Showdown from the Philippine version, Blood vs. Water, and San Juan del Sur from the American version, and Celebrity Doubles Showdown.
  • Unlike the earlier iterations of the couples format, this season is the first to feature a pair of returning players instead of both being first time players, or one member being a returning player.
  • This season however is the second internationally to feature a full pair of returning players with a familial relationship, following Rob and Amber Mariano.
• Blood v Water contains the most contestants of Asian descent of any season in Australian Survivor, with 4. This would be tied by Heroes v Villains.

References[]