Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains

Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains
Season Information
Version	Australia
Season No.	8
Filming Location	Upolu, Samoa
Filming Dates	August 9, 2022 - September 24, 2022
Season Run	January 30, 2023 - March 27, 2023
No. of Episodes	24
No. of Days	47
No. of Castaways	24
Winner	Liz Parnov
Runner(s)-Up	Gerry Geltch Matt Sharp
Tribes	Heroes Villains Fa'amolemole
Prize for Winner	AU$500,000
Viewership (in Millions)	0.557
Cast
Opening Sequence
Season Chronology
Previous	Blood v Water
Next	Titans v Rebels

Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains is the eighth season of the Network Ten incarnation of the competitive reality TV show Australian Survivor. This season used a modified execution of the tribe division theme introduced in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains, but this time featuring a mix of returning players and new players.

After 47 days, Villain Liz Parnov defeated Heroes Gerry Geltch and Matt Sharp in a jury vote of 7-0-0 to become the Sole Survivor.

Production

According to Australian Survivor Executive Producer David Forster, it was decided prior to the casting process that the season would not feature a cast of all returnees, owing to a lack of suitable returning players. Instead, the season was cast with the half-returnee, half-newbie format in mind. Believing that there was more value in mixing the returning players with the first-time players, Production decided against a Fans vs. Favorites format as employed in previous Survivor (U.S.) seasons, resulting in the mixed tribal divisions.

Twists/Changes

• Heroes v Villains: Castaways were divided into tribes based on how they see themselves playing the game or, in the case of returnees, how they played the game in the past, either as Heroes or Villains.
  • Returning Players: 11 out of the 24 castaways were returnees.
• Pandora's Urn: After a contestant was permanently evacuated from the game on Day 2 while their tribe attended Tribal Council, the tribe was given the choice to leave the votes unread and return to camp without someone being voted out or, if there was a unanimous agreement, to allow the votes to be read and have an elimination occur as usual.
• Hidden Immunity Idol
  • Planted Fake Hidden Immunity Idol: A fake idol was planted in the cookie jar that was given to the tribe that won the Day 6 Reward Challenge, and in the other tribe's rice container. As confirmed in episode 12, this fake idol was a clue to the real idol hidden on the tribe camp.
• Leave Merge Feast: On Day 28, the members of the merged tribe were given the opportunity to leave the merge feast and return to camp to hunt for a newly planted Hidden Immunity Idol.
• Mock Vote: A non-elimination twist occurred at three of this season's Tribal Councils.
  • 48-Hour Mission: After losing the Immunity Challenge on Day 12, the Heroes had to vote one member to be sent to join the Villains. If that person survives until Day 14, they will be given the option of staying with the Villains or rejoining the Heroes.
  • Mutiny: On Day 25, the tribe that lost the Immunity Challenge was given the opportunity to mutiny to the other tribe; however, only one person was allowed to mutiny. Each member made their decisions in private in the voting booth, leaving the voting parchment blank if they did not want to mutiny, or writing their own name down if they wanted to take the offer. If only one person chose to mutiny, they would automatically switch to the other tribe; if multiple people chose to mutiny, those people would draw rocks to decide who would mutiny; if no one chose to mutiny, the whole tribe would draw rocks to make a decision.
  • Survivor Isolation: On Day 41, after the votes were cast at Tribal Council, Jonathan revealed that there would be no elimination. Instead, the two players who received the most votes would be sent into Survivor isolation, living in exile away from the rest of their tribe. They will have to fend for themselves, and will eat only whatever is offered by their tribemates. They will also not be able to compete in the next Immunity Challenge. If they survive the next Tribal Council, they will leave isolation.
• Tribe Switch: On Day 18, a tribe shuffle occurred, dividing the final sixteen castaways evenly into the new Heroes and Villains tribes.
• Juror Removal: On Day 45, the final four contestants voted to eliminate one member of the jury. Additionally, they would compete in a Reward Challenge where the winner would receive an extra vote in the decision.
• Final Three: This season featured a Final Tribal Council with three finalists facing a seven-person jury.
• Reformatted Final Tribal Council: While each jury member was given the opportunity to speak individually, an open forum was held to ensure a more insightful rapport between the jury and finalists.

Castaways

Contestant		Tribe Affiliation						Finish	Votes Against
		Original Tribe	Post-Swap Tribe	Original Tribe1	Switched Tribe	Post-Mutiny	Merged Tribe
	Jackie Glazier 49, Melbourne, VIC Champions v Contenders (2018)	Villains						Evacuated Day 2	0
	Anjali Rao 48, Melbourne, VIC Broadcaster	Villains						1st Voted Out Day 2	9
	Michael Warren 44, Sydney, NSW Journalist	Villains						2nd Voted Out Day 5	8
	Mimi Tang 30, Melbourne, VIC Luxury Car PR Manager	Villains						3rd Voted Out Day 7	8
	Rogue Rubin 32, Melbourne, VIC Film Director	Heroes						4th Voted Out Day 9	7
	Sarah Marschke 23, Sydney, NSW Former Miss World Australia	Villains	Villains					5th Voted Out Day 14	8
	Fraser Lack 24, Melbourne, VIC Real Estate Agent	Villains	Villains	Villains				6th Voted Out Day 15	3
	Sharni Vinson 39, Sydney, NSW Actress	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes				7th Voted Out Day 17	5
	Paige Donald 26, Tambo, QLD Outback Jillaroo	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes			8th Voted Out Day 19	5
	Jordie Hansen 26, Melbourne, VIC Blood v Water	Villains	Villains	Villains	Villains			9th Voted Out Day 21	9
	Benjamin Law 40, Nambour, QLD Author	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes			10th Voted Out Day 22	10
	Stevie Khouw 62, Sydney, NSW Champions v Contenders (2018)	Villains	Villains	Villains	Heroes	Heroes		11th Voted Out Day 27	9
	David Zaharakis 32, Melbourne, VIC Former AFL Player	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Villains	Villains	Fa'amolemole	12th Voted Out Day 29	7
	Flick Palmateer 30, Margaret River, WA Brains v Brawn (2021)	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes		13th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 31	9
	Sam Webb 34, Sydney, NSW Australian Survivor (2016)	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Villains	Villains		14th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 33	11
	Shonee Bowtell 30, Noosa, QLD Champions v Contenders (2018) & All Stars	Villains	Villains	Villains	Heroes	Heroes		15th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 35	9
	Shaun Hampson 34, Moonee Ponds, VIC Champions v Contenders (2019)	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Villains	Villains		16th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 37	5
	Hayley Leake 32, Sydney, NSW Brains v Brawn (2021)	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Villains	Villains		17th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 39	5
	Simon Mee 32, Brisbane, QLD Brains v Brawn (2021)	Villains	Villains	Villains	Villains	Villains		18th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 42	10
	Nina Twine 25, Riverview, FL Blood v Water	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Villains	Villains		19th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 44	10
	George Mladenov 32, Sydney, NSW Brains v Brawn (2021)	Villains	Villains	Villains	Heroes	Heroes		20th Voted Out 8th Jury Member Day 46	16
	Gerry Geltch 61, Fraser Island, QLD Tourism Pilot	Heroes	Villains	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes		Runners-Up	8
	Matt Sharp 25, Gold Coast, QLD Lifeguard	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes	Heroes			7
	Liz Parnov 28, Perth, WA Olympic Pole-vaulter	Villains	Villains	Villains	Villains	Heroes		Sole Survivor	2
Notes: ^1 After Gerry completed his 48-hour mission at the Villains tribe, he returned to the Heroes tribe, leaving everyone back on their original tribes.

Season Summary

Episode	Air Date	Challenges		Eliminated (vote)	Finish	Ratings
		Reward	Immunity
1	January 30, 2023	Heroes	Heroes	Jackie (no vote)	Evacuated Day 2
				Anjali (9-1)	1st Voted Out Day 2
2	January 31, 2023	Villains	Heroes	Michael (8-1-1)	2nd Voted Out Day 5
3	February 1, 2023	Villains	Heroes	Mimi (8-1)	3rd Voted Out Day 7
4	February 5, 2023	Heroes	Villains	Rogue (7-4-1)	4th Voted Out Day 9
5	February 6, 2023	Heroes	Villains	Gerry (8-2-1)1	Sent to Villains Day 12
6	February 7, 2023	Heroes	Heroes	Sarah (8-1)	5th Voted Out Day 14
7	February 12, 2023	None	Heroes	Fraser (3-2-0)2	6th Voted Out Day 15
			Simon
8	February 13, 2023	Villains3		Sharni (5-0)2	7th Voted Out Day 17
9	February 14, 2023	Survivor Auction	Villains	Paige (4-0)2	8th Voted Out Day 19
10	February 19, 2023	Villains	Heroes	Jordie (4-4; 5-1)4	9th Voted Out Day 21
11	February 20, 2023	None	Villains	Benjamin (4-3)	10th Voted Out Day 22
12	February 21, 2023	Villains	Heroes	Liz (1-0)5	Mutinied to Heroes Day 25
13	February 26, 2023	Villains	Villains	Stevie (4-2-1)	11th Voted Out Day 27
14	February 27, 2023	None	Matt	David (7-1-0)2	12th Voted Out Day 29
15	February 28, 2023	None	Liz	Flick (7-3-1)	13th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 31
16	March 5, 2023	George, Hayley [Gerry, Shonee]	Simon	Sam (6-4)6	14th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 33
17	March 6, 2023	None	Simon	Shonee (5-3-1)	15th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member8 Day 35
18	March 7, 2023	Simon [Hayley, Matt, Nina]	Nina	Shaun (4-3-1)	16th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 37
19	March 12, 2023	Liz [George, Nina]	Simon	Hayley (4-1-1-1)	17th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 39
20	March 13, 2023	None	Matt	Nina (5-1)	Sent to Isolation7 Day 41
				Gerry (5-1)
21	March 19, 2023	None	Matt	Simon (3-3; 4-0)4	18th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 42
22	March 20, 2023	None	Liz	Nina (3-2)	19th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 44
23	March 26, 2023	Matt	None	Shonee (4-1)8	Removed from Jury Day 45
24	March 27, 2023	None	Liz	George (3-1)	20th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 46
		Jury Vote		Matt Gerry (7-0-0)	Runners-Up
				Liz (7-0-0)	Sole Survivor
Notes: ^1 In a surprise twist, instead of voting out players, the Heroes would vote for one person to be swapped to the Villains. Gerry was "voted out" and swapped to the Villains. ^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^3 As revealed in post-game interviews, this was a combined Reward and Immunity Challenge. ^4 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Australian Survivor rules, a revote would commence. ^5 In a surprise twist, instead of voting out players, the Villains were offered the chance for one member to mutiny to the Heroes. ^6 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^7 Instead of being permanently eliminated from the game, the two castaways that received the most votes at Tribal Council (Nina and Gerry) were sent to Isolation until they survived the next Tribal Council. ^8 The final four voted to eliminate one of the jurors.

Voting History

		Original Tribes						Post- Swap Tribes	Original Tribes		Switched Tribes					Post- Mutiny 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	24
Voted Out		Jackie	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	Rogue	Mock Vote	Sarah	Fraser	Sharni	Paige	Tie	Jordie	Benjamin	Mutiny	Stevie	David	Flick	Sam	Shonee	Shaun	Hayley	Mock Vote	Tie	Simon	Nina	George	Matt	Gerry	Liz
Vote		No vote1	9-1	8-1-1	8-1	7-4-1	8-2-13	8-1	3-2-04	5-04	4-04	4-45	5-1	4-3	1-06	4-2-1	7-1-04	7-3-1	6-47	5-3-1	4-3-1	4-1-1-1	5-18	3-35	4-0	3-2	3-1	7-0-0
►►►►►	Liz	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	Fraser	—	—	Sam	Sam	—	Liz	Stevie	David	Flick	Sam	Nina	Simon	Hayley	Nina	Simon	Simon	Matt	George	Jury Vote
►►►►►	Gerry	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Benjamin	Sarah	—	Benjamin	Paige	—		Benjamin	—	Stevie	David	Flick	Sam	Shonee	Shaun	Hayley	Nina	Nina	Simon	Nina	George
►►►►►	Matt	—	—	—	—	Gerry	Gerry	—	—	Benjamin	George	—		Gerry	—	Flick	David	Flick	Sam	Shonee	Shaun	Liz	Nina	Nina	Simon	Nina	George
►►►►►	George	—	Exempt2	Stevie	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	Fraser	—	Paige	—		Benjamin	—	Stevie	David	Flick	Sam	Shonee	Shaun	Hayley	Nina	Simon	Simon	Nina	Gerry			Liz
►►►►►	Nina	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Gerry	—	—	Sharni	—	Sam	Jordie	—	None	—	Shonee	Matt	George	Shonee	Simon	Hayley	Gerry	Simon	None	Matt				Liz
►►►►►	Simon	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	George	—	—	Jordie	Jordie	—	None	—	David	Flick	George	Shaun	Matt	George	Nina	Nina	None					Liz
►►►►►	Hayley	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Gerry	—	—	Sharni	—	Sam	Jordie	—	None	—	David	Flick	Sam	Shonee	Shaun	Nina								Liz
►►►►►	Shaun	—	—	—	—	Gerry	Gerry	—	—	Benjamin	—	Jordie	Jordie	—	None	—	Liz	Matt	George	Nina	Simon									Liz
►►►►►	Shonee	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	Fraser	—	Paige	—		Benjamin	—	Stevie	David	Flick	Sam	Nina								None9
►►►►►	Sam	—	—	—	—	Gerry	Gerry	—	—	Benjamin	—	Jordie	None	—	None	—	Shonee	Hayley	George											Liz
►►►►►	Flick	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Gerry	—	—	Sharni	George	—		Gerry	—	Matt	Shonee	Matt												Liz
►►►►►	David	—	—	—	—	Gerry	Gerry	—	—	Benjamin	—	Jordie	Jordie	—	None	—	Shonee
►►►►	Stevie	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	George	—	Paige	—		Benjamin	—	Flick
►►►	Benjamin	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Paige	—	—	Sharni	George	—		Gerry
►►►	Jordie	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	Stevie	—	—	Sam	None
►►►	Paige	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Gerry	—	—	Sharni	George
►►	Sharni	—	—	—	—	Rogue	Paige	—	—	Benjamin
►	Fraser	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	Sarah	Stevie
►	Sarah	—	Anjali	Michael	Mimi	—	—	George
	Rogue	—	—	—	—	Paige
	Mimi	—	Anjali	Michael	Stevie
	Michael	—	Anjali	George
	Anjali	—	Stevie
	Jackie	Evacuated
Notes: ^1 Jackie was evacuated due to a fractured collarbone. No vote occurred for her removal. ^2 George missed Tribal Council due to medical intervention by production, but was not yet deemed unable to continue in the game. As he could not attend Tribal Council, he could not vote, nor be voted out. ^3 The castaway voted out (Gerry) would be switched to the opposite tribe for 48 hours. If they survive this mission, they will have the option of returning to their original tribe. ^4 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against its user. ^5 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. ^6 Instead of voting normally, to be given the opportunity to mutiny, the castaways had to write their names down on the parchment. ^7 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user. ^8 Instead of being permanently eliminated from the game, the two castaways that received the most votes at Tribal Council (Nina and Gerry) were sent to Isolation. ^9 On Day 45, Shonee was removed from the jury and did not cast a vote at the Final Tribal Council.

Trivia

• Australian Survivor (2017) is the only previous Network Ten season to not be represented on the cast of Heroes v Villains.
• Both starting tribes won an equal number of tribal challenges.
• Heroes v Villains has the smallest jury of any Network Ten season, with only seven jurors present at the Final Tribal Council.
• Heroes v Villains is the first season where every finalist is a first-time player and every juror is a returning player.
• Heroes v Villains is the second consecutive season where a resident of Perth, Western Australia won the season against two residents of Queensland who finished as co-runners-up.
• Like the American Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains,
  • Heroes v Villains was filmed in Upolu, Samoa.
  • A female member of the Twine family was a contestant.
  • Heroes v Villains is the first season in the series to feature a contestant playing for the third time.
  • The tribes merged with half of the cast remaining.
  • The merged tribe's color is black.
  • Two Hidden Immunity Idols were played at the final ten Tribal Council; one of these idols was played on a Twine, negating zero votes.
  • There were five Heroes on the jury, all of whom voted for the eventual Sole Survivor.
  • The Sole Survivor was a female Villain.