“I mean the heat, and distances between locations – we were travelling 3-4 hours every day on unpaved road,” he explained.
With the tribes split along Brains V Brawn, it’s any man’s game, with the winning contestant usually possessing a mixture of skills that see them outwit, outplay and outlast.
At the end, the season will answer – which is more valuable in the game of Survivor?
To see who couldn’t survive this season, keep scrolling to see every eliminated contestant so far.
Phil
With Brawn winning immunity in the challenge, Brains was sent to Tribal Council.
George, a political staffer, and perhaps one to watch, played an advantage that saw him save himself, Rachel, Cara, Georgia, and Wai – Phil had their torch snuffed, making them the first contestant to be sent packing.
The artist left their crocheted bucket hat as a memento for the Brains team.
“ROBBED and GUTTED” they shared on Instagram.
“I guess if I was going to be the first out, at least it was a crazy twist that had to be used to get rid of me.
“To the Brains, I’m forever Team Brains and wish you well for the journey ahead!” they wrote.
Janelle
After struggling to complete the puzzle component in the Immunity Challenge, hardworking mum-of-three Janelle was the first to leave the Brawn tribe.
Despite her plan to knock the boys' club down a notch by conspiring to have Emmet eliminated, the dedicated hockey-player still found herself on the chopping block.
Although just one vote away from an elimination tie with Shannon, Janelle's flame was extinguished.
She took to Instagram after her exit, writing: "The trick is to realise that after giving your best, there's nothing more to give."
"Win or lose the game is finished. It's over! It's time to forget and prepare for the next challenge."
Gavin
With the Brawn Tribe down to 11 players, it was time for a majority to be formed.
While the girls conspired to break up the Gavin, Simon, Emmet trio, the boys and a few others promised to vote out Kez to prove their loyalty to Daini, the swing vote.
It was looking bad for Kez in terms of votes until she played her last-minute immunity idol, sending Gavin packing with a shocking blindside.
Poor Gavin had his flame extinguished by JLP.
"What can I say, all good things come to an end 🔥," the former AFL-player wrote on Instagram.
He has shared support from friends, fans and family on his stories as well.
Benny
Benny, the entrepreneur with a real estate background, was very confident in his social game.
However, a sub-par performance in the challenges made him an easy pick for Simon, who hoped to avoid losing any members of his alliance - even if it meant declaring a truce with his nemesis, Shannon.
Simon pulled off the shocking blindside, sending Benny packing.
It seems he has had very little to say about the elimination since.
Mitch
Having successfully avoided Tribal Council for three consecutive episodes, it was time for the Brains Tribe to return to Jonathan for some bloodletting.
George was already stirring drama on the way in, wearing his immunity idol around his neck for all to see, inciting annoyance among most of the tribe.
His somewhat reluctant alliance agreed to vote out Laura, but Joey ended up with the majority, sending Mitch home instead in a complete blindside.
The good doctor had his flame extinguished by JLP.
We'll miss you Mitch!
Cara (kind of)
With Brains back at Tribal Council, Cara had an Immunity idol to play, and decided to play it for the divisive politician, George.
Brains has been chomping at the bit to get rid of George, but his immunity forced a re-vote, and Cara was the one who was eventually voted out.
She told a crying George she did it because she wanted to, her maternal instincts leading to her selflessness.
However, not all is lost! As she walked away from her tribe, she noticed a sign reading "“YOUR TRIBE MAY HAVE SPOKEN BUT YOUR GAME IS NOT OVER … ANOTHER TRIBE IS WAITING FOR YOU. TAKE THIS TORCH AND JOIN THEM.”
Cara will re-join Survivor as part of the Brawn tribe ... but what will they have to say about that?
Joey
In a brilliant blindside pulled off by Hayley, Joey was left shocked and sent packing.
Showing herself to be quite the social player, Hayley had been voting alongside Joey's 'faction' for the time being, but finding an idol gave her the confidence she needed to flip certain members of the group, convincing them to vote for Joey rather than George.
"How's that for your Sunday night special 🤣🤣🤣Unfortunately I won't be this seasons sole survivor but I will be leaving this crazy game with the same big smile that I came in with... What an experience!," Joey wrote on Instagram.
"Hayles, you played me like a banjo tonight and executed that blindside perfectly, well played legend 👏," he added.
Daini/'Big D'
The tribes have re-shuffled and gotten new members, meaning George can now sit comfortably in an 'ex-Brawn' majority, with Cara getting him access. The old brawnsters were happy to vote off whoever George chose, but unfortunately he bit off more than they could chew, attempting to flush out Laura's idol and vote off Rachel in the same vote.
The plan failed, with Cara seemingly forgetting who she was supposed to vote for. The one rogue vote meant the minority now had the majority of votes, with Laura playing her immunity idol for Rachel. Big D got the chop in an epic blunder, but he laughed his way out.
Daini was reflective on Instagram, posting a photo of himself into the fire.
"Watching that all back brought up all my feels and confusion about that tribal im Still staring at the fire wondering how Cara got the vote wrong? Laura’s name was never said @duchessofdoublebay 😩😩😩bloody empaths," he wrote, tagging Cara.
Shannon
In an intense double tribal it was eventually Shannon who got her flame snuffed.
After trying to meet Hayley's level of gameplay by suggesting her majority turn on Chelsea, Simon organised a blindside that saw Hayley's group turn on poor Shannon.
In what was supposed to be a double elimination, Shannon and Laura had one last chance to be saved, but Simon outing her plan meant the decision-makers ultimately decided to go with Laura.
"Playing Survivor is not only physically draining but mentally as well. I truly tested my mind, body and spirit and feel so empowered coming out of it. I’ve made lifelong friends and realised I do have a competitive side to myself," the model wrote on Instagram.
"Thank you to the fans, cast, crew and production for having me. This show is bigger than what you see and I’m beyond great full to have lived out my childhood dream," she said.
Georgia
Having returned to the game after 24 hours of medical absence, Georgia competed in one immunity challenge before getting the boot.
With a divided Brains 2.0, it all came down to Kez's swing vote, where she chose to align with Emmett and not rock the boat.
Georgia wrote a long and reflective post on Instagram to commemorate the end of her time on the show, also revealing her elimination took place on her 35th birthday.
"Thanks to everyone for riding this journey with me. Back to reality now (which is pretty damn good)!" she wrote.
Rachel
Rachel came to play a big game, and played it until the end, conspiring until the last minute to blindside Emmett. However, she was picked off by his alliance and had her flame snuffed.
"I couldn't outwit but I showed some grit. I didn't outplay or get my way, and I didn't outlast but man, I had a blast!" the educator wrote on Instagram.
"I made some heartfelt connections and met some straight-up beautiful humans," she added, tagging Georgia Ray and Laura Wells, the two other members of her alliance.
Simon
In what was probably the best blindside of the season, Simon was sent packing with two immunity idols in his pocket, the first person in Australian Survivor to ever leave under such circumstances.
The whole Brawn Tribe had him believing they were voting off Flick, when actually everyone had conspired against him to vote him off, with his closest friend in the game, Dani, instigating the whole thing.
"Not going to lie… that one hurts with two idols," he wrote on Instagram
"But I can’t even be mad about that 👏🏽 Well played… to the ENTIRE tribe. That will go down in history 🦅🦅."
"WOW… call me biased but was that not one of the most gripping episodes of Australian Survivor History! 😱," he said, and honestly, we're inclined to agree.
Kez
Bodybuilder Kerryn 'Kez' McGee was shocked, but also amused, when she was the first eliminated from the merged Fire tribe.
"'What did I just do?' was one of the first things I said when I walked out of tribal followed by 'Let's go get burgers' 🍔," she wrote on Instagram.
Kez was picked off by Hayley's alliance (with the help of George) once she found an immunity idol. However, the idol remains, with Kez passing the idol to Flick on her way out.
"Coming out of the game, I’ve learnt you can be happy with minimal belongings and that FRIENDS, laughter and adventure are the key to true to happiness," the Brawn original said.
Chelsea
MMA fighter Chelsea Hackett departed Survivor last night due to medical reasons.
She explained on Instagram that after her rapid weightloss in the previous fortnight, she had begun to suffer intense headaches and bouts of dizziness.
She was removed by the medical team and taken to hospital, where she was diagnosed with an inner-ear infection, which saw her ultimate removal from the game.
She revealed that her decision to come on Survivor followed one of the biggest losses in her career, and that the experience helped her find herself again.
"Survivor for me was never about the money or winning. It was for me to find myself again and realise who the fk I am and what I am truly capable of," she penned.
"Thank you to everyone for the support through this."
Baden
After a series of twists in Monday and Tuesday's episode, Baden was finally let go from Survivor, but was made the first member of the jury that will help select the sole survivor.
Voted out by Dani under circumstances that would have seen him usually safe, Baden was sent to Redemption Rock, and returned to face off with Hayley in a log-gripping challenge.
He posted an image of himself to Instagram competing in the challenge, "A challenge that was never going to be good for me, Hayley could have sat there for hours if need be."
"The only consolation is that I was beaten by a fierce competitor and genuine, Sole Survivor contender," he wrote.
Baden will be missed, but we're keen to see him on the jury!
Gerald
Woodchopper Gerald Youles was the casualty of a blindside last night, the only one to succeed after three separate moves were planned along a series of alliances.
While Emmett and Dani thought they had successfully voted each other off, it was George who came up through the middle and took control of the tribe, creating a majority alliance for himself and flushing an idol in the process.
"When the writing is on the wall, you have to accept fate with a smile, embrace the future and what is to come," Gerald wrote on Instagram after his elimination.
Laura
The victim of yet another twist, Laura Wells was voted out of Survivor last night on just one vote at tribal council, becoming the third member of the jury.
When George elected to save Cara using a secret immunity idol, her landslide vote was discounted, making Cara's single vote for Laura the ultimate decider.
"Torch is officially snuffed.🔥 What a wild ride. 35 days sleeping in the dirt, being absolutely filthy- it’s definitely time for a shower 🚿," the model wrote on Instagram.
"Thanks to all of the absolute legends I met playing this game and the entire production, Most of all Larry the snake handler 🐍Time for some jury villa food feasts!"
Emmett
With things getting down the wire, Emmett's torch was snuffed when swing votes Hayley and Wai decided to vote him out.
The challenge beast, best known for winning most of the immunity challenges, conceded that it was a good move from Hayle when speaking to the camera post-tribal.
He will now become the fourth member of the jury with Baden, Gerald and Laura.
Andrew
Failing to remain in the Brains-strong alliance, Andrew became the victim of last night's tribal council.
"Well and that’s that Chuch, what an awesome experience hanging out with so many amazing people from different walks of life," he wrote on Instagram following his elimination.
"No regrets on how I played the game, but maybe I should have watched the show before going on there, haha," the survival expert added.
"Big thanks to all of production and the people of Cloncurry which made such a professional effort to create the greatest game show on earth in one of the harshest environments known to man."
Dani
With Hayley back to sitting in the middle with Wai, it was 50/50 on who she would choose to align with and eventually vote out. Dani and Flick wanted George gone, while George and Cara were ready to stack on Dani.
Eventually, Hayley chose Dani as the bigger threat, leading to her torch being snuffed. She'll now join the jury, probably with quite the vendetta against Hayley as well!
"The tribe has spoken… I’m absolutely stoked having made it to the top 6 and lasting 43 days in the Australian outback," Dani wrote on Instagram.
"Big thanks to the entire cast and crew who made this amazing experience possible! I have definitely grown from this experience and made some epic friends for life."
Wai
It's final four time! Flick's hidden idol turned out to be a major advantage, seeing her push through to the final four and break up the Brains Tribe alliance, while they all expected her to head on home.
George, the self-proclaimed 'King' of the Fire Tribe, had planned for this, and made sure that Wai had the second most amount of votes, seeing her flame extinguished at the end of Tribal Council.
"I can't begin to articulate what an incredible journey this has been. From being 100% certain I was going home on Day 2 to making it all the way to Day 44 (and wearing an Immunity Necklace around my neck!) - this experience has just been absolutely extraordinary," Wai wrote on Instagram.
"I have learned so so much from all of my amazing tribe mates and have surprised myself so so much with what I managed to achieve! 😭😭"
Cara
Resident empath, Cara Atchison, came to the end of her Survivor journey last night after a tense - and super enjoyable - tribal council. With Flick winning immunity, the original Brains members were going to have to separate somehow, leading Hayley to convince both Cara and her closest friend in the game, George, to turn on each other.
Cara, a sweet soul, who stood out for her positivity and relationship management, excitedly said 'I'm going to join the jury!' excitedly after her name was read out.
"Making it onto Survivor was a dream come true for me - let alone making it Day 46 and FINAL FOUR! I am both humbled by the lessons learned and proud of my achievements," she wrote on Instagram.
She also gave a nod to her Survivor bestie, George.
"Lastly good luck to my wonderful friends who make up the amazing final 3 and have made this journey so very special for me. And to you King George – Thank you. The other half of our dynamic duo who caused chaos and still had fun."