Liz Parnov

Elizaveta "Liz" Parnova is the Sole Survivor of Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains.

After forming a day-one alliance with returning player Shonee Bowtell and, later, the "Spice Girls" triad with Survivor supervillain George Mladenov, Liz's membership in the Villains majority helped her to survive the early onslaught on the first-time players. At the merge, Liz found herself in a daunting minority with her fellow Villains, but embarked on the dominant Vigilantes alliance that ended up controlling the entire post-merge game. When she lost Shonee partway into the merge, she laid the groundwork for her revenge against George by aligning tightly with him. Marching all the way to the final four with George, Liz won the Final Immunity Challenge and finally knocked him out of the game. At the Final Tribal Council, her confident articulation of her season-long arc won the jury's respect and clinched her the victory in a unanimous jury vote.

Profile[]

Retrieved from 10play.com.au

Dedication, practice and self-control are all skills Liz has in her DNA after spending years as an Olympic Pole Vault champion. Starting the sport at 10 and following in the footsteps of her pole-vaulter father and coach, Liz became the youngest ever competitor in pole vault at the Olympics when she was 18.

Now working in Marketing after making the decision to resign from the sport, Liz is ready for the challenge Survivor will throw at her. She says, "I think Survivor is the ultimate test because it pushes every aspect of a human being to its max, like physical, mental, social. You're sleeping on the floor, you're hungry and it just pushes you to that limit. It'll be treading a fine line between losing it and focussing on the win."

Liz admits her resting bitch face and love for her king bed and moisturiser are going to make the game hard. However, she thinks if there's ever a tribe for her, it's the Villains, saying, "I'm a good person but my personality is very much larger than life - aggressive, short-tempered and a Taurus!"^[2]

Australian Survivor[]

For her self-described sassy and devious personality, Liz was assigned to the Villains tribe. Almost immediately, Liz bonded with third-time player Shonee Bowtell, with whom she paired to form the "Shiz" alliance. As a first-time player, Liz sought to learn from Shonee's mentorship; she also extended this approach to George Mladenov when the triad formed an alliance that they christened the "Spice Girls". By forming this alliance, Liz was able to dodge the string of consecutive eliminations of new players.

At the tribe switch, Liz was separated from her primary allies. Left with only Jordie Hansen and Simon Mee, the latter of whom she shared a tumultuous relationship with, Liz was forced to play more actively while on the new Villains tribe. She took advantage of the Heroes' preoccupation with themselves to acquire her first Hidden Immunity Idol. At the next Immunity Challenge, Liz convinced Shonee to hand Jordie the idol that the Spice Girls acquired at a retreat that George had won at the Survivor Auction. With two idols in stow, Jordie and Liz decided to arrange a hit on one of the Heroes. They recruited Hayley Leake and Nina Twine into the plan, and at Tribal Council, it appeared that former Hero Sam Webb would be next to go. However, the Heroes' leader Shaun Hampson called Jordie's bluff and staged a successful counterplan to blindside Jordie, flushing his idol and leaving Liz alone on the bottom after Simon defected to the Heroes. Despite this, Liz was granted a reprieve when Nina, Sam, and David Zaharakis extended an olive branch to her, inviting her to join their plan to blindside former winner Hayley. This plan was put on hiatus when, on Day 25, Liz took the offer to mutiny to rejoin the Spice Girls.

On the Heroes tribe, Liz quickly bonded with Flick Palmateer based on their apparent mutual connection with David, Nina, and Sam. After losing the next Immunity Challenge, Liz and Shonee campaigned strongly to send Matt Sharp home, but George was unwilling to budge. At Tribal Council, Liz threatened to play her idol for Flick; to assuage "Shiz", George switched the plan to vote out one of the alliance instead and sent Stevie Khouw home.

The next day, the tribes convened for a merge. To her disappointment, Liz realized that Flick had opted to stay Heroes-strong and break her allegiance to "Shiz". The Spice Girls (including its newest member Gerry Geltch) were now facing an apparent 4-8 minority against the former Heroes. Worse, the Heroes were targeting Liz's number-one ally Shonee. However, George's effective politicking succeeded in pulling Hayley, Matt, and Simon into a seven-person alliance dubbed the "Vigilantes". Though Liz played her idol to protect Shonee as an insurance policy, the alliance pulled through and blindsided David at the first post-merge Tribal Council. Liz and Shonee then retaliated against Flick for her betrayal, sending her home next, followed by Sam.

On Day 34, Liz accidentally referred to their alliance as "Shiz" within earshot of George, alerting him to the fact that he was on the bottom of the Spice Girls. This worry proved to be true, as Liz and Shonee were indeed planning to get rid of him at the final eight. As a result, George decided to make a move against Shonee, blindsiding Liz as her main ally was sent home. Though Liz was furious, she reserved her vexation for her confessionals and focused on aligning even more tightly with George as the first step in enacting her revenge.

After winning the Reward Challenge on Day 38, Liz shared the spa reward with George and Nina, who was on the bottom of the tribe after the previous Tribal Council, where Hayley exploited a split vote to blindside Shaun and keep public enemy Simon. Liz, George, and Nina used the spa day to consolidate the "Jacuzzi Alliance"—a pact to secure them each a spot in the Final Three. They agreed to target Hayley next for her duplicity, and this plan came to fruition as they sent the former Sole Survivor home on Night 39.

On Day 40, in a bid to gather numbers to make a move, Simon chastised Liz for her passive gameplay, calling her one of George's "pawns". This worsened their relationship and motivated Liz to finally take Simon out, but at the next Tribal Council, George's paranoia prompted Liz and himself to turn on the Jacuzzi Alliance and vote against Nina. However, the vote was announced to be a mock vote where the two people who had received the most votes would be sent to Survivor Isolation instead of being eliminated. During this period of isolation, Simon tried once again to rally Gerry, Matt, and Nina against George, but at the next Tribal Council, George's split vote to eliminate Simon proceeded as planned, and Liz rejoiced in being rid of her bugbear at last.

At the final five, Liz decided that it was finally time to cannibalize the Vigilantes. Hoping to take out a physical threat, Liz discussed a plan to blindside Matt with Nina and George. Though Nina was receptive, George was torn between his two Final Three pacts. Sensing his hesitation, Liz urged George to set his emotions aside and play ruthlessly, which he seemed to accept. When Liz won the Immunity Challenge, things seemed to be headed in her favor. However, at Tribal Council, Nina's pitch to be kept in the game backfired and swung George against her. This led to Liz being blindsided by George for a second time, which both angered and worried her now that she was alone on the outside of George, Gerry, and Matt's Final Three deal.

Liz was granted a lucky break when it was announced that the next challenge was for reward rather than immunity. There would be no elimination at Tribal Council; instead, the final four would vote to remove one of the jury members, with the challenge winner receiving an extra vote in the decision. Liz lost the challenge to Matt, who was campaigning to eliminate Shonee, whom Liz saw as a guaranteed jury vote for herself. Despite George and Liz attempting to persuade Gerry and Matt to vote against Simon, at Tribal Council, Liz was left out of the vote once again and lost Shonee when George sided with the men.

On Day 46, Liz realized that it was imperative for her to win the Final Immunity Challenge or be voted out by the men. After a grueling four-hour endurance challenge, Liz pushed through to win her third individual Immunity Challenge. At last, Liz managed to act on her plan to dispose of George. Though Gerry offered himself up as a sacrifice to be voted out so that George and Matt could sit at the Final Tribal Council, ultimately, the three first-time players banded together to vote George out.

Entering the Final Tribal Council with favorable odds and a receptive jury, Liz commenced with an opening speech that outlined her journey in the game, starting from her being taken under Shonee and George's wings before evolving into a self-sufficient player. In opposition to Gerry and Matt's passive games, Liz highlighted the strategic opportunities she attempted to capitalize upon, as well as her end-game goal of exacting revenge upon George, at which she succeeded. For her confident articulation of her growth over the course of the season, and in combination with her opponents' weaker game styles, Liz was unanimously awarded the title of Sole Survivor.

Episode	Tribe Affiliation	Challenge	Challenge Type	Sit-Out?	Result
1	Villains	(No title)	Reward	No	Lost
1		Hammer Time	Immunity	No	Lost
2		Push Comes to Shove	Reward	No	Won
2		(No title)	Immunity	No	Lost
3		Water Slaughter	Reward	No	Won
3		Log Handler	Immunity	No	Lost
4		Footbrawl	Reward	No	Lost
4		Vampire Bats	Immunity	No	Won
5		(No title)	Reward	No	Lost
5		Fire Starter	Immunity	No	Won
6		Idol Hands	Reward	No	Lost
6		(No title)	Immunity	No	Lost
7		Boulder Smash	Immunity	No	Lost
7		Break out	Immunity		Lost
8		Legs Eleven	Reward/Immunity	No	Won
9		Survivor Auction
9		Buried Alive	Immunity	No	Won
10		Hot Pursuit	Reward	No	Won
10		Losing Face	Immunity	No	Lost
11		A Crate Idea	Immunity	No	Won
12		(No title)	Reward	No	Won
12		Box Your Mind	Immunity	Yes	Lost
Mutinied, Day 25
13	Heroes	Chariots of Mire	Reward	No	Lost
13	Heroes	Shower Caddies	Immunity	No	Lost
Tribes Merged, Day 28
14	Fa'amolemole	Last Gasp	Immunity		Lost
15		On the Pull	Immunity		Won
16		Get a Grip	Reward		Lost
16		A Bit Tipsy	Immunity		Lost
17		Get Barreled	Immunity		Lost
18		The Game Is Afoot	Reward		Lost
18		Squatty Probst	Immunity		Lost
19		Stacked Up	Reward		Won
19		Fire and Rain	Immunity		Lost
20		Hands on a Hard Idol	Immunity		Lost
21		Domino Effect	Immunity	No	Lost
22		Unchained Medley	Immunity		Won
23		The Obstacle Course	Reward		Lost
24		Uncomfortably Numb	Immunity		Won
Sole Survivor, Day 47

Episode	Liz's Votes	Voted Against Liz
1	Anjali	-
2	Michael	-
3	Mimi	-
4	Villains Tribe Immune
5	Villains Tribe Immune
6	Sarah	-
7	Fraser	-
8	Villains Tribe Immune
9	Villains Tribe Immune
10	Sam; Sam¹	-
11	Villains Tribe Immune
12	Mock Vote²
13	Stevie	-
14	David	Shaun
15	Flick	Individual Immunity
16	Sam	-
17	Nina	-
18	Simon	-
19	Hayley	Matt
20	Mock Vote³
21	Simon; Simon⁴	-
22	Matt	Individual Immunity
24	George	Individual Immunity
Jury Votes for Liz	George, Flick, Hayley, Nina, Sam, Shaun, Simon
Sole Survivor, Day 47

^1 In "Episode 10", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Jordie and Sam, forcing a revote. Liz did not change her vote on the revote.
^2 In "Episode 12", rather than voting out a member of the tribe, the Villains were given the chance for one castaway to mutiny to the Heroes. Liz took the offer and mutinied.
^3 In "Episode 20", Fa'amolemole was subjected to a mock Tribal Council where the two players who received the most votes were sent to live in isolation.
^4 In "Episode 21", the vote ended with a 3-3 tie between Nina and Simon, forcing a revote. Liz did not change her vote on the revote.

Post-Survivor[]

In February 2024, Liz announced that she was expecting her first child with her boyfriend Daniel Bradshaw.^[3]

Trivia[]

Liz is the only first-time female player to make the merge in Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains.
Liz is currently the youngest person to win Australian Survivor by date of birth. However, she is not the youngest during time of win as Kristie Bennett, although born in 1991, was 24 at the time of her win.
Liz is the third winner in Australian Survivor to receive every jury vote at the Final Tribal Council, following Pia Miranda in Champions v Contenders (2019) and Mark Wales in Blood v Water. She would be followed by Feras Basal in Titans v Rebels.
- She received seven jury votes, the fewest of anyone with this distinction.
Liz is the second Olympian to win the title of Sole Survivor, after Shane Gould.
Liz is the first Sole Survivor across all franchises to win the game after mutinying to another tribe.

References[]

Preceded by Blood v Water Mark Wales	Sole Survivor Titleholder Heroes v Villains Liz Parnov	Succeeded by Titans v Rebels Feras Basal