Australian Survivor: Blood V Water has finally come to an end after an arduous 47 days in the Australian outback, where friends and family were pitted against each other to see who would come out on top.
In the end, the final four castaways remaining come finale were former Survivor competitor Mark Wales, Josh Millgate, Shay Lajoie, and Chrissy Zaremba.
In an unusual move for Survivor, three of the castaways pitched to the jury instead of two.
After the pitches were made, the questions asked, and the votes cast, it was Mark who won the final vote at the very end.
Mark won the title of sole survivor, as well as a whopping $500,000 in prize money.
Mark was able to celebrate with his family, including wife Sam Gash, who played alongside him in the game and was able to stand beside him after her role on the jury was complete.
The final four were announced at the end of Sunday night’s episode, when Kate ‘KJ’ Austin became the final castaway to be voted out prior to the finale.
After a mad scramble at tribal council as the remaining five tried to figure out who to vote for along split alliances, the tied vote went to a re-vote, with KJ ultimately copping the majority of two.
An ultra-determined Shay took out the final immunity challenge, meaning the existing alliance between Mark, Josh, and Chrissy had to be broken in order for a final castaway to join the jury, and the remaining three to make their pitches for the win.
A torn Chrissy chose to vote out Josh, who fell victim to the majority, and left to join the jury.
The top three shared a celebratory breakfast together before preparing to pitch to the jury.
Mark re-told his Survivor story, beginning with meeting his wife, Sam on season two of the show, and explained that the pair had come back with a tight plan to win. He also shared how he pushed Josh forward as a leader to make him more of a threat than Mark was, meaning he would then cop the final vote.
Shay explained how she had used her physical strength to fight against all odds while remaining on the bottom of the tribe throughout most of the game. She also brought up her fight to come back from purgatory alongside Jordie and KJ.
Chrissy spoke of how she made her way into the game of Survivor with a plan to be the biggest social threat, given her way with people. She brought up how her name very, very rarely came up at tribal councils, and how voting out Josh was her final ‘big move’, in order to prove she was there to play a strong game for herself.
However, it was Mark’s intense dedication to game strategy that saw him win out.
The finale ends what has been a challenging season for many involved, given the theme, Blood V Water.
All participants entered with someone close to them, but the surprises started within minutes of the season beginning, with host Jonathan LaPaglia explaining the pairs would be split down the middle, one half going into the Water Tribe, and the other going into the Blood Tribe.
This season also had major star power, with the ‘queen’ of US Survivor, Sandra Diaz-Twine, coming to Australia to play the game with her daughter, Nina.
While Sandra was sadly voted out on Day 16, Nina was forced to leave after an ankle injury knocked her out of the game.
The series also saw the return of season four player Andy Meldrum, as well as Mark and Sam, who also got to cement her status as a serious game player.
Her ultimate strategy was bigger than the game itself, to ultimately back her husband by copping a majority vote at tribal council and not playing her secret immunity idol, in order for him to safely go forward with two immunity idols to protect himself among the shifting alliances of the final days.
While she has now played two seasons of the game alongside Mark, we’d love to see Sam return one day soon to play, and ultimately demolish, her own game of Survivor.
Congratulations to Mark!
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
