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Australian Survivor: Brains v Brawn is the sixth season of the Network Ten incarnation of the competitive reality TV show Australian Survivor.

After 48 days, Hayley Leake defeated George Mladenov in a 7-2 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor. To date, four castaways from Brains v Brawn (Flick Palmateer, George Mladenov, Hayley Leake, and Simon Mee) have returned for a future season.

Production[]

The season was originally planned to be filmed back-to-back with All Stars in Savusavu, Fiji,[2] but production was called off due to the travel restrictions imposed in Fiji due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The season was instead produced locally in the outback in Cloncurry, Queensland one year later.[3]

The Brains v Brawn theme was later reused in an upcoming season of Australian Survivor set to film in July 2024.[4][5]

Twists/Changes[]

  • Brains v Brawn: As the theme implies, the castaways are sorted into tribes based on their most prominent attribute of each castaway, intelligence or strength.
  • Shorter Game: This season lasted for 48 days, two days less than the previous three seasons.
  • Safety Without Power: At the first Tribal Council, the castaway holding this advantage can send themselves and 5 other tribemates back to camp before the vote, granting them immunity at the cost of their vote.
  • Hidden Immunity Idol: A Hidden Immunity Idol for each tribe is hidden at each camp.
    • Idol Hidden at Challenge Site: On Day 16, a public idol was put into play at the site of the Immunity Challenge. Jonathan announced the existence of this idol to all remaining castaways, giving them the opportunity to break away to find the idol instead of helping their tribes with the challenge.
    • Secret Hidden Immunity Idol: A clue is hidden at camp, leading the castaway to a key; that key will allow the castaway to unlock a secret compartment at Tribal Council which contains a Hidden Immunity Idol. Once unlocked, the castaway writes the name of the person they want to use it for on the back of the idol and places it in the urn, allowing the idol to be played anonymously.
    • Idol Transfer Rules: Continuing from the rules set in Australian Survivor: All Stars, an idol can be transferred to another player after its holder is voted out.
  • Mock Vote: On Day 14, under the pretense that the Brains tribe voted a member out for losing the Immunity Challenge, they unknowingly sent the person "voted out" (Cara) to the Brawn tribe instead to be its newest member.
  • Double Tribal Council: On Day 19, the two tribes competed for individual immunity, with two members of each tribe being immune from that night's vote. Each tribe would then vote out one member. As a final twist, the four Immunity Challenge winners were tasked to unanimously decide which of the two contestants that were voted out to permanently eliminate. If they could not come to a consensus, those two contestants would compete in a fire-making challenge to determine the elimination.
  • VIP Ticket: At the Survivor candy shop reward on Day 24, an advantage was hidden that allowed its holder to send two members of the tribe that won the Immunity Challenge to attend and vote at the losers' Tribal Council, without being eligible to receive votes themselves.
  • Merge: For the first time since Australian Survivor (2016), the merged phase of the game commenced with thirteen players left in the game.
  • Unilateral Vote: At the Day 29 Immunity Challenge, the castaways were told three people had a chance to win individual immunity, and only those three would be eligible to vote someone out. At Tribal Council, instead of all three of the castaways casting votes as expected, they competed in a fire-making challenge, with the winner casting the sole vote to eliminate.
  • Redemption Rock: On Day 29 and 30, the person voted out will not be sent home but will be sent to Redemption Rock to face each other to earn their spot back into the game.
  • Limited Voting Options: At the Day 35 Immunity Challenge, the castaways were told the first five to complete the challenge would be safe, while the four contestants who did not complete the challenge would be the only people eligible to receive votes at the next Tribal Council.
  • Save Scroll: On Day 39, four urns were placed at Tribal Council, one of which contained a "Save" scroll. The contestants voted out at each Tribal Council would select one urn to break, and if they found the "Save" scroll, they would return to the game. The twist is over once the Scroll has been found.

Castaways[]

Contestant Tribe Affiliation Finish Votes
Against
Original Tribe Post-Swap Tribe Switched Tribe Merged Tribe
AUS8 phil t Phil Ferguson
28, Melbourne, VIC
Artist
Brains 1st Voted Out
Day 2
5
AUS8 janelle t Janelle Durso
43, Townsville, QLD
Cleaner
Brawn 2nd Voted Out
Day 5
7
AUS8 gavin t Gavin Wanganeen
48, Adelaide, SA
AFL Legend
Brawn 3rd Voted Out
Day 7
6
AUS8 benny t Benny Burdo
38, Los Angeles, CA
Entrepreneur
Brawn 4th Voted Out
Day 9
11
AUS8 mitch t Mitch Shaw
33, Brisbane, QLD
Doctor
Brains 5th Voted Out
Day 12
6
AUS8 joey t Joey McCann
35, Sydney, NSW
Head of Partnerships
Brains Brains 6th Voted Out
Day 16
5
AUS8 daini t Daini Tuiqere
26, Sydney, NSW
Personal Trainer
Brawn Brawn Brains 7th Voted Out
Day 18
3
AUS8 shannon t Shannon Lawson
30, Sydney, NSW
Model
Brawn Brawn Brawn 8th Voted Out
Day 19
14
AUS8 georgia t Georgia Ray
35, Noosaville, QLD
Forensic Psychologist
Brains Brains Brains 9th Voted Out
Day 21
7
AUS8 rachel t Rachel Downie
50, Buderim, QLD
Teacher/Businesswoman
Brains Brains Brains 10th Voted Out
Day 23
6
AUS8 simon t Simon Mee
31, Brisbane, QLD
Carpenter
Brawn Brawn Brawn 11th Voted Out
Day 25
13
AUS8 kez t Kez McGee
25, Busselton, WA
Bodybuilder
Brawn Brawn Brains Fire 12th Voted Out
Day 27
9
AUS8 chelsea t Chelsea Hackett
22, Gold Coast, QLD
MMA Fighter
Brawn Brawn Brawn Evacuated
Day 31
2
AUS8 baden t Baden Cooke
42, Melbourne, VIC
Ex-Pro Cyclist
Brains Brains Brawn Eliminated1
1st Jury Member
Day 31
1
AUS8 gerald t Gerald Youles
26, Kilcoy, QLD
Champion Wood Chopper
Brawn Brawn Brains 13th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 33
5
AUS8 laura t Laura Wells
36, Sydney, NSW
Environmental Advocate
Brains Brains Brains 14th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 35
21
AUS8 emmett t Emmett Pugh
31, Perth, WA
Health Coach
Brawn Brawn Brains 15th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 37
8
AUS8 andrew t Andrew Ucles
33, Alice Springs, NT
Survival Expert
Brains Brains Brawn 16th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 39
5
AUS8 dani t Dani Beale
34, Sydney, NSW
Corrections Officer
Brawn Brawn Brawn 17th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 43
13
AUS8 wai t Wai Chim
38, Sydney, NSW
Author
Brains Brains Brawn 18th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 44
3
AUS8 cara t Cara Atchison
47, Sydney, NSW
Real Estate Agent
Brains Brawn Brains 19th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 45
19
AUS8 flick t Flick Palmateer
28, Margaret River, WA
Big Wave Surfer
Brawn Brawn Brawn 20th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 47
12
AUS8 george t George Mladenov
31, Sydney, NSW
Public Servant
Brains Brains Brains Runner-Up 13
AUS8 hayley t Hayley Leake
31, Sydney, NSW
Pain Researcher
Brains Brains Brawn Sent to Redemption Rock1
Day 30
Sole Survivor
11

Notes:
^1 Baden and Hayley were voted out and sent to Redemption Rock, where they competed in a challenge to re-enter the game.

Season Summary[]

Episode Air Date Challenges Eliminated
(Vote)
Finish Ratings
Reward Immunity
1 July 18, 2021 Brawn Brawn Phil
(5-1)
1st Voted Out
Day 2
2 July 19, 2021 Brawn Brains Janelle
(7-4-1)
2nd Voted Out
Day 5
3 July 20, 2021 Brawn Brains Gavin
(6-0)1
3rd Voted Out
Day 7
4 July 25, 2021 Brawn Brains Benny
(5-5;
6-2)2
4th Voted Out
Day 9
5 July 26, 2021 Brawn Brawn Mitch
(6-4-0)1
5th Voted Out
Day 12
6 July 27, 2021 Brawn Brawn Cara
(3-3-0;
6-2)2,4
Sent to Brawn
Day 14
[Joey]3
7 August 1, 2021 Brains Brawn Joey
(5-3-1)
6th Voted Out
Day 16
8 August 2, 2021 None Brawn Daini
(3-2-1-0)1
7th Voted Out
Day 18
9 August 3, 2021 Andrew5 Laura
(5-2;
4-0)6
Saved
Day 19
Wai5
Emmett5 Shannon
(6-2-1;
4-0)6
8th Voted Out
Day 19
Rachel5
10 August 8, 2021 Brains Brawn Georgia
(5-3)
9th Voted Out
Day 21
11 August 9, 2021 None Brawn Rachel
(3-2-2)
10th Voted Out
Day 23
12 August 10, 2021 Brains Brains Simon
(6-3-1)
11th Voted Out
Day 25
13 August 15, 2021 None7 Emmett Kez
(4-1-0)1
12th Voted Out
Day 27
14 August 16, 2021 None Emmett Baden
(1-0)8
Sent to Redemption Rock9
Day 29
Andrew
Dani
15 August 17, 2021 None Emmett Hayley
(9-1)
Sent to Redemption Rock9
Day 30
Chelsea
(no vote)
Evacuated
Day 31
Baden
(no vote)
Eliminated
1st Jury Member
Day 31
16 August 22, 2021 Dani,
Flick,
Gerald,
Laura,
Wai
Andrew Gerald
(5-4-0)1
13th Voted Out
2nd Jury Member
Day 33
17 August 23, 2021 Andrew5 Laura
(1-0)1
14th Voted Out
3rd Jury Member
Day 35
Hayley
Emmett
Flick
George
18 August 24, 2021 Dani
[Andrew,
Emmett,
Flick]
Hayley Emmett
(4-3-1)
15th Voted Out
4th Jury Member
Day 37
19 August 29, 2021 Dani,
Flick,
Wai
[Cara]10
Hayley Andrew
(4-2-1)
16th Voted Out
5th Jury Member
Day 39
20 August 30, 2021 None Dani Flick
(4-2)11
Saved by Urn12
Day 41
21 August 31, 2021 Dani
[Flick,
Hayley]
Wai Dani
(2-2-2;
3-0-0)2
17th Voted Out
6th Jury Member
Day 43
22 September 5, 2021 None Hayley Wai
(2-1-0)1
18th Voted Out
7th Jury Member
Day 44
23 September 6, 2021 None Flick Cara
(2-1-1)
19th Voted Out
8th Jury Member
Day 45
24 September 12, 2021 None Hayley Flick
(1-0)
20th Voted Out
9th Jury Member
Day 47
Jury Vote George
(7-2)
Runner-Up
Hayley
(7-2)
Sole Survivor
Notes:
^1 A Hidden Immunity Idol was used, negating all votes against the user.
^2 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Survivor rules, a revote would commence.
^3 The Brawn tribe was told to invite a castaway from the Brains tribe on their reward. They chose Joey.
^4 In a surprise twist, instead of voting out players, the Brains tribe unknowingly voted for one person to be swapped to Brawn. Cara was "voted out" and swapped to Brawn.
^5 Combined Reward/Immunity challenge.
^6 Both Brains and Brawn attended Tribal Council on Day 19. After a person had been voted out by their respective tribes, the four Immune players had to unanimously decide who to eliminate Laura was saved, eliminating Shannon.
^7 Each player was given the right to pick their merge feast meal upon completion of the challenge; there was no designated winner.
^8 At the Immunity Challenge, it was revealed that the three winners would also be the only contestants who would have an opportunity to vote at Tribal. At Tribal, it was revealed that only one winner would vote and that the winners would have to participate in a fire-making duel to determine who would vote.
^9 The last two people voted out (Baden and Hayley) were sent to Redemption Rock, where they would compete for a chance to re-enter the game.
^10 This person sat out of the Reward Challenge, and correctly chose the winning team, allowing them to go on the reward.
^11 A Hidden Immunity Idol was used, but no votes were cast against its user.
^12 On Days 39 and 41, the voted out castaway could return to the game if they found a Save Scroll in a selection of four urns. Flick found the scroll, allowing her to remain in the game.

Voting History[]

Original Tribes Post-Swap
Tribes
Switched Tribes Merged Tribe
Episode 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Voted Out AUS8 phil t
Phil
AUS8 janelle t
Janelle
AUS8 gavin t
Gavin
Tie AUS8 benny t
Benny
AUS8 mitch t
Mitch
Tie Mock
Vote
AUS8 joey t
Joey
AUS8 daini t
Daini
AUS8 laura t
Laura
AUS8 shannon t
Shannon
AUS8 shannon t
Shannon
AUS8 georgia t
Georgia
AUS8 rachel t
Rachel
AUS8 simon t
Simon
AUS8 kez t
Kez
AUS8 baden t
Baden
AUS8 hayley t
Hayley
AUS8 chelsea t
Chelsea
AUS8 gerald t
Gerald
AUS8 laura t
Laura
AUS8 emmett t
Emmett
AUS8 andrew t
Andrew
AUS8 flick t
Flick
Tie AUS8 dani t
Dani
AUS8 wai t
Wai
AUS8 cara t
Cara
AUS8 flick t
Flick
AUS8 george t
George
AUS8 hayley t
Hayley
Vote 5-1 7-4-1 6-02 5-53 6-2 6-4-02 3-3-02,3 6-24 5-3-1 3-2-1-02 5-2 6-2-1 4-05 5-3 3-2-2 6-3-17 4-1-02 1-08 9-1 No vote9 5-4-02 1-02 4-3-1 4-2-1 4-2-011,12 2-2-23 3-0-0 2-1-02 2-1-1 1-013 7-2
Hayley Phil Mitch George Cara Joey Shannon Dani Kez None Andrew Gerald Cara Emmett Andrew Flick Flick Dani Flick Cara Flick Jury Vote
George None1 Laura Georgia Georgia Joey Georgia Laura Georgia Rachel Simon Laura None Hayley Gerald Cara Emmett Andrew Flick Dani Dani Wai Cara None
Flick Janelle Gavin Simon Simon Chelsea Simon Laura None Hayley Dani Cara George George George Cara None George Hayley None Hayley
Cara None1 Laura Georgia None Laura Laura Georgia Laura Simon Laura None Hayley Dani Laura Emmett Andrew Flick Flick None Wai George George
Wai None1 Laura George Cara Joey Shannon Shannon Simon Kez None Hayley Gerald Cara Emmett Andrew Flick Dani Dani Flick Hayley
Dani Shannon Kez Benny Benny Shannon Simon Laura Baden Hayley Emmett Cara Cara George George Cara None Hayley
Andrew Phil Mitch Cara Cara George Shannon Shannon Dani Kez None Hayley Gerald Cara George Flick Hayley
Cara10
Emmett Shannon Kez Benny Benny Rachel Laura Shannon Georgia Rachel Laura None Hayley Dani Cara George Hayley
Laura Phil Mitch Cara Cara Wai Daini Cara Saved Cara Emmett Dani None Hayley Gerald Cara George
Gerald Janelle Gavin Simon Simon Rachel Laura Georgia Rachel Laura None Hayley Dani Hayley
Baden None1 Laura Georgia Georgia Joey Flick Dani Kez None Eliminated Hayley
Chelsea Shannon Kez Benny Benny Shannon Simon Laura None Exempt6 Evacuated
Kez Janelle Gavin Simon Benny Georgia Laura Georgia Laura Laura
Simon Shannon Kez Benny None Shannon Flick
Rachel None1 Mitch George Cara Joey Daini Cara Shannon Cara Emmett
Georgia None1 Mitch George None George Daini Exempt6 Cara
Shannon Janelle Gavin Simon Benny Chelsea Voted Out
Daini Janelle Gavin Benny Benny Rachel
Joey Phil Mitch Cara Cara George
Mitch Phil George
Benny Janelle Gavin Simon None
Gavin Janelle Kez
Janelle Emmett
Phil Hayley
Notes:
^1 George played an advantage, allowing him to send himself and five other castaways back to camp without voting.
^2 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played, negating all votes against the user.
^3 The vote resulted in a tie. Per Australian Survivor rules, a revote was held where the castaways involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining castaways could only vote for those involved in the tie.
^4 In a surprise twist, instead of a regular vote, the Brains tribe unknowingly voted for one member to be swapped to Brawn. Cara was "voted out" and swapped to Brawn.
^5 Both Brains and Brawn attended Tribal Council on Day 19. After a person had been voted out by their respective tribes, the four immune players had to unanimously agree on whom to eliminate. They unanimously agreed to eliminate Shannon.
^6 This castaway missed Tribal Council due to medical intervention by production, but was not yet deemed unable to continue in the game. As they could not attend Tribal Council, they could not vote, nor be voted out.
^7 Cara found an advantage that allowed her to select two members of the winning tribe to vote at the losing tribe's Tribal Council. She selected herself and George.
^8 Only the three people who won the Immunity Challenge would have the chance to compete in a fire-making challenge at Tribal Council for the right to cast the sole vote. Dani won the fire-making challenge and cast the sole vote to eliminate.
^9 Chelsea was evacuated due to illness. No vote occurred for her removal and she would not be apart of the jury.
^10 This castaway played an Extra Vote advantage, allowing them to vote twice at Tribal Council.
^11 On Days 39 and 40, the castaway who was voted out could return to the game if they found a Save Scroll in a selection of four urns. Flick found the scroll, allowing her to remain in the game.
^12 A Hidden Immunity Idol was played; however, no votes were cast against its user.
^13 Flick and George did not vote as they could only vote for each other. By virtue of winning the Final Immunity Challenge, only Hayley voted.

Trivia[]

  • Brains v Brawn marks the second time Australian Survivor filmed locally, following the first season in 2002, which was filmed in Port Lincoln, South Australia.
  • Brains v Brawn contains the most LGBT contestants of any season, with 5 (Dani, Flick, George, Phil, and Rachel).
  • The chyrons shown during the transition screens between tribes display the local temperature.

References[]


Australian Survivor Seasons
Nine Network Seven Network
2002 Celebrity
Network Ten
20162017Champions v Contenders (2018)Champions v Contenders (2019)All StarsBrains v Brawn (2021)Blood v WaterHeroes v VillainsTitans v RebelsBrains v Brawn IIAustralia v The World
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