As numbers dwindle on Australian Survivor: Blood V Water, one big move can turn the entire game on its head. And that’s exactly what we saw last night, when KJ Austin played her hand, resulting in the surprising elimination of personal trainer Jordan Schmidt.
Survivor superfan Jordan had been a quiet player, taking the game in his stride alongside his cousin, Josh Millgate.
However, it becomes clear as Jordan joins WHO on the phone for a chat, that the edit erased some of Jordan’s liveliness, given the big personalities on the show like Sam Gash, Mark Wales, and Jordan’s close friend Chrissy Zaremba.
While he had an excellent 40-day run on Survivor, Jordan couldn’t help but feel a little let down by the circumstances of his exit.
Players Shayelle Lajoie, KJ Austin, and Jordie Hansen had all previously been eliminated by Jordan’s alliance, but had fought their way back from purgatory, making KJ’s secret advantage seem all the more brutal.
KJ used it to break up the majority alliance at tribal council, sending Josh, Chrissy, and Mark back to camp, rendering them unable to vote or be voted out.
While Sam, who was in the most trouble after the advantage was played, faked possession of an idol to get the votes off herself, the tribe switched to stack their votes on a shocked Jordan, who was voted out and sent to join the jury after the random turn of events.
We asked Jordan about the shock of the blind side, his time on the jury, and whether he’d take Josh with him if he ever played again.
How are you feeling after the episode last night?
Yeah, feeling alright. A bit shell-shocked, everything that could go wrong went wrong [laughs]. It is what it is though, it’s all part of the game, so just getting ready to move forward now.
Given it was such a strange tribal, did you think your name was on the chopping block?
I felt pretty comfortable. So, leading into tribal we obviously didn’t know about the advantage, so we were sitting pretty at the time … I thought everything would be all good, and once the advantage came out and three of our majority went back to camp I went ‘ah, we might be in a bit of strife here’ [laughs]. It was hectic!
It was a bit of an accidental blindside; do you feel like you were a victim of the circumstances?
Um, I do feel a bit gipped [laughs]. I will say … a couple of twists, people coming back, that’s Survivor, you know. Sending four people home, three coming back, and one of them finding an advantage, yeah, I was pretty gipped there. I can generally cop stuff, but … everything went wrong, and then to be on the receiving end, that’s pretty savage.
You’re now on the jury! How was that experience?
That’s one thing I’m grateful for … I imagine being voted out and going straight home would be a bit rough, you know, so going to the jury and debriefing with former players and getting to sort of ease into normal life and relax and get to watch the game from there, it’s a great experience.
How are your relationships with the cast now?
Yeah, I definitely made some lifelong friends. Chrissy’s one of my closest friends, she’s like an aunty to me, and we got along really well. Marky [Wales] as well, and I feel the other guys are really good friends. When you’re out there, it’s such a stressful environment, you’re literally in the trenches, so you do create very strong bonds. You meet some great people.
Aside from Josh, who would you like to see win Survivor?
If Josh doesn’t go the whole way, I’d love to see Chrissy win. She’s the best!
Would you play Survivor again? And would you bring Josh along?
I’d love to play again, yeah. I think I’ve got unfinished business, and I think the way that I’ve been edited, I don’t think it shows who I really am [laughs]. I’m a bit louder, and a bit more lively. I’d definitely love to play again, and I think it would be a different beast if you’re playing on your own as well, because you’re not as worried about your family member … It’s just different, you’ve got to navigate your family member’s relationships as well as your own.
Australian Survivor returns tonight on Channel 10 at 7:30pm.
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