Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn is the eighth season of Australian Survivor, which aired on Network 10. This season features contestants divided into two tribes: "Brains" and "Brawn".

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this season was filmed domestically in Cloncurry, Queensland. It premiered on 18 July 2021 and concluded on 12 September 2021 with Hayley Leake named the winner over George Mladenov in a 7–2 vote, winning the grand prize of A$500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor. It is the sixth season to air on Network 10 and is hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia.

Contestants The 24 contestants are divided into two tribes based on their intellect or strength. The cast includes author Wai Chim, surfer Felicity "Flick" Palmateer, MMA fighter Chelsea Hackett, retired cyclist Baden Cooke and former AFL footballer Gavin Wanganeen.

+List of Australian Survivor: Brains V Brawn contestantsContestantOriginal tribePost-Swap tribesShuffled tribesMerged tribeFinish28, Melbourne, VIC43, Townsville, QLD48, Adelaide, SA35, Los Angeles, California, USA33, Brisbane, QLD35, Sydney, NSW26, Sydney, NSW30, Sydney, NSW 35, Noosaville, QLD50, Buderim, QLD 31, Brisbane, QLD 25, Busselton, WA rowspan="13" 21, Gold Coast, QLD42, Melbourne, VIC26, Kilcoy, QLD36, Sydney, NSW31, Perth, WA33, Alice Springs, NT34, Sydney, NSW38, Sydney, NSW47, Sydney, NSW28, Margaret River, WA31, Sydney, NSW31, Sydney, NSW Notes

Future appearances In 2023, Hayley Leake, George Mladenov, Flick Palmateer, and Simon Mee competed on Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains, with Leake and Palmateer as heroes and Mladenov and Mee as villains. Cara Atchison also appeared in Heroes V Villains as a loved one.

In 2025, Mladenov competed on Australian Survivor: Australia V The World.

In 2026, Mee competed on Australian Survivor: Redemption.

Outside of Survivor, Mladenov appeared on Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and competed on the seventh season of The Amazing Race Australia with his sister Pam in 2023. In 2025, Mladenov competed on Deal or No Deal. Gerald Youles competed on the second season of The Floor.

Season summary

The 24 contestants were divided into two tribes based on their intellect (Brains) or strength (Brawn). On the Brains tribe, George found himself in the minority early and was the primary target of the majority alliance led by Joey. Just before the swap, George was saved when Hayley flipped on Joey. On the Brawn tribe, Shannon and Simon butted heads early and competed for control as the tribe culled its weak challenge performers.

After a tribe swap, George reconnected with Cara and joined Emmett’s Brawn majority to eliminate the Brains players who had previously betrayed them. On the new Brawn tribe, Simon succeeded in voting out Shannon after Hayley caused the Brawn to turn on each other; however, Simon was then blindsided after revealing he had two hidden immunity idols.

At the merge, George and Cara continued working with the Brawn, led by Emmett and Dani. However, George acted as a double agent, feeding information to the Brains minority as the Brawn sought to eliminate them. He orchestrated several key eliminations, with more advantages gifted to him, including Hayley, who later won her way back into the game in a redemption duel. After Emmett and Dani turned on each other, George and Cara rejoined the Brains to eliminate the remaining Brawn.

Hayley won four individual immunity necklaces down the stretch, including at the final three to eliminate Flick, a huge social threat. She and George faced the jury, where George highlighted his dominant strategic play while Hayley emphasised her all-around strategic, physical and social game. The jury agreed that Hayley had the more well-rounded game and voted in her favour 7-2, awarding her the $500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor.

+Tribal phase (Days 1–25)EpisodeChallenge winner(s)EliminatedFinishNo.Original air dateRewardImmunity118 July 20211st voted outDay 2219 July 20212nd voted outDay 5320 July 20213rd voted outDay 7425 July 20214th voted outDay 9526 July 20215th voted outDay 12627 July 2021rowspan="2" No elimination on Day 14due to a fake tribal council71 August 20216th voted outDay 1682 August 2021None7th voted outDay 1893 August 2021colspan="2" rowspan="2" 8th voted outDay 19colspan="2" 108 August 20219th voted outDay 21119 August 2021None10th voted outDay 231210 August 202111th voted outDay 25

+Individual phase (Days 26–48)EpisodeEliminatedFinishNo.RewardImmunity1315 August 202112th voted outDay 2714None13th voted outRedemption RockDay 291517 August 2021 rowspan="4" 14th voted outDay 30Medically evacuatedDay 311st jury memberDay 311622 August 202115th voted out2nd jury memberDay 3317None16th voted out3rd jury memberDay 351817th voted out4th jury memberDay 371918th voted out5th jury memberDay 3920None2119th voted out6th jury memberDay 4322None20th voted out7th jury memberDay 442321st voted out8th jury memberDay 452422nd voted out9th jury memberDay 47Final voteRunner-upDay 48Sole SurvivorDay 48

Notes

Episodes

Voting history Tribal Phase (Days 1–25)

Original TribesPost-SwapTribesSwitched TribesEpisode #123456789101112Day # 2 5 7 9 1214 16 18 19 21 23 25Eliminated Votes VoterVotealign="left" align="left" Simonalign="left" align="left" Simonalign="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" Shannon align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" Shannon align="left" style="text-align:center" colspan="3" align="left" align="left" align="left" colspan="2" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3" align="left" colspan="3"

Individual phase (Day 26–48)

Merged tribeRedemption TwistMerged tribeSave Scroll TwistMerged tribeEpisode #131415161718192021222324Day #27293031333537394143444547EliminatedVote VoterVotealign="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" style="text-align:center" colspan="2" align="left" align="left"

Final voteEpisode #24Day #48FinalistVotecolspan="3" JurorVotealign="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left" align="left"

Notes

Reception Ratings Ratings data is from OzTAM and represents the viewership from the 5 largest Australian metropolitan centres (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide). WeekEpisode Air date Source Viewers Rank Viewers Rank Viewers Rank 1 1 752,000 4 72,000 3 824,000 4 2 768,000 7 71,000 5 839,000 6 3 730,000 9 66,000 5 797,000 6 2 4 563,000 11 68,000 2 632,000 11 5 627,000 13 67,000 5 694,000 13 6 618,000 11 99,000 1 717,000 9 3 7 568,000 11 64,000 3 635,000 11 8 603,000 13 72,000 4 675,000 13 9 595,000 15 119,000 1 714,000 13 4 10 609,000 10 69,000 4 678,000 9 11 618,000 11 71,000 4 689,000 12 12 664,000 9 99,000 3 763,000 7 5 13 664,000 6 68,000 7 732,000 7 14 733,000 8 56,000 6 789,000 8 15 682,000 9 83,000 4 767,000 7 6 16 691,000 6 43,000 9 740,000 5 17 699,000 8 41,000 8 741,000 8 18 689,000 8 78,000 4 767,000 6 7 19 676,000 7 47,000 8 723,000 6 20 690,000 9 48,000 7 737,000 9 21 707,000 7 8 22 689,000 5 40,000 6 729,000 7 23 761,000 7 34,000 6 795,000 9 9 24 785,000 7 923,000 6 While the season was lauded by some,

Notes

References

External links