| Season Number: | 8 | ||||||||
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| Module1: |
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| Num Episodes: | 24 | ||||||||
| Episode List: |
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| Network: | Network 10 | ||||||||
| Film End: | [2] | ||||||||
| Prev Season: | All Stars |
Australian Survivor: Brains v. Brawn is the eighth season of Australian Survivor, which aired on Network 10.[3] [4] This season features contestants divided into two tribes: "Brains" and "Brawn".
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season was filmed domestically in Cloncurry, Queensland.[5] [6] It premiered on 18 July 2021[7] and concluded on 12 September 2021 with Hayley Leake named the winner over George Mladenov in a 7–2 vote, winning the grand prize of A$500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor.[8] It is the sixth season to air on Network 10 and is hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia.
The 24 contestants are divided into two tribes based on their intellect or strength. The cast includes author Wai Chim, surfer Felicity "Flick" Palmateer, MMA fighter Chelsea Hackett, retired cyclist Baden Cooke and former AFL footballer Gavin Wanganeen.[9] [10] [11]
28, Melbourne, VIC | |||||
43, Townsville, QLD | |||||
48, Adelaide, SA | |||||
35, Los Angeles, California, USA | |||||
33, Brisbane, QLD | |||||
35, Sydney, NSW | |||||
26, Sydney, NSW | |||||
30, Sydney, NSW | |||||
35, Noosaville, QLD | |||||
50, Buderim, QLD | |||||
31, Brisbane, QLD | |||||
25, Busselton, WA | |||||
21, Gold Coast, QLD | |||||
42, Melbourne, VIC | |||||
26, Kilcoy, QLD | |||||
36, Sydney, NSW | |||||
31, Perth, WA | |||||
33, Alice Springs, NT | |||||
34, Sydney, NSW | |||||
38, Sydney, NSW | |||||
47, Sydney, NSW | |||||
28, Margaret River, WA | |||||
31, Sydney, NSW | |||||
31, Sydney, NSW | |||||
Hayley Leake, George Mladenov, Flick Palmateer, and Simon Mee competed on ,[14] with Leake and Palmateer as heroes and Mladenov and Mee as villains. Cara Atchison also appeared in the finale of Heroes V Villains as Mladenov's loved one.[15] In 2025, Mladenov competed on Survivor: Australia v The World.[16]
Outside of Survivor, Mladenov appeared on Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and competed on the seventh season of The Amazing Race Australia with his sister Pam in 2023.[17] [18]
The 24 contestants were divided into two tribes based on their intellect (Brains) or strength (Brawn). On the Brains tribe, George found himself in the minority early and was the primary target of the majority alliance led by Joey. Just before the swap, George was saved when Hayley flipped on Joey. On the Brawn tribe, Shannon and Simon butted heads early and competed for control as the tribe culled its weak challenge performers.
After a tribe swap, George reconnected with Cara and joined Emmett’s Brawn majority to eliminate the Brains players who had previously betrayed them. On the new Brawn tribe, Simon succeeded in voting out Shannon after Hayley caused the Brawn to turn on each other; however, Simon was then blindsided after revealing he had two hidden immunity idols.
At the merge, George and Cara continued working with the Brawn, led by Emmett and Dani. However, George acted as a double agent, feeding information to the Brains minority as the Brawn sought to eliminate them. He orchestrated several key eliminations, with more advantages gifted to him, including Hayley, who later won her way back into the game in a redemption duel. After Emmett and Dani turned on each other, George and Cara rejoined the Brains to eliminate the remaining Brawn.
Hayley won four individual immunity necklaces down the stretch, including at the final three to eliminate Flick, a huge social threat. She and George faced the jury, where George highlighted his dominant strategic play while Hayley emphasised her all-around strategic, physical and social game. The jury agreed that Hayley had the more well-rounded game and voted in her favour 7-2, awarding her the $500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor.
| Challenge winner(s) | Eliminated | Finish | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Original air date | Reward | Immunity | ||
| 1 | 18 July 2021 | 1st voted out Day 2 | |||
| 2 | 19 July 2021 | 2nd voted out Day 5 | |||
| 3 | 20 July 2021 | 3rd voted out Day 7 | |||
| 4 | 25 July 2021 | 4th voted out Day 9 | |||
| 5 | 26 July 2021 | 5th voted out Day 12 | |||
| 6 | 27 July 2021 | No elimination on Day 14 due to a fake tribal council | |||
| 7 | 1 August 2021 | 6th voted out Day 16 | |||
| 8 | 2 August 2021 | None | 7th voted out Day 18 | ||
| 9 | 3 August 2021 | 8th voted out Day 19 | |||
| colspan="2" | |||||
| 10 | 8 August 2021 | 9th voted out Day 21 | |||
| 11 | 9 August 2021 | None | 10th voted out Day 23 | ||
| 12 | 10 August 2021 | 11th voted out Day 25 | |||
| Episode | Eliminated | Finish | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Reward | Immunity | |||
| 13 | 15 August 2021 | 12th voted out Day 27 | |||
| 14 | None | 13th voted out Redemption Rock Day 29 | |||
| 15 | 17 August 2021 | rowspan="4" | |||
| 14th voted out Day 30 | |||||
| Medically evacuated Day 31 | |||||
1st jury member Day 31 | |||||
| 16 | 22 August 2021 | 15th voted out 2nd jury member Day 33 | |||
| 17 | None | 16th voted out 3rd jury member Day 35 | |||
| 18 | 17th voted out 4th jury member Day 37 | ||||
| 19 | 18th voted out 5th jury member Day 39 | ||||
| 20 | None | ||||
| 21 | 19th voted out 6th jury member Day 43 | ||||
| 22 | None | 20th voted out 7th jury member Day 44 | |||
| 23 | 21st voted out 8th jury member Day 45 | ||||
| 24 | 22nd voted out 9th jury member Day 47 | ||||
| Final vote | |||||
| Runner-up Day 48 | |||||
| Sole Survivor Day 48 | |||||
| Original Tribes | Post-Swap Tribes | Switched Tribes | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | ||||||
| Day # | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 25 | ||||||
| Eliminated | ||||||||||||||||||
| Votes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Voter | Vote | |||||||||||||||||
| Simon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shannon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shannon | ||||||||||||||||||
| Final vote | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 24 | ||
| Day # | 48 | ||
| Finalist | |||
| Vote | colspan="3" | ||
| Juror | Vote | ||
Ratings data is from OzTAM and represents the viewership from the 5 largest Australian metropolitan centres (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide).
| Week | Episode | Air date | Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 752,000 | 4 | 72,000 | 3 | 824,000 | 4 | [19] | |
| 2 | 768,000 | 7 | 71,000 | 5 | 839,000 | 6 | [20] | ||
| 3 | 730,000 | 9 | 66,000 | 5 | 797,000 | 6 | [21] | ||
| 2 | 4 | 563,000 | 11 | 68,000 | 2 | 632,000 | 11 | [22] | |
| 5 | 627,000 | 13 | 67,000 | 5 | 694,000 | 13 | [23] | ||
| 6 | 618,000 | 11 | 99,000 | 1 | 717,000 | 9 | [24] | ||
| 3 | 7 | 568,000 | 11 | 64,000 | 3 | 635,000 | 11 | [25] | |
| 8 | 603,000 | 13 | 72,000 | 4 | 675,000 | 13 | [26] | ||
| 9 | 595,000 | 15 | 119,000 | 1 | 714,000 | 13 | [27] | ||
| 4 | 10 | 609,000 | 10 | 69,000 | 4 | 678,000 | 9 | [28] | |
| 11 | 618,000 | 11 | 71,000 | 4 | 689,000 | 12 | [29] | ||
| 12 | 664,000 | 9 | 99,000 | 3 | 763,000 | 7 | [30] | ||
| 5 | 13 | 664,000 | 6 | 68,000 | 7 | 732,000 | 7 | [31] | |
| 14 | 733,000 | 8 | 56,000 | 6 | 789,000 | 8 | [32] | ||
| 15 | 682,000 | 9 | 83,000 | 4 | 767,000 | 7 | [33] | ||
| 6 | 16 | 691,000 | 6 | 43,000 | 9 | 740,000 | 5 | [34] | |
| 17 | 699,000 | 8 | 41,000 | 8 | 741,000 | 8 | [35] | ||
| 18 | 689,000 | 8 | 78,000 | 4 | 767,000 | 6 | [36] | ||
| 7 | 19 | 676,000 | 7 | 47,000 | 8 | 723,000 | 6 | [37] | |
| 20 | 690,000 | 9 | 48,000 | 7 | 737,000 | 9 | [38] | ||
| 21 | 707,000 | 7 | [39] | ||||||
| 8 | 22 | 689,000 | 5 | 40,000 | 6 | 729,000 | 7 | [40] | |
| 23 | 761,000 | 7 | 34,000 | 6 | 795,000 | 9 | [41] | ||
| 9 | 24 | 785,000 | 7 | [42] | |||||
| 923,000 | 6 | ||||||||
Notes