The new year is careening in at breakneck speed, which means a whole new season of Australian Survivor is upon us. Jonathan LaPaglia is dusting off the cargo shorts and torch snuffer to head back out to the island to find our next sole survivor. Grab your buffs, refine your flint skills and dip in to get fire, because here’s everything we know about Season 8 of Australian Survivor.
When is Australian Survivor on our screens?
Season 8 of Australian Survivor is slated to land on our screens on January 30, 2023. Lock it in your diaries, mark your calendars and clear your schedules because this game is on.
What is the theme of Australian Survivor Season 8?
The Australian Survivor 2023 tribe vibe is the Heroes V Villains theme that many longtime fans of the franchise know and love.
Originally served up by the goss mongers at the So Dramatic! podcast back in July, the theme has since been confirmed as the beloved goodies and baddies approach.
Survivor stans will know this is the same theme that the US version did for Season 20, which saw all-stars like Tyson Apostol, Rob Mariano (AKA Boston Rob), Coach Wade, Colby Donaldson and Sandra Diaz-Twine take to the competition again.
Where is Survivor set this season?
After a couple of years filming in the harsh Australian outback, Season 8 of Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains is headed back to the island life and setting up camp in Samoa. It’ll be a hard pivot from the dry dust of Charters Towers to the tropical heat of the Pacific Islands, but we can’t wait for those bone-soaking storms that love to roll through.
Which previous Australian Survivor stars are in the new season?
Channel 10 has unveiled the list of returning Australian Survivor stars and we’re in for an absolute treat, mates.
Peep the full list below…
HEROES:
Hayley Leake (2019)
You’ll recognise Hayley Leake as the winner of Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn.
Welp, she’s back and badder than ever!
Shaun Hampson (2019)
Beloved boofhead Shaun Hampson is back in the competition for another run at becoming the sole survivor. Here’s hoping he lasts a bit longer in the season this time around, mostly so we get several weeks of just watching him do literally anything.
Nina Twine (2020)
Survivor royalty is returning with Nina Twine, the daughter of Sandra Diaz-Twine AKA the Queen of Survivor. The last time Nina was in the competition she was mede-vac’d out after breaking her foot in a challenge on Day 22. Now she’s back and ready to kick ass again.
Flick Palmateer (2021)
Pro surfer Flick Palmateer is back again for another run at the title of sole survivor. She previously took it nearly to the end of 2021’s Brains V Brawns season so she’s definitely got a score to settle when she swaps out the outback for the beach.
Sam Webb (2016)
Australian Survivor OG and genuinely delightful bloke Sam Webb is back after six long years to try and secure the bag once again. Last time he went nearly a full 50 days without a single vote against him. If he plays his cards right we might just see him trying to beat his own record once again on Heroes V Villains.
VILLAINS:
Shonee Bowtell (2019, 2020)
Having starred on both Champions V Contenders and All Stars, Shonee Bowtell is defs a force to be reckoned with.
She has been cast in the Villains team and go off, sis.
George Mladenov AKA George from Bankstown (2019)
He’s baaaaaaack!
George Mladenov was a major force during Brains V Brawn and quickly became a creature of chaos, hence why he’s on the Villains team.
This oughta be good…
Jordie Hansen (2022)
A man befitting the title of “villain” is perennial pest Jordie Hansen from Blood V Water. Since then he’s shacked up with Sam Frost (interesting) and is due to have a wee baby sometime in the middle of next year.
Yes we are begrudgingly welcoming him back to Survivor.
Simon Mee (2021)
Ah, Simon Mee. His last appearance in the Survivor tribe was back in Brains V Brawns. He famously proved that he definitely didn’t have the brains to save himself when he had his torch snuffed with not one but two immunity idols in his pocket.
Let’s see if he manages to sort his shit out this time and not get sent packing on an insanely rookie error.
Stevie Khouw (2018)
Hopping over from the beaches of Fiji in season 3’s Champions V Contenders is none other than Sneaky Steve. He was blindsided by fellow Villain Shonee in his last appearance on the show so it’ll be interesting to see if the grudge is held or if it’s all island water under the bridge.
Jackie Glazier (2018)
Champions V Contenders castaway and pro poker player Jackie Glazier is back again to play her hand and try and take out the whole pot. Last time she was on the Champions tribe and this time she’s amongst the Villains, alongside her former castaway pals Shonee and Stevie.
Which celebrities will be in the Heroes V Villains season?
Other confirmed cast members include a former footy player, a writer, two journalists, an animal activist and an Olympian, which is merely scratching the surface of the new faces hitting the island.
HEROES:
David Zaharakis (Former AFL Player)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjg8QoUPXG4/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=e2ffc3d7-5e68-44a4-ba27-5d6d8f875183
We bloody knew there’d be an AFL star or two on the cast and it’s none other than old mate David Zaharakis.
He ended his run with Essendon in 2021 after playing 226 games across his 13-year career.
He’s certainly got the stamina to kill it on the Heroes team!
Benjamin Law (Author & Broadcaster)
A hot new bombshell entering the island this year is none other than writer, podcaster and The Family Law creator Benjamin Law.
This isn’t a drill, people. Get ready to see your favourite local homosexual physically DEPLETED and emotionally VIOLATED in Samoa, baby!
— Benjamin Law 羅旭能 (@mrbenjaminlaw) November 28, 2022
His debut on Australian Survivor has been a couple of years in the making but now he’s here and ready to outwit his opponents.
Rogue Rubin (Animal Activist & Filmmaker)
Passionate animal conservationist and filmmaker Rogue Rubin isn’t shy of high-pressure situations. She worked for six years undercover in Africa developing and filming an entire doco about poaching and trophy hunters by pretending to be one of them.
Sorry but if she lived to tell the tale of that one, the Survivor camp life should be a walk in the fkn park.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CmsUI_jJwLp/
Sharni Vinson (Actress)
The trip from Summer Bay to the Survivor beach is a big one for Sharni Vinson, who enters the game this year as a Hero. She apparently loves doing all her own stunts so she’s not worried about the physical side of the challenges on the show.
Can’t wait to see how *the* Cassie Turner goes on Heroes V Villains.
Gerry Geltch (Pilot)
The designated legend-energy old mate for Season 8 is Gerry Geltch, who has been a pilot on K’Gari (Fraser Island) for the last 30-odd years where he’s survived plane crashes, carried out rescue missions and saved people from beach mishaps.
The bloke’s no stranger to life by the water and is apparently a pretty keen spearfisher and free diver, which will surely come in handy for the Heroes tribe.
Paige Donald (Jillaroo and Ringer)
It wouldn’t be a season of Survivor without a bush bashing, horse riding, cattle mustering castaway. Enter, Paige Donald. She’s swapped her Bundstones and Akubra for a buff to head to the beach and tussle with her most hated thing: sand.
Matt Sharp (Lifeguard)
Matt is the Gold Coast lifeguard washing up on the Survivor beach this year in the Heroes tribe. Apparently, he’s left his pregnant wife at home to try and score the $500k so we wonder if he’s actually meant to be on the Villains tribe instead. We’re sure he’s a nice enough guy, right?
VILLAINS:
Sarah Marschke (Former Miss World Australia 2019)
Our first celeb Villain is not shy of fighting hard in competitions, considering she’s a former Miss World Australia winner. Sarah Marschke is swapping her pageant gowns for a Survivor buff to battle it out in the sticky Samoan heat.
Michael Warren (Journalist)
Our first journo of the group, Michael Warren is a longtime Survivor fan who has wanted to dip his torch and get fire for a long time. He’s apparently keen to lie, cheat and steal to get as far into the game as he can, which really doesn’t shed a good light on the rest of us journalists out here. Thanks mate!
Mimi Tang (PR Manager and Amateur Boxer)
Mimi comes in as someone who can absolutely hold her own considering she works in a career that would be teeming with The Worst Men You’ve Ever Met: luxury cars.
She’s an amateur boxer too so she’ll surely have a bit of firepower when it comes to the physical challenges.
Anjali Rao (Journalist & former Real Housewives star)
This controversial celeb has been added to the mix this year, following in the footsteps of Sophie Cachia‘s random casting in 2022’s Blood v Water season of Australian Survivor.
According to the So Dramatic! podcast, producers were inspired by the fucked up Sydney Morning Herald article in which ingrown toenail Andrew Hornery attempted to out Rebel Wilson.
After seeing the shitstorm that ensued, producers allegedly reached out to a bunch of “villainous and ruthless entertainment editors” for the Villains tribe but everyone declined.
And that’s how they settled on former Real Housewives of Melbourne star Anjali Rao who was once a BBC journalist.
“Anjali has signed on for the next season of Survivor,” an insider told the poddy.
“She was a last-minute signing, she only had five weeks’ notice before filming started.”
They called “a number of entertainment reports” but no one was keen to sign up so “they settled on Anjali.” Good grief.
Fraser Lack (Real Estate Agent)
Ahh, Fraser Lack here is everyone’s favourite type of person: a real estate agent. He claims he knows how to make people love him even if they hate him thanks to his high-end residential sales gig which bodes well for the rest of the castaways. Looks like we might have a snake in the grass on our hands here.
Liz Parnov (Olympian)
Unsure how the youngest Olympian to compete in pole vault has found herself in the Villians camp but Liz Parnov is firmly in there. She started her champion vaulting career when she was just 10 years old and retired to shift into marketing.
She identifies herself as an “aggressive, short-tempered Taurus” which… yeah OK it checks out that she’s in the Villians tribe.
Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains premieres on Channel 10 and 10Play on January 30, 2023.
