The Australian version of the reality game show Survivor, two series were attempted in 2002 (on Nine Network) and 2006 (on Seven Network) without success. In 2016, Network Ten rebooted the series to huge acclaim and success, and has attracted a big international following with an average of two episodes airing each week.
The post-2016 format mostly follows the standard Survivor format of the American originator, but stands out in a few key areas:
- The cast is significantly bigger. Each season features a total of 24 castaways typically divided into two tribes of 12. This usually means that its easier for lesser players to become Out of Focus, in exchange for there being a higher number of standout star players in each season.
- The show is significantly longer. The contestants are expected to compete for around 50-55 days for the title of Sole Survivor and the $500,000 prize, and non-elimination episodes are more common. Each season lasts for around 24-26 episodes, and each episode can easily be an hour long or even longer.
- The challenges typically place a much bigger emphasis on physical combat, endurance and athleticism. The side-effect of this is that the 'brains vs. brawn' dynamic of traditional Survivor is magnified, and the social game for physically weaker players becomes even more important.
- Due to Australian broadcast law's welfare requirements, reward challenges almost always see the winners earn entire banquets of food to enjoy. This generally means that contestants rarely get famished, and the show's survival aspects of building shelter and finding food are heavily downplayed in exchange for even more focus on the social game.
- Australian Survivor tends to shun season-wide gameplay gimmicks, in exchange for making more frequent use of spontaneous single episode twists. This is partially a consequence of the longer season length necessitating ways of keeping players around for longer, and has the result of the show feeling more chaotic than its counterparts.
The series is hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia. The show is not to be confused with the second season of the American show, Survivor: The Australian Outback.
WARNING: Spoilers ahead are unmarked. You have been warned.
Recap (2016-present)
Australian Survivor 2016
- Location: Upolu, Samoa
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Aganoa, Saanapu and Vavau, named after local villages
- Merged tribe: Fia Fia, Samoan for "to be happy"
- Winner: Kristie Bennett of Sydney, New South Wales
Australian Survivor 2017
- Location: Upolu, Samoa
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Asaga and Samatau, named after local villages
- Merged tribe: Asatoa, a portmanteau of the starting tribes and Samoa
- Winner: Jericho Malabonga of Melbourne, Victoria
Champions v Contenders (2018)
- Location: Savusavu, Fiji
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Champions (made up of public figures from fields such as sports and entertainment) and Contenders (made up of everyday Australians)
- Merged tribe: Koro Savu, Fijian for "village of the waterfall"
- Winner: Shane Gould of Bicheno, Tasmania
Champions v Contenders (2019)
- Location: Savusavu, Fiji
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Champions (made up of public figures from fields such as sports and entertainment) and Contenders (made up of everyday Australians)
- Merged tribe: Soli Bula, Fijian for "sacrifice"
- Winner: Melbourne, Victoria
All Stars (Summer 2020)
- Location: Savusavu, Fiji
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Makuta and Vakama, Fijian for "to strike" and "to burn" respectively.
- Merged tribe: Kalokalo, Fijian for "stars".
- Winner: David Genat of New York City, USA (originally from Perth, Western Australia)
- The first Reunion Show.
Brains v Brawn (2021)
- Location: Cloncurry, Queensland
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Brains (made up of people from more mental-based backgrounds) and Brawn (made up of people from more physical-based backgrounds).
- Merged tribe: Fire.
- Winner: Hayley Leake of Sydney, New South Wales
- The first season filmed on-location in Australia since the original series back in 2002.
Blood v Water (2022)
- Location: Charters Towers, Queensland
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Blood and Water, named after the twist of the season — this season's cast is made up of 12 pairs of loved ones
- Merged tribe: Lava.
- Winner: Mark Wales of Perth, Western Australia, returning from 2017.
Heroes v Villains (2023)
- Location: Upolu, Samoa
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Heroes and Villains
- Merged tribe: Fa'amolemole, Samoan for "Please".
- Winner: Liz Parnov of Perth, Western Australia
Titans v Rebels (2024)
- Location: Upolu, Samoa
- Number of castaways: 24
- Starting tribes: Titans and Rebels
- Merged tribe: Tasi
- Winner: Feras Basal of Sydney, New South Wales
Previously on... Australian Survivor!
- The Ace: Henry from 2017 was good-looking, athletic, and very good at making friends. It worked well early on, but when he switched over to the other tribe, he took it too far - one of his first moves was to stage a fake game show for his new fellow tribe members, quizzing them on subjects of their choosing and playing the hammy announcer. It was the most fun anyone on the show ever seemed to have outside of a reward prize, but two people immediately marked him as one to be careful of because he was just too good.
- Affectionate Nickname: Mat in Champions v Contenders (2018) gets 'The Godfather,' due to his central role to the tribe, but despite the implications, he was very well-liked. Less harmless was Fenella and Shonee's nickname of 'Grubby' for Brian, a teasing reference to his less than active work around camp, and deliberately targeted to stoke his ego. Shane points it out in the finale, saying she admired the way Fenella used the nickname to 'mess with his head.'
- Also, Mark H from 2017 got 'Tarzan', due to his impressive beard and physique.
- Janine in Champions v Contenders (2019) was referred to as 'The Godmother' by Harry due to him seeing her as running the post-swap Contenders tribe, and she eventually embraced it, even referring to her ally Pia as 'The Smiling Assassin' because underneath her friendly persona was a cutthroat player.
- Ascended Fan: Many, but most notably Kristie, who used the fact that she'd been a megafan of Survivor since she was a little kid to guilt Lee into letting her win the final immunity challenge.
- Bad Liar: Benji from Champions v Contenders (2018) had a tendency of making up any lies that would get him to the next day, usually about who was gunning for who. Sometimes it worked - when he told practically everyone in his tribe that Tegan was after them, they didn't seem to hold it against him much even when Tegan came back and made it clear she'd been happy to vote with the tribe. But it works out less well post-merge when he tells Brian that Sharn was planning on voting him out, in an attempt to get him on his side... while Brian was literally wearing the immunity necklace around his neck. Shonee's Surrounded by Idiots reaction is priceless. And sure enough, Benji goes out very soon, with Brian playing one of the turning votes.
- Bloodier and Gorier: Australian Survivor has picked up a reputation for being "the rough Survivor" thanks to its challenges placing a much greater premium on physical ability.
- Brains Versus Brawn: The theme of the 2021 season, which splits the contestants up into two teams based on their supposed intellect and strength.
- Brick Joke: At the merge episode of the 2017 season, Jarrad instructed Jericho to vote for Luke and put an underline on it so that Jarrad would know it was his. At Tribal Council, Jericho does indeed make sure to put an underline on his vote... with Jarrad's name on it, sending him to the jury. Fast forward to Final Tribal Council, Jarrad brings this up when addressing Jericho and states that "what goes around, comes around" and he will use his jury vote to send him a message, with an underline. As it turned out, it was the winning vote that secured Jericho the title of Sole Survivor.
- Comic Relief: After his ally Jackie was voted out (partly thanks to his other ally Shane), Brian tried to establish himself as this, hoping that if he could make people laugh they would want to keep him around.
- Companion Show: Has two, which are available to watch online via Network Ten's YouTube or streaming service.
- Talking Tribal is a weekly panel show that discusses the events of the past week's episodes.
- The Jury Villa airs after each episode that sees a contestant eliminated and added to the jury, and shows them arriving at their post-elimination accommodations, reuniting with their fellow jurists, and enjoying a full meal.
- Cool Old Lady: Shane Gould, gold medal winning Olympian swimmer and 61-year-old. And the oldest contestant ever to win the title of Sole Survivor.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Kristie is the prime example. Her freakouts and oddball antics meant that she wasn't taken seriously by the rest of the cast, to the point where the jury were shocked that she somehow won the Final Immunity Challenge. Come Final Tribal Council, she is able to eloquently explain her under-the-radar game in such a way that what seemed like an easy win for Lee was suddenly flipped on its head and she convinced the jury to vote for her to win in a landslide.
- Curb-Stomp Battle
- The post-swap of the 2016 season was essentially this, as a twist resulted in the new Saanapu tribe being significantly stronger than the new Vavau tribe. And sure enough, Vavau got crushed in the challenges, and by the time the two tribes finally merged, Vavau was reduced to a tribe of three. With the exception of eventual winner Kristie, the remaining post-swap Vavau members subsequently got Pagonged after the merge.
- A similar occurrence happened in Champions v Contenders (2018), where the Contenders were left with four original members at the merge.
- Champions v Contenders (2019) showed that even the Final Tribal Council can be this, after Pia defeated Baden in a 9-0 vote.
- Another example from Final Tribal Council, this time in Blood v Water. Mark ended up defeating Chrissy and Shay in the Australian version's first ever Final 3 in a 10-0-0 vote.
- Liz on Heroes v Villains was able to repeat the feats that the previous Mark and Pia achieved by defeating Matt and Gerry at Final Tribal Council in a 7-0-0 vote.
- Once again happened on Titans v Rebels, where Feras defeated Caroline in a decisive 9-0 vote.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: A fatal one from Brian in Champions v Contenders (2018) - the final immunity challenge was slightly different than in previous years in that contestants were supposed to keep both hands on the idol, not just one. Three hours in, Brian took off his hat without thinking... taking his hand from the idol in the process, and inadvertently handing the necklace to Sharn. However, he did admit immediately after that Sharn hadn't budged at all in that time, and then he really didn't stand a chance, and considering Sharn's previous history with endurance challenge, he was probably right.
- David vs. Goliath: The two Champions v Contenders seasons, which pitted a team of champions of many types (including many sports heroes but also an astrophysicist, a barrister, a previous Survivor USA contestant, and a Miss Universe Australia winner) against a team of more ordinary people. In the end, while it wasn't a total blowout, the Champions definitely had the advantage in tribal challenges.
- Diabolus ex Machina: Anneliese in the 2017 season got voted out after correctly playing her Hidden Immunity Idol, before Ziggy suddenly stood up and played a Super Idol - which had the power to nullify a regular idol.
- Digging Yourself Deeper: When Zach's sexism was raised in a Tribal Council, he tried to defend himself, but only made himself look even worse, so badly that he was voted off almost unanimously even though that hadn't been the plan before that point. At the reunion, Jonathan even asked if he didn't think maybe it was better just to stop talking, and he agreed - but then claimed that there was only so much 'stupidity' he could put up with; from reactions, that comment didn't exactly do him any favours either.
- Disc-One Final Boss:
- Phoebe in the 2016 season, the main strategic and social player of the first half of the game, and even being a minority in Vavau, she with help of two Hidden Immunity Idols orchestrating blindsides and survive five Tribal Councils. However she was voted out by rest of Vavau and her former closest ally Kristie before the merge.
- AK in the 2017 season. He was an aggresive strategist before the merge, even being a minority in Samatau, he was able to turn the game around by destroying the main alliance and taking control of the tribe, but then... the Tribal Swap sent him in a totally minority to the Asaga tribe, where he reunited with his Arch-Enemy Tara and was voted out as a huge threat.
- Mat Rogers in All-Stars, at least for Vakama. He worked with his rival David Genat and had a Hidden Immunity Idol and orchestrated blindside on Daisy. After the Tribe Switch, Mat was left in Vakama without allies and even successfully playing Idol, he was voted out on the next Tribal Council.
- Early Instalment Weirdness: The first season of the 2016 revival is the only one to divide its initial castaways into three tribes of eight; every subsequent season has gone with two tribes of twelve instead.
- False Friend: Most obviously, Sharn allied with Benji during the tribe swap, and he seemed to consider her a close ally. However, he partnered more closely with Shonee and Fenella later (the people Sharn was generally trying to send home), and abused their seeming friendsip in one of the ballsiet moves ever, when Sharn tried to play her idol to protect Mat, and Benji spoke up to convince her to play it for herself, acting as though he was betraying his teammates to defend her due to their friendship. She trusted him and changed her vote... and Mat was sent home. She was not happy, and was able to convince enough people to send him home next. Shonee was also this to an extent with Brian - after Fenella was sent home due to Brian's mistake, she continued to act as friendly to him as ever, though she was secretly plotting for him to be sent home in revenge.
- Friendly Rivalry: Mat and Robbie in Champions v Contenders (2018) had a casual rivalry for immunity challenge wins, though Mat was the pretty clear winner.
- Game-Breaking Injury: Jenna from Champions v Contenders (2018) suffered a painful but not debilitating leg injury in an early challenge, but it became much harder to deal with when she later insisted on also taking part in a wrestling challenge and massively aggravated it. She was taken away in helicoptor and came back with her leg in a cast, but wasn't eliminated just yet. She was visibly very upset and pleaded with her team-mates not to vote her out at Tribal, but practicality won out and her tribe reluctantly sent her home.
- Genius Bruiser: It's fair to say that Jonathan is pretty stacked. He's also a qualified doctor.
- Griefer: Henry from 2017 deliberately elected to be in the final, puzzle part of a tribal challenge so he could deliberately tank, because at the time he had the votes to take out someone he wanted to send home and didn't want to risk things changing if they didn't go to tribal council immediately. However, by the time it came for him and his partner to perform, his team already had such a huge advantage over the other that he wasn't able to lose even on purpose. He does manage it however in a later challenge which he lost for the same reason.
- He-Man Woman Hater: Zach from the 2018 Contenders tribe, who constantly claimed that his tribe's difficulty with challenges was a result of the women on his tribe being inferior to those on the other tribe. While he had a point, his tendency to ignore his own failures, and his condescension - once he claimed they would only win if they faced a 'dishwashing challenge' - made him so obnoxious that even his own allies ended up joining in on voting him out.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: In the 2016 season, when it came down to the final 7, Flick seemed to have it made. Brooke has stepped up as the premier power player of the entire game, a veritable master of building up alliances and controlling which way the game was going. And Flick was her right-hand woman, her 'bestie' who had stuck by her side the entire time. At this point in the game, Brooke was already planning out the very end stages, organising with Flick who they should take to the final 5, 4, and then 3 - of course, Flick was to be standing with her in the final 2. While Brooke was great at the game, she was never known for backstabbing - Flick had no reason to think she would honour her word, and the plan was a good one. First action: vote off Lee, by far the biggest threat, a challenge-winning powerhouse who was well-liked and had made it clear he intended to take El and no-one else to the final 2. However, for reasons unknown, Flick decided not to follow - she said that players should have to earn their place in Survivor, and Brooke had grown complacent. So she ultimately arranged to blindside Brooke, in the biggest upset so far. However, Lee was still there - and more powerful than ever, with Brooke's previous alliance now totally ripped apart. Flick tried to keep up her original strategy by voting off relative outsider Sam next Tribal, but once they reached the final 5 and she realised how much trouble she was in, Kristie had already made her decision to align herself to Lee. (To be fair, it was widely agreed that this was gameplay suicide. Though she, in fact, knew exactly what she was doing.) Flick was voted out next Tribal Council, only reaching fourth.
- Honesty Is the Best Policy: Became a big issue with Lee in the 2016 season. He stated many times that his reason for joining the game was to prove to his young sons that the game could be played honestly and morally - which to him meant honouring party loyalty and refusing sneak attacks or backstabs. However, as the game went on, this became progressively harder, culminating during the endgame, where he was left with a very difficult choice. He and El had been very close for quite a while (many jury and audience members suspected a romance), and had all but explicitly stated they would take one another to the final two. According to his stated principles of loyalty, he should have stuck to that. However, when it came down to the final five, the other three members - Flick, Matt, and Kristie - all formed an alliance to vote them off. Rather than stick to his word, he starting talking to Kristie, and talked hard, telling her that he had never said that he would definitely take El to the final 2, that the others were trying to manipulate her by saying that, and that they were untrustworthy where he was not. He even tried to defend her, telling Matt that he was sick of people pulling her left and right when he tried to speak to her. In the Final Immunity Challenge, Kristie seriously pressed him on this, telling him she believed him because he reminded her of her dad, and that if he let go she would take him to the final two, giving him a chance to prove his words to her at the expense of his alliance with El. He slipped, but it's not clear whether it was deliberate or not. It's not clear how much of what he said was truthful and how much was a last-minute ditch to defend himself, but in the Final Tribal Council, he admitted that he'd been wrong: he hadn't found a way to play the game with honour, the way he understood it. He also admitted, when Jennah-Louise pressed him, that he'd been too judgmental when he'd implicitly called other players selfish for playing to win this game for the money, because he didn't know why they were going after the money - they might've had good reasons.
- Honor Before Reason: Brian was highly disliked by the jury when it came down to the final three, due to his gross habits, lack of help around camp, and letting a few players such as Fenella go home due to his own mistakes. If Sharn had taken him to the finale, it seemed pretty likely she would have won. But she had been partnered with Shane for a long time, and chose to take her to the final two instead, based on their friendship (and a less-selfless desire to see Brian go home first). And unfortuntely for her, she lost out on the grand prize by a single jury vote.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Kristie in 2016 deliberately held back in endurance challenges so nobody would suspect she'd be a threat in the Final Immunity Challenge.
- Informed Ability: Matt from 2016 claimed that he job as a professional magician would impact his play - that he'd be a master of deception and that people would never see him coming! In reality, he played a very straightforward and honest game, and was left out of the big late-game blindsides.
- Intergenerational Friendship: Shane developed a fondness for Shonee and Fenella once the merge came, due to their vulnerability as two of the few remaining Contenders. In the reunion show, Fenella also said that when the game began Shane was the only one she recognised, as she'd done a report on her in year five!
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: In Champions v Contenders (2018), Benji set about orchestrating the elimination of the two swing votes in the Contenders tribe, Heath and Tegan. His blindside of Tegan was successful and she was sent to Exile Beach, and after the Contenders lost the next Immunity Challenge, his plan to send Heath next in order to permanently eliminate Tegan in the Redemption Island-style duel seemed perfectly in place. What he didn't count on was Heath playing a Hidden Immunity Idol, sending the physically weakest player in the tribe to Exile Beach in his place. Predictably, Tegan won the duel and returned to the game, exposing Benji as a snake in the process. Oops.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After Benji pulled off his insane move of talking Sharn out of playing her idol for Mat while acting like he was defending her, all so he could betray her alliance and vote out Mat, Sharn became immediately intent on getting him out, and succeeded in the very next Tribal Council.
- Lazy Bum: A common complaint against Brian among the Champions. Funnily, when the merge came, Shonee complained to Fenella that she might actually have to work around camp now, since she never had before, but nobody ever seemed to notice.
- Ms. Fanservice: Monika from Champions v Contenders (2018) was a clearly deliberate example, being a former Miss Universe Australia winner. However, she said that she wanted to be known for more than just that, and did indeed play a decent social game that took her to the final 5.
- Muscles Are Meaningful/Muscles Are Meaningless: An interesting case in Champions v Contenders (2018) - post-merge, the biggest physical threats were acknowledged to be Steve, Mat, Robbie, and Lydia. In the case of the latter, this was entirely justified - as an Olympic skiier, she was incredibly powerful in relation to her weight making her a beast at endurance challenges. However, the former three, while heavily muscled, never really did very well in immunity challenges. Far bigger threats were Brian, who while chubby is a former Aussie Rules footballer, and Sharn, a marathon runner - altogether, the two managed four immunity challenge wins each.
- Naked People Are Funny: The editing team rather cruelly used this trope on Robbie in Champions v Contenders. During a confessional where Fenella was talking about how much of an idiot Robbie is, it immediately cut to a shot of his uncensored backside as he tried to put on some pants.
- Non-Gameplay Elimination:
- In 2016, Peter (also known as Fiegs) found himself quickly demoralized by the conditions and, exasperated by his old age, he was convinced that he was a liability to his tribe, leading him to quit on Day 10. He wound up being the first person in the history of Australian Survivor, including the two old seasons, to leave the game without being voted out.
- In Champions v Contenders (2018), Moana became ill early on and felt so bad that at tribal council she requested to be allowed to leave. However, other members of her tribe insisted that she let them go to a vote and let the tribe decide. This was very deliberate: Shane was on the chopping block, but she had an idol. The plan worked - Shane played her idol, but the votes went to Moana, allowing her to leave and flushing out Shane's idol in the process.
- In Champions v Contenders (2019), Ross was evacuated shortly before the merge after breaking his ankle, becoming the only original Champion eliminated in the swapped phase.
- In All Stars, Lee left the game after production informed him that his mother was gravely ill and needed to return home. Sadly, his mother later passed away.
- In Brains v Brawn, Chelsea fell ill shortly after the merge, with the medical team determining that she had lost her sense of balance and was thus unfit to continue playing (while potentially securing Baden's spot on the Jury in the process).
- In Blood v Water, Alex was injured early and suffered from a bad back for nearly the first twelve days. Despite different plans to vote out Sophie and Khanh at Tribal Council, he asked to be voted out so he could recover, and when his tribe refused, he pulled himself from the game and thus denying them a vote.
- Later in the season, Nina injures her ankle during a reward challenge, and this time the doctors do decide to remove her from the game so that she can receive treatment.
- The first immunity challenge of Heroes v Villains caused multiple injuries and saw two contestants being pulled from the game for treatment in the hopes that they could return. While one, George, could and did return to the game, the other, Jackie, could not.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Shonee in Champions v Contenders (2018) deliberately played up a performance of being a ditzy Dumb Blonde to hide how deliberate she was in choosing her alliances and votes and how much careful attention she paid to every other player.
- Oh, Crap!: So, Sharn finds a hint about a hidden immunity idol, and it'll be at the final leg of the next challenge. Unfortunately, she doesn't make it, so she's left skulking around the area when the challenge is over. Somehow, nobody notices that she's left the group... but when the idol she's shoved into her shorts suddenly falls out once she reunites with the group, there's really no denying it. The group even jokes when she plays the idol later that it wasn't really a 'hidden' immunity idol from that point onwards.
- One-Steve Limit: Champions v Contenders (2018) had two Steves and both a Mat and a Matt, but one of each pair was eliminated early on. More confusingly, the final four included Shane, Sharn, and Shonee, which made the complex alliance structures even harder to follow (notably, it was a big joke on Gogglebox).
- Out of Focus: Due to the editing tending to focus on specific main characters at certain points (along with the large cast size), someone is bound to get considerably fewer confessionals than everyone else during a season. Most famously, Sam in Champions v Contenders (2019) earned the unfortunate distinction of being the first player in any English-language edition of Survivor to be eliminated without having a single confessional in the entire season, eventually being followed by Jay on Blood v Water.
- Pronoun Trouble: In the merge episode of Heroes v Villains, when George gives his typical grandiose "tonight, I will vote someone off" speech, he accidentally lets slip that the person will be a "he" (which turns out to be David). This gives Flick, hyped throughout the episode as a potential rival for George through the post-merge, a reprieve for the rest of the Tribal Council.
- The Quiet One: Steve W. from Champions v Contenders (2018), a big meditation fan, who very rarely spoke, to the point of coming across a Living Prop. It didn't help that he visually looked very similar to Mat, a much more active player, making him even easier to overlook.
- Reality Show Genre Blindness: Champions v Contenders (2018) had a couple: neither Brian nor Shonee was able to make fire, which basically gave up one of their immunity idols to the Sharn and Shane alliance, and might have sent Shonee home if it came down to a fire-making tiebreaker challenge between her and Shane (though in the end, she was voted out wholesale anyway). This season also featured a grand total of three contestants who went home with an idol in their pocket - Russell who severely overestimated his game-playing abilities and tried to pull off the most obvious bluff possible by making people think he wouldn't play the idol he'd already shown everyone; Mat, because he had no idea he was under threat until Sharn tried to play her idol for him, and simply didn't think quickly enough to play his own in time when she took it back; and Benji, who thought that since Brian and Monika seemed on his side and Shonee was playing an advantage giving them an extra vote he'd be safe (Brian and Monika were not in fact on his side this time).
- In Champions v Contenders (2019), the post-tribe swap Contenders tribe lose an immunity challenge. Being in the minority, Harry intended on drawing the votes his way by causing chaos at Tribal Council so he could negate them all with his Hidden Immunity Idol and take out a member of the majority. The problem with this plan is that the Contenders Tribe were told that the Champions tribe would be watching their Tribal Council - which for the past three seasons had been a sign that the upcoming Tribal Council would not be a straightforward elimination. In the previous seasons when this occurred someone either switched tribes instead or had the chance to be switched to the other tribe. His plan falls apart when, sure enough, the Tribal Council was not an ordinary Tribal Council and the Champions instead vote for one of the Contenders to join their tribe. Only he found this out AFTER causing chaos and revealing his true nature to not just his tribe, but everyone still in the game as they watched Tribal Council unfold. The specifics of the twist weren't predictable, but the fact that the vote would likely not be an elimination vote was quite clear given the pattern, and rendered his entire plan of expecting someone to definitely be eliminated at the Tribal Council with visitors rather silly.
- Reality TV Show Mansion: The show has an online companion series named The Jury Villa, in which the eliminated contestant of the day is reunited with their fellow jurists and get to enjoy a full meal and warm room for the first time in weeks.
- Red Baron: George, of Brains v Brawn and Heroes v Villains, gave himself the nickname of "King George".
- Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: Paige was on the chopping block early on in the 2018 Contenders, and responded to this by letting slip some details about the alliances to the other tribe. She escaped being sent home then, but as merge approached, the relationship she'd started to build with those from the other side, and the way he had betrayed her teammates by giving the other tribe an advantage, came to the fore, and she was sent home. Notably, this was done so the same weak Benji's lying about Tegan was revealed - speading fake rumours within the tribe was one thing, but helping the other tribe? A far worse crime.
- Rule of Cool: The "taking the votes back to Australia" sequence before the final vote reveal in Champions v Contenders (2018) involved Jonathan suddenly stepping into a Jeep with the urn in the middle of the Outback, and driving all the way to Sydney. Never mind that, logistically, the only way to get to the Outback from Fiji would involve connecting from a major Australian city, it still looked pretty damn cool.
- Sequel Number Snarl: U.S. streaming services are mixed as to whether the pre-Network Ten seasons should count in season numbering. Is the 2016 season the first or the third?
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: John in Champions v Contenders (2019) would frequently run out into the ocean in his birthday suit, just because he could.
- Sibling Rivalry: It never came up in the show itself, only in the Jury Villa episodes and Reunion show, but Benji from Champions v Contenders (2018) is the older brother of Anneliese, who competed in 2017. And at the reunion, Benji was quick to inform everyone that while she lasted 38 days, he managed 39. Although she quickly rebutted that unlike him, she actually played her idol.
- Sleazy Politician: George, in real life the President of the Bankstown Labor Party, plays up this image: Describing himself as a professional spin doctor who uses his political background and experience to help manipulate his way through the social game.
- Smug Snake: Russell Hantz, a previous American Survivor contestant, played this role deliberately and to excess, boasting every few minutes about what a great game player he was and how dumb everyone else was for trusting him, and how he'd show the Australians how to do it. The problem was, he was so obnoxious that the Champions voted him out the first chance they got. To make it even worse, he found a Hidden Immunity Idol early on, and then presented it to the entire tribe. He insisted all through Tribal Council that he was going to play it, only to remain silent when the time came. The tribe called his bluff and he went out near-unanimously on the revote.
- Surrounded by Idiots:
- Matt in the 2016 season somehow ended up on both sides of this. When the last two tribes were finally merged, he fancied himself as being totally in the inner circle of the biggest alliance at the time, standing as an equal with Brooke and Flick, even though it was clear to most of the rest of the cast that he very much wasn't. The night she was voted out, Jennah-Louise even dispensed subtlety and told him outright that he was not in the inner circle and would not make it to the final 2 with them; he challenged her passionately, defending his position, while she shook her head in disbelief. Though the other alliance members didn't defend themselves this way, they all also should have known the score, but made little or no attempt to build their own alliances. However, by the time they reached the final 7, he was the only one outside Lee and El who seemed to be consistently thinking through his strategy. When Brooke was suddenly voted off, he was shocked - because he hadn't been told, yeah, but also because it was so pointless. From that point on he realised that he, Flick, and Kristie would have no choice but to vote together to vote off Lee and El if they wanted a chance. For each upcoming Tribal Council, he genuinely believed in Flick and Kristie's ability to vote reasonably with him - and was left shocked every single time. By the time it was left to the final four, he steepled his hands to plead with Kristie from the jury box to vote off Lee and give herself and Flick a chance. Though the only truly bad move was Flick voting off Brooke and then Sam; Kristie simply had her own game plan, which totally paid off. It sure didn't seem like it at the time, though.
- Shonee also had this on multiple occasions through Champions v Contenders (2018), due to her under the radar, Obfuscating Stupidity game. First, she, like the other Contenders, was forced to be on a tribe with Zach, who was so obnoxiously sexist he was voted out despite being a useful asset in chalenges. Then she allied with Benji, despite his compulsive and often blatant lying, because the Champions were determined to keep the tribe together. And finally, she ended up with Brian, who was taken in by Shane and Sharn's lying to not realise that the latter had an idol, sending Fenella home. It's that final mistake that convinces her to give up on him and ally with Shane and Sharn in the 'Shh Alliance'.
- Talking Your Way Out: Michelle in 2017 managed a very impressive version - in a Tribal Council where it seemed she was clearly going to be voted out, she suddenly brought up Ben, pointing out that he had floated through the game so far and had barely done anything at all. The guy was so shocked and flustered to be put on the spot that he could barely respond as she argued why he should be sent out instead. And sure enough, he went home that night.
- Tall Poppy Syndrome: Extremely prevalent in Australian culture in general, so it's no surprise it shows up here. Any player who acts too confident will likely soon find themselves on the chopping block, and usually even characters in rock-solid alliances who know exactly who's voting for who will tell Jonathan at Tribal Council that they merely hope they're safe that night. And all of this is very likely part of why Russell Hantz was voted out so very quickly.
- The Teaser: After the Previously on… recap but before the title sequence, each episode opens with a scene of the surviving castaways in the immediate aftermath of the Tribal Council, discussing the result and highlighting any new tensions that have arisen.
- Thanatos Gambit: Andy in Champions v Contenders (2019) used his exit speech to tell the tribe that David had an idol in an attempt to stir up some chaos on his way out. The funny thing about it all is that Andy thought it was another one of his many lies that he made up, not knowing that David did have an idol and thus making the reveal a complete accident.
- Tragic Mistake: Sharn seemed to have a very good case for herself going into the finale of Champions v Contenders (2018). But it became clear that her winning or losing would revolve around one big mistake of hers: when she was on the chopping block, but heard last-minute that Mat would be too, she didn't tell him, instead carefully watching the Tribal Council talk to see who she needed to try and save. She decided in the end to play her idol for Mat - but when she stood to give it to Jonathan, Benji piped up pleading with her to play it for herself. Flustered, she decided to do so. Unfortunately for her, the votes were on Mat, and he went home. She was not pleased, as she and Benji had been allied since before the merge, and he was the next out. But the mistake haunted her into the finale, and might have cost her the win entirely.
- Unknown Rival: Occasionally a player will get fixated on sending home another without the other realising. A good example is Benji deciding that Tegan and Heath were the king and queen of the Contender tribe (in reality they were swing votes making them powerful but not really decision-makers) and devoting all his energy into getting Tegan in particular out. He eventually got his wish, but attracted a lot of attention to himself in the process.
- Wham Line: Little awkward, overly emotional, flip-flopping Kristie, who had snuck into the final 5 by being so obviously a goat, and had seemingly only managed a place in the final 2 by sheer force of luck after some of the most gob-smackingly bad Tribal Council decisions in Survivor history, sits down at Final Tribal Council and laughs: "All of you, you thought I was absolutely crazy!"
- Wild Card: Luke from 2017, who reveled in chaos and bold moves, and went so far as to build himself a makeshift hiding place near the well so he could listen in on secret conversations.
- Worthy Opponent: After Mat was blindsided by Benji, he was genuinely really impressed he'd pulled one over him and the two became friends once Benji joined him in the Jury Villa after the next Tribal Council (and joked more than a few times over their mutual mistake not to play their idols).
