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| Num Episodes: | 24 |
| Network: | Network Ten |
| Prev Season: | Season 4 |
Australian Survivor: Champions v. Contenders is the fifth season of Australian Survivor and the third season to air on Network Ten. It was hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia and filmed in the Fijian community of Savusavu.
The television series is based on the international reality game show franchise Survivor. This season featured 24 contestants divided into two tribes: "Champions", composed of twelve high-achievers who excelled in their fields, and "Contenders", composed of twelve everyday Australians. The season premiered on 1 August 2018,[1] and concluded on 9 October 2018, where Shane Gould was named the winner over Sharn Coombes in a 5–4 vote, winning the grand prize of A$500,000 and title of Sole Survivor.
The 24 contestants were divided into two tribes based on celebrity status: "Champions," composed of 12 people who have received accolades and fame for their exceptional work in their given fields, and "Contenders," composed of 12 non-celebrities. Among the Champions were Russell Hantz, a three-time contestant on the American Survivor series (having competed on seasons 19, 20 and 22; the American host broadcaster, CBS, acquired Network Ten in 2017), The Biggest Loser trainer Steve "Commando" Willis, and Olympic gold medalists Lydia Lassila and Shane Gould. The Contenders included Benji Wilson, brother of Australian Survivor season 4 contestant Anneliese Wilson, and Zach Kozyrski, who appeared as a Gladiator in the 2008 revival of Gladiators.
35, Brisbane, QLD | ||||
45, Dayton, Texas, USA US: Samoa, US: Heroes vs. Villains, & US: Redemption Island | ||||
36, Sydney, NSW Former Special Forces commando | ||||
58, Sydney, NSW | ||||
28, Perth, WA | ||||
30, Melbourne, VIC AFLW player | ||||
50, Sunshine Coast, QLD | Day 21 | |||
39, Perth, WA | ||||
24, Adelaide, SA | ||||
44, Melbourne, VIC World Series poker player | ||||
32, Derby, WA | ||||
33, Brisbane, QLD | ||||
36, Melbourne, VIC Olympic freestyle skier | ||||
26, Adelaide, SA | ||||
26, Brisbane, QLD Astrophysicist | ||||
42, Gold Coast, QLD Former dual-code rugby footballer | ||||
26, Melbourne, VIC | ||||
42, Sydney, NSW Fitness specialist | ||||
33, Melbourne, VIC | ||||
27, Sydney, NSW Miss Universe Australia 2015 | ||||
26, Tewantin, QLD | ||||
36, Caroline Springs, VIC Former AFL footballer | ||||
41, Melbourne, VIC Criminal barrister | ||||
61, Bicheno, TAS Olympic swimmer |
Moana Hope, Zach Kozyrski, Lydia Lassila, Mat Rogers, Shonee Fairfax, Sharn Coombes and Shane Gould competed in .[2] In 2023, Fairfax, now using her maiden name of Bowtell, Jackie Glazier and Steve Khouw competed as villains in . In 2025, Bowtell competed on Survivor: Australia v The World.[3]
Outside of Survivor, Rogers competed on the second season of The Summit in 2024.[4]
The 24 contestants were divided into two tribes. The Contenders, representing everyday Australians, faced off against the Champions, high achievers in their respective fields. Brian, Jackie, Monika, and Shane were initially outsiders at the Champions tribe. Meanwhile, at the Contenders tribe, Benji took strategic control of the tribe, and three pairs emerged: Benji & Robbie, Fenella & Shonee, and Heath & Tegan (the latter of whom re-entered the game from Exile Beach after getting blindsided by Benji). The Champions dominated challenges until a tribe swap sent Shonee and Tegan to the Champions and Lydia, Monika, & Sharn to the Contenders. Benji and Robbie worked with their new Champions tribemates, while the Contenders on the new Champions tribe tried, but failed, to infiltrate the majority.
The merge occurred with 12 players left; though most of the Champions wanted to pick off the rest of the Contenders, Mat and Shane were threatened by Lydia's challenge prowess and blindsided her before Robbie was eliminated. Having lost his closest ally, Benji overthrew the majority to blindside Mat before his own elimination followed. The pairs of Brian & Monika and Fenella & Shonee realigned against Sharn; she played an idol, and Brian's paranoia led to him deviating from their alliance's split-vote plan in order to vote out Fenella. Shonee sought revenge by eliminating Brian's own closest ally Monika, but Brian's victory in the final four immunity challenge led to Shane and Sharn voting out Shonee. Sharn then voted Brian out after winning final immunity, staying true to her final two deal with Shane.
Despite being the more strategically and physically dominant of the two, Sharn was criticized for being unlikeable and preaching loyalty despite playing both sides and failing to save her closest ally Mat. Shane, however, despite being less aggressive, was commended for her grace, likeability, underdog status and work ethic despite her advanced age. She won the votes from the female jurors Fenella, Monika and Shonee, plus Mat and Brian to narrowly win the title of Sole Survivor.
| Episode | Challenge winner(s) | Eliminated | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Air date | Reward | Immunity | ||
| 1 | 1 August 2018 | 1st voted out Day 2 | |||
| 2 | 2 August 2018 | 2nd voted out Day 5 | |||
| 3 | 6 August 2018 | 3rd voted out Day 8 | |||
| 4 | 7 August 2018 | 4th voted out Day 11 | |||
| 5 | 8 August 2018 | 5th voted out Day 13 | |||
| 6 | 9 August 2018 | 6th voted out Day 16 | |||
| 7 | 13 August 2018 | None | 7th voted out Exiled Day 18 | ||
| 8 | 14 August 2018 | 8th voted out Exiled Day 20 | |||
| 9 | 20 August 2018 | None | Lost Exile Duel Day 21 | ||
| 9th voted out Day 22 | |||||
| 10 | 21 August 2018 | 10th voted out Day 24 | |||
| 11 | 27 August 2018 | None | 11th voted out Day 26 | ||
| 12 | 28 August 2018 | 12th voted out Day 28 | |||
| 13 | 3 September 2018 | None | 13th voted out Day 30 | ||
| Episode | Challenge winner(s) | Eliminated | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Air date | Reward | Immunity | ||
| 14 | 4 September 2018 | Survivor Auction | 14th voted out Day 32 | ||
| 15 | 10 September 2018 | None | 15th voted out 1st jury member Day 33 | ||
| 16 | 11 September 2018 | 16th voted out 2nd jury member Day 35 | |||
| 17 | 17 September 2018 | None | 17th voted out 3rd jury member Day 37 | ||
| 18 | 18 September 2018 | 18th voted out 4th jury member Day 39 | |||
| 19 | 24 September 2018 | None | No elimination on Day 40 due to Dead Man Walking vote. | ||
| 20 | 25 September 2018 | 19th voted out 5th jury member Day 42 | |||
| 21 | 1 October 2018 | None | 20th voted out 6th jury member Day 44 | ||
| 22 | 2 October 2018 | 21st voted out 7th jury member Day 46 | |||
| 23 | 8 October 2018 | None | 22nd voted out 8th jury member Day 47 | ||
| 24 | 9 October 2018 | 23rd voted out 9th jury member Day 49 | |||
| Final vote | |||||
| Runner-up Day 50 | |||||
| Sole Survivor Day 50 | |||||
In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
| Final vote | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 24 | ||
| Day # | 50 | ||
| 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).
| Wk | Ep | Air date | Timeslot | Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 1 August 2018 | 716,000 | 6 | 63,000 | 7 | 779,000 | 6 | [5] [6] | |
| 2 | 2 August 2018 | 615,000 | 7 | 105,000 | 1 | 721,000 | 6 | [7] [8] | ||
| 2 | 3 | 6 August 2018 | 592,000 | 14 | 88,000 | 4 | 680,000 | 13 | [9] [10] | |
| 4 | 609,000 | 12 | 106,000 | 2 | 715,000 | 11 | [11] [12] | |||
| 5 | 8 August 2018 | 620,000 | 11 | 103,000 | 5 | 724,000 | 8 | [13] [14] | ||
| 6 | 9 August 2018 | 664,000 | 7 | 135,000 | 1 | 799,000 | 5 | [15] [16] | ||
| 3 | 7 | 13 August 2018 | 651,000 | 15 | 77,000 | 4 | 727,000 | 11 | [17] [18] | |
| 8 | 14 August 2018 | 634,000 | 10 | 122,000 | 2 | 755,000 | 7 | [19] [20] | ||
| 4 | 9 | 20 August 2018 | 666,000 | 11 | 53,000 | 5 | 719,000 | 11 | [21] [22] | |
| 10 | 21 August 2018 | 661,000 | 10 | 106,000 | 2 | 767,000 | 8 | [23] [24] | ||
| 5 | 11 | 27 August 2018 | 674,000 | 12 | 80,000 | 4 | 755,000 | 12 | [25] [26] | |
| 12 | 28 August 2018 | 667,000 | 8 | 121,000 | 2 | 788,000 | 6 | [27] [28] | ||
| 6 | 13 | 3 September 2018 | 640,000 | 13 | 83,000 | 4 | 724,000 | 13 | [29] [30] | |
| 14 | 4 September 2018 | 668,000 | 9 | 124,000 | 2 | 792,000 | 8 | [31] [32] | ||
| 7 | 15 | 10 September 2018 | 654,000 | 11 | 62,000 | 6 | 716,000 | 11 | [33] [34] | |
| 16 | 11 September 2018 | 664,000 | 8 | 100,000 | 2 | 763,000 | 7 | [35] [36] | ||
| 8 | 17 | 17 September 2018 | 732,000 | 10 | 66,000 | 6 | 798,000 | 9 | [37] [38] | |
| 18 | 18 September 2018 | 654,000 | 9 | 107,000 | 3 | 761,000 | 8 | [39] [40] | ||
| 9 | 19 | 24 September 2018 | 627,000 | 13 | 68,000 | 4 | 696,000 | 11 | [41] [42] | |
| 20 | 25 September 2018 | 696,000 | 8 | 111,000 | 2 | 808,000 | 7 | [43] [44] | ||
| 10 | 21 | 1 October 2018 | 645,000 | 9 | 78,000 | 4 | 727,000 | 8 | [45] [46] | |
| 22 | 2 October 2018 | 732,000 | 7 | 97,000 | 5 | 829,000 | 8 | [47] [48] | ||
| 11 | 23 | 8 October 2018 | 793,000 | 6 | 58,000 | 6 | 851,000 | 6 | [49] [50] | |
| 24 | 9 October 2018 | 862,000 | 5 | 52,000 | 12 | 914,000 | 5 | [51] [52] | ||
| 877,000 | 4 | 45,000 | 13 | 922,000 | 4 | |||||
| R | 609,000 | 11 | 58,000 | 11 | 667,000 | 13 | ||||