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Kristie wins Australian Survivor

Kristie defeats Lee for the title of sole Survivor.

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2016-10-26_0058

Kristie Bennett has won Australian Survivor and the $500,000 prize.

She defeated Lee Carseldine for the title of sole Survivor following 55 days in Samoa.

The finale delivered on highlights with Kristie, Lee and El in a gruelling endurance test standing on wooden poles before the dramatic crashing waves of Samoa. They would face off before family members for over 6 hours.

After a punishing, uncomfortable test El collapsed, leaving Kristie and Lee to face off. But Kristie drew on emotions pleading with Lee to give in, fulfilling her dream as an 8 year old girl, and promising to take him to the final 2. It was dramatic, visually spectacular and tugged at the heartstrings.

When it came to the Tribal Council she was true to her word, sending El Rowland to the final place on the jury.

In the final Tribal Council Lee argued he had played with integrity over a physical and social game. But Kristie made a determined ‘live wire’ speech about surviving against the odds, as the only player who had outlasted two entire tribes and 20 tribal councils. While it bordered on arrogant it was a compelling argument in a game that rewards the one who outwits, outplay and outlasts all others.

When the winner was announced, they were surrounded by even more family members, ending an emotional finale. Kristie won every vote except El’s.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but I’ve managed to achieve my lifetime goal at 24. I never thought that would happen and am so proud to say that I did it,” she said later.

“When Jonathan read my name out, I don’t even know how to explain how I felt. It was as if every single moment was completely worthwhile, like it was always going to be leading to that exact moment.”

Lee added: “I’m so proud of Kristie and what she achieved. She’s got such an amazing story and I don’t think anyone is more deserving. She went through hell and after 55 days of it, for her to win it, I couldn’t think of anyone else.”

The cash prize is one of the biggest in Australian television.

TEN has already renewed the series for a second season with casting now open.

48 Responses

  1. I’m another in the ‘have recorded but not yet watched’ boat…would have preferred a spoiler alert on the front page of the website, as per your recent Walking Dead posts David. Even news.com.au has avoided front page spoilers and announcing the winner in the title of the story doesn’t seem to achieve much – those who have watched it already know who wins and those who haven’t can’t avoid the spoiler. Perhaps “And the Survivor winner is…”

    (love your website and your work David, just slightly annoyed by this one!)

    1. my view of your grievance is……tough…..just suck it up…….as soon as the result was announced it would be widespread on digital media and it soon becomes ‘old’ news, this is 2016 and not 2006….

      1. Chill guys! Mine wasn’t a rant and I did use the term “slightly annoyed” as I fully understand this is a TV news site that I’m visiting.

        It was moreso I thought the title of the article could have perhaps been less revealing, plus some confusing standards around the fact that the Walking Dead season premiere articles had spoiler warnings on them even though that episode had aired as well.

        All cool here, will continue to enjoy this website and David’s great work! 🙂

        1. Link above will explain a lot more. As to TWD, I also weigh up the news value of a primetime local reality finale to a US cable show, available to a third of the audience, in a daytime screening. Everytime someone suggests another site kept it off the front page, there are 3 other news sites that did not. I am a TV site. It’s TV news.

  2. Congrats to Kristie.
    Seems she had everyone fooled, including me. Didn’t think she had it in her!
    Didn’t particularly like or respect her strategy of appearing as weak, vulnerable and pathetic as she could but hey, it worked very well for her. So kudos for her shrewdness.
    The fact that no-one saw her as a threat carried her through the game.
    I found her wailing and begging Lee at the final challenge heart-wrenching but still quite sad and pathetic. But she appeared to “get into his head” so it worked.
    Kristie also spoke very convincingly to the jury and managed I think, to change quite a few of their minds.
    Anyway, a riveting and surprising conclusion to what has been a really interesting season of Aus survivor.
    That last challenge was epic.

    1. I am pretty sure her “wailing and begging” was actually quite genuine due to the immense pain and exhaustion she was enduring. She was desperate to end it but equally desperate to win. Who can blame her? I’d be crying too!

  3. Kristie, I had a feeling she was going to win last week. So good for her. However she has become one of the least active players in Survivor history, winning virtually nothing, forging no alliances, instigating no big moves (a bit like Sue! When is Sue’s big move gonna happen?) and generally just being part of the wallpaper. Just shows that you can fly under the radar and win with a great series of delusional arguments in the final if your competitor cannot articulate his achievements in the game. There is little place for the higher moral ground in Survivor

  4. Couldn’t stand Kristie, Lee or El, so a bit disappointed in the last couple of eps, however I’m so happy to see Season 2 has been promoted, and I hope 10 learn from the taping of the vote that only a live final works in this day and age, and that letting the mean girls pick the tribes is a mistake.

  5. Well deserved Kristie.. she was so tough and endured much more than most contestants.
    Despite what some say.. Lee didn’t give here the last challenge, he fell off with exhaustion.. 6 1/2 hrs of hell, what a girl..

  6. Was happy to see Kristie win. Nick didn’t disappoint with his jury speech. The looks on the jury member’s faces when Kristie walked in wearing the immunity necklace was priceless. They were so shocked.
    Glad it’s been renewed. Hope they make a few changes. Make it for 39 days like the US version & have a live reunion show for the finale. They didn’t even let them clean up. The least they could have done was let them shower & change into some clean clothes.

    1. The jury is supposed to ask difficult questions. Nick just loved the sound of his own voice and handed out a derogatory speech to Lee. Fair to say that Nick was unimpressive in all departments

  7. What a sensational finale, I thought Kristie was the perfect sole survivor. I think she got the votes out of respect for her game play. Outwit, outplay and outlast. I would actually have been shocked had Lee got any more votes than just El’s. Whilst a very imperfect season, bring on next year.

  8. I’m not sure how certain people could say this is a success for Ten. It was horribly beaten in key areas by nine and seven almost every night. I would say it was a disaster for ten. Waste of money renewing it for a new year imo

    1. It’s a long way off a disaster. Sure it didn’t win in Total People, but most nights it was second in the demos in its slot (I’m not sure what other key areas you are referring to). There are also good numbers in Timeshifted for the show. More broadly however, we’ve seen TEN roll out new shows which lift considerably in subsequent years. Look to The Bachelor as evidence. Based on the wholesale positive feedback you’d be optimistic it could repeat this, so going again makes sense. It would be a disaster, to use your word, to cut it short now having laid these foundations.

  9. I have to eat humble pie after my post yesterday, kudos to Kristie. I still don’t think she was the deserving overall winner, but her presentation to the jury was compelling, while Lee’s was underwhelming.

    Kudos to all three for that final challenge. I have never see a challenge where all three just physically broke down. What mind power and a good dose of emotional torture to finish it off. Whoever thought that challenge up along with the setting deserves a raise.

    I honestly though Flick was going to vote for herself, such was her determination to win.

    Finally the money. 10 should up the prize money. Once upon a time $1m would set you up for life. Half mil is not too shabby, but hardly reflective of the effort contestants go through. Like Idol winners, the runner up often tends to be more successful and I suspect Lee will make more money from the celebrity circuit.

    1. The “touching the idol” challenge is the final immunity from the US’s 1st season – production deserves a lot of credit for re-designing it though – the original was on sand, not elevated stumps, and Richard, Rudy and Kelly didn’t have to deal with any water spray (they were inland).

  10. Wow! Wow! Wow! What a series and what a finale. Full respect to both Kristie and Lee – both deserving finalists – but I’m delighted Kristie won. Congratulations and well done Endemol Shine for producing a world class Aussie adaptation of a terrific show. Can’t wait for season two! (Incidentally, I’ve only cried at two shows this year : Australian Survivor and Wentworth. Australian TV truly delivering in 2016!).

  11. A brilliant finale in terms of both survivor and reality shows in general. Made up for what felt like somewhat of a lacklustre season after the choose-your-tribe challenge. Overall impressed with the series and look forward to season 2 next year.

    1. I agree – after a series of underwhelming predictable episodes it was a fantastic finale. Go the underdog Kristie! Thoroughly deserved after that incredible challenge, and having the families there made it so much more emotional. I just wish they’d had a reunion show.

  12. I have watched every series of US Survivor shown here on Nine or Go, the disastrous Australian version set in South Australia and now this one. This has to surpass most of the US versions. Brilliant production, great cast, Jonathon La Paglia more personable and at times better than Jeff Probst. That final challenge was gut wrenching. Loved the series.

  15. Hilariously bad winner, even though Kristie owned tribal her answers were mostly completely fanciful – props to her for creating a mythologised version of her game where she was a mafia don in control of everything for the jury to swallow. You could definitely tell Lee had never seen the show before and was completely out of his depth in that regard – cannot believe he didn’t bring up her begging him to step down for starters. Though the result is probably what the season and production deserves given how rubbish the post-merge section was.

    10 really need to do a live finale and reunion and definitely need to do something about sportsbet, where Kristie has been the overwhelming favourite for the last 4-6 weeks.

    Production values were superb, overall it was miles better than previous efforts and if they think their twists through better and secure a better cast – it may yet be…

    1. “10 really need to do a live finale and reunion and definitely need to do something about sportsbet, where Kristie has been the overwhelming favourite for the last 4-6 weeks.”

      Is this true? How can there be betting at all when the outcome is already known to some people already know about? Whats to stop say Sam getting his friends to bet on Kristie before the show even started?

      Meaning either Sportsbet knew the winner or the bets were so high for Kristie she became favourite in the odds.

      1. 100% legit – can’t give out web addresses, but it was posted in Big Footy’s Oz Survivor thread at the time (Matt also posts there) – we were stunned as the odds were wildly disproportionate to her position in the game at the time. Despite NDAs it is clear there was a leak and there has even been a poster on here in recent days (JoeS), who knew the result down to the jury vote as well. You cannot bet on pre-recorded contests in the US, so aside from the occasional boot leak, you’re left in the dark.

        1. Hahaha Nate, would you believe me if I say that was just my best guess? It was obvious from all the rumours and the betting odds that she was going to win. However I made the rest up according to how I thought it would play out…turns out I was spot on!

    2. I agree with all your comments here Nate.

      Even after listening to her explanation to the jury about subtle non-plays, I still think is was more accidental rather than her deliberate actions. It would appear to me that at the different tribals there was just a bigger target to get rid of each time. Whether she did anything to deflect and redirect attention to another is often a case of editing that we may not see. Certainty there were times where she was there in the discussions, but she was more the nodding head, rather than the master manipulator. To be fair she did play the no threat survivor very well if that was her intent.

      Still I take off my hat to her on that last challenge. To take on and beat a professional sportsman who are trained in the psychology of pushing through pain barriers, getting into other people’s head, or ignoring other competitors mind games, is…

    3. Kudos to Kristie for swaying the jury, zero for the jury being so easily swayed! I watched in amazement as she threw out the fanciful stuff and them lapping it up. I got the distinct feeling the majority of them had a severe case of sour grapes and was never going to vote for the person who was instrumental in putting them on the jury. Unfortunate because that is what the game of Survivor is all about…

    4. It’s entirely possible there was a leak that affected betting. I suspect the more likely answer is some big bets for her by those in the know that saw gambling co. severely reduce her odds. It also isn’t clear if there were 2 endings filmed. I suspect so.

      1. There were two endings filmed. This is a quote from a Sydney Morning Herald article published after last night’s finale: On learning the number of votes in her favour from Fairfax Media (since two outcomes were filmed), Kristie was shocked: “Oh my god, holy shit, what the f—. Wow, just wow.”

  16. I feel as though Chanel 10 spoiled the win slightly, there was an ad for the project 2 or 3 ads before the winner announced promoting the fact they would have the winner on the show, although they showed Lee and El only Kristie spoke on the promo, so I made the assumption she was going to be announced the winner. Even if that wasn’t the intent of the ad, I think until the winner is announced, they should be very careful advertising anything about the winner or anything they might be appearing on.

  19. Best show of 2016 imho. Loved the jury taking Lee to task. Was frustrated by Kristie but she played the ultimate game! congratulations to all involved.

  21. Could you have at least made the email update vague and non-spoilerish? I understand that if I don’t want to be spoiled I should avoid social media and this website, but for you to spoil the result in an email alert was really annoying.

    1. Hi Sharpy. The only email I send out is the weekly newsletter. But if you are subscribed to alerts through the WordPress system that is controlled by the settings you have in your ID account. It’s not something I have control over, it’s up to each individual to subscribe or not, thanks.

      2. I’m in the same boat – I recorded it and was still watching it when I got the WordPress email. A solution would be to not put the winners name in the heading (which becomes the email subject) – which is how I noticed news.com.au do it.

  22. Absolutely brilliant.
    Well done 10 for a high quality show that kept us guessing.
    Yesterday I was frustrated with Kristie and today I celebrate her win.
    Well done also David for giving us all the latest.

    1. My husband and I were equally frustrated with her and never thought she could beat those two at an immunity challeng but she did and we were so pleased she won. A very deserving winner.

  24. Perfectly summed up David. The final immunity challenge was spectacular; visually, physically and emotionally. It’s going to be nigh impossible for channel ten to top that next season but I’m already looking forward to it.

  25. Great finale.

    I agree with you David; Kristie could have easily rubbed a few people the wrong way with some of her answers, that were rather aggressive… But I think deep down, she knew that getting on the front foot was the best way for her to take out the prize.

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