Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn
| Company type | Television season |
|---|---|
| Industry | Reality television |
| Founded | July 18, 2021 |
| Headquarters | Cloncurry , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Jonathan LaPaglia (host) |
| Products | Australian Survivor (season 8) |
| Website | 10play |
Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn represents the eighth installment of Australian Survivor, broadcast on Network 10. Participants were categorized into two groups: the "Brains" tribe and the "Brawn" tribe.
Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming took place within Australia, specifically in Cloncurry, Queensland. The season debuted on 18 July 2021 and wrapped up on 12 September 2021. In the final vote, Hayley Leake emerged victorious against George Mladenov with a 7–2 tally, earning the grand prize of A$500,000 along with the title of Sole Survivor. This marked the sixth season aired on Network 10, with Jonathan LaPaglia continuing as host.
Contestants
The cast consists of 24 individuals divided into two tribes reflecting either mental acuity or physical prowess. Among the participants are author Wai Chim, professional surfer Felicity "Flick" Palmateer, MMA athlete Chelsea Hackett, former cyclist Baden Cooke, and ex-AFL player Gavin Wanganeen.
| Contestant | Initial tribe | Tribes after swap | Tribes after shuffle | Merged tribe | Elimination order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Sortname 28, Melbourne, VIC |
Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |||
| Template:Sortname 43, Townsville, QLD |
Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |||
| Template:Sortname 48, Adelaide, SA |
Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |||
| Template:Sortname 35, Los Angeles, USA |
Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |||
| Template:Sortname 33, Brisbane, QLD |
Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |||
| Template:Sortname 35, Sydney, NSW |
Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | ||
| Template:Sortname 26, Sydney, NSW |
Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Sort | |
| Template:Sortname 30, Sydney, NSW |
Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Sort |
Notes
Upcoming appearances
Hayley Leake, George Mladenov, Flick Palmateer, and Simon Mee participated in Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains, with Leake and Palmateer representing the heroes, while Mladenov and Mee competed as villains. Cara Atchison returned as a loved one. In 2025, Mladenov took part in Australian Survivor: Australia V The World.
Outside of Survivor, Mladenov appeared on the show Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and teamed up with his sister Pam for the seventh season of The Amazing Race Australia in 2023. He also featured on Deal or No Deal in 2025.
Season overview
The 24 participants were divided into two tribes distinguished by intellect (Brains) and physical strength (Brawn). Initially, George was a minority target within Brains but gained protection when Hayley switched allegiance from the dominant alliance. On Brawn, Shannon and Simon vied for dominance during the early challenges.
Following a tribe shuffle, George joined forces with Emmett’s Brawn majority to vote out former betrayers. Simon masterminded Shannon's elimination but was eventually blindsided himself despite possessing two hidden immunity idols.
At the merge, George and Cara collaborated with Brawn leaders Emmett and Dani. Acting as a double agent, George supplied information to Brains and coordinated crucial eliminations while acquiring advantages, including Hayley’s return through a redemption duel. After conflicts between Emmett and Dani, George and Cara realigned with Brains to remove remaining Brawn players.
In the late stages, Hayley won four individual immunity challenges, including at the final three where she voted out Flick, a significant social threat. The jury awarded Hayley the $500,000 grand prize over George by a 7-2 margin, acknowledging her comprehensive strategic, physical, and social performance.
| Episode | Challenge victor(s) | Eliminated | Placement | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Original air date | Reward | Immunity | |||||||||
| 1 | 18 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | First voted out Day 2 | |||||||
| 2 | 19 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Second voted out Day 5 | |||||||
| 3 | 20 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Third voted out Day 7 | |||||||
| 4 | 25 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Fourth voted out Day 9 | |||||||
| 5 | 26 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Fifth voted out Day 12 | |||||||
| 6 | 27 July 2021 | Template:Stribe | rowspan="2" Template:Stribe | No elimination on Day 14 due to a fake tribal council |
- |
7 | 1 August 2021 | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Sixth voted out Day 16 | |
Episodes
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Voting record
- Tribal Stage (Days 1–25)
| Initial Tribes | After Swap Tribes |
Tribes After Switch | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9[lower-alpha 1] | 10 | 11 | 12[lower-alpha 2] | ||||||
| Day # | 2 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 25 | ||||||
| Voted Out | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe[lower-alpha 3] | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe[lower-alpha 1] | Template:Stribe[lower-alpha 1] | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | Template:Stribe | ||
- Individual Stage (Days 26–48)
| Merged Tribe | Redemption Twist[lower-alpha 4] | Merged Tribe | Save Scroll Twist[lower-alpha 5] | Merged Tribe | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | ||||||
| Day #
27 29 30 colspan="2"|31 33 35 37 39 41 colspan="2"|43 44 45 47 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Eliminated Contestant
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| Voting Outcome
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| Final Jury Vote | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Episode # | 24 | ||
| Day # | 48 | ||
| Finalists | |||
| Votes Received |
7-2 | ||
| Juror Name |
Vote Cast For | ||
|
align="left" |
Flick |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Cara |
George |
|
|
align="left" |
Wai |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Dani |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Andrew |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Emmett |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Laura |
George |
|
|
align="left" |
Gerald |
Hayley | |
|
align="left" |
Baden |
Hayley | |
Ratings
The ratings figures provided by OzTAM represent audience measurements from Australia's five major metropolitan regions: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide.
| Week | Episode | Air date | Overnight ratings | Consolidated ratings | Total ratings | Source | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | Viewers | Rank | ||||
| 1 | 1 | 18 July 2021 | 752,000 | 4 | 72,000 | 3 | 824,000 | 4 | |
| 2 | 19 July 2021 | 768,000 | 7 | 71,000 | 5 | 839,000 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 20 July 2021 | 730,000 | 9 | 66,000 | 5 | 797,000 | 6 | ||
| 2 | 4 | 25 July 2021 | 563,000 | 11 | 68,000 | 2 | 632,000 | 11 | |
| 5 | 26 July 2021 | 627,000 | 13 | 67,000 | 5 | 694,000 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 27 July 2021 | 618,000 | 11 | 99,000 | 1 | 717,000 | 9 | ||
| 3 | 7 | 1 August 2021 | 568,000 | 11 | 64,000 | 3 | 635,000 | 11 | |
| 8 | 2 August 2021 | 603,000 | 13 | 72,000 | 4 | 675,000 | 13 | ||
| 9 | 3 August 2021 | '595,000 | '15 | '119,000 | '1 | '714,000 | '13 | ||
| 4 | \10 | '8 August 2021 | '609,000 | '10 | '69,000 | '4 | '678,000 | '9 | |
| \11 | '9 August 2021 | '618,000 | '11 | '71,000 | '4 | '689,000 | '12 | ||
| \12 | '10 August 2021 | '664,000 | '9 | '99,000 | '3 | '763,000 | '7 | ||
| 5 | \13 | '15 August 2021 | '664,000 | '6 | '68,000 | '7 | '732,000 | '7 | |
| \14 | '16 August 2021 | '733,000 | '8 | '56,000 | '6 | '789,000 | '8 | ||
| \15 | '17 August 2021 | '682,000 | '9 | '83,000 | '4 | '767,000 | '7 | ||
| 6 | \16 | '22 August 2021 | '691,000 | '6 | '43,000 | '9 | '740,000 | '5 | |
| \17 | '23 August 2021 | '699,000 | '8 | '41,000 | '8 | '741,000 | '8 | ||
| \18 | '24 August 2021 | '689,000 | '8 | '78,000 | '4 | '767,000 | '6 | ||
| 7 | \19 | '29 August 2021 | '676,000 | '7 | '47,000 | '8 | '723,000 | '6 | |
| \20 | '30 August 2021 | '690,000 | '9 | '48,000 | '7 | '737,000 | '9 | ||
| \21 | "31 August 2021 | "707,000 | "7 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||
| 8 | \22 | "5 September 2021 | "689,000 | "5 | "40,000 | "6 | "729,000 | "7 | |
| \23 | "6 September 2021 | "761,000 | "7 | "34,000 | "6 | "795,000 | "9 | ||
| 9 | \24[lower-alpha 6] | "12 September 2021 | "785,000 | "7 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | |
| "923,000 | "6 | "—" | "—" | "—" | "—" | ||||
This season was met with favorable acclaim in the Australian television sector.
Notes
External links
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