THE RUNNERS UP OF SURVIVOR UNPACK THAT FINALE

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These guys are taking the game of survivor very seriously.

I had to fight my way through, use my physical strength. I would have heard it for Josh and I might have been the other person butted for Josh.

The last forty seven days have been the hardest forty seven days of my life. Chatter is villains and heroes, all.

Right, Josh questions to you have someone bloody? Let it out when I'm Australian survivor blood versus water?

To be honest, though, what you didn't see the day that I passed up?

Hi Josh, how are you?

Ben?

I'm great? Thanks mate, thanks for having me.

Good to have you on the podcast. Hi Chrissy, how I hello?

Bennie Norris?

How are you?

I'm good?

I'm even better with you here. Hi Shay, how are you tired?

And relieved that it's all over. I'm so spent from just watching the watching every episode and going what are they going to show today, Like, what's going to be in the edit? It'll be good, it'll be bad. Will I look like a fool?

No, you were great. I think you were great. I think you can tick those boxes now and just be very happy with your survivor experience. You got the survivor's showbag, as I like to say, got the right to the very end.

Thank you. It was tough. It was definitely not the same game as those in the majority, so it felt it felt like a rough ride pretty much from Merge onwards.

Well, last night must have been surreal. You know, what was your reaction actually to watching the finale last night?

I mean, I wasn't surprised. Christy and I looked at each other halfway through the coquestions during the final trouble and went, well, we are just being annihilated here. It was brutal, and I kind of went blank, honestly, and even I look back and I can't remember the words that were said. But it was more the emotion behind it. There was just so much coming from the final, you know, from the jury that Christy and I knew, okay, well we have been we have been absolutely crucified.

And then they make you film your reaction as though you win. Can you give me that face? Now, this isn't good for a podcast, but can you give me your I've just won Survivor.

Oh wow, I don't know how I got here. I could not I could not fake it. I was like, guys, that is that is when I could have put money on that it was going to be ten yeal, I should have I should have put five hundred k on Mark winning and then I would have won as well.

Yeah, did you realize that's called inside training and then goes to jail.

At less. It's good publicity, right, any publicens.

Well, it's got to be better than purgatory. Chrissy, what about you? Are you happy with what was shown in the finale?

You know what, I'm so happy with what I saw for the finale because it's not what I really remember being there that night. Obviously we've been out for a while, so that's been quite triggering for me because it was a lot, let's say that, and to watch it and see what Astraya saw, I'm so proud and I'm so happy how that came off. And yeah, I'm really happy for marking. Shay was really really good as well. And yeah, it is what it is. That's exactly what you saw is just what I wanted you to see.

What about you, Josh? Coming out fourth was a brutal excent. How did that play out for you watching it?

I wasn't looking forward to watching it, to be honest. You know, it's a hard pill to swallow knowing that you got that close. But it wasn't as bad as what I thought. It's yeah, and I knew that, you know, we had the like I'll put on a bit of an angry to try and make the guys squirm, but I knew I was worried about how that would come across, too, And yeah, it was just funny watching it back, But that wasn't It wasn't too bad.

I was a little terrified.

Yeah, well I thought, you know, just make him earn it, but it was it was all good Spirits actually cut out me at the end when I got voted out. I said goodbye to everyone, and you know, I said, no hard feelings, guys, love is all and they just cut all that out. So I'm like, oh, here we go. They're going to make me look like a real, real prick. But it's all good. I wasn't too.

Salty, mate. When you look as handsome as you do, you can get away with a lot. In Australia's book, let me tell you.

Yeah, well I don't.

I don't.

I don't read into the comments too much anyway, So you got to take the good with the bed.

I suppose how hard was it to keep that result or should I say the outcome a secret?

Someone bloody let it.

Out because Mark was a dollar fifty on sports but from day one, so I don't know what was going on there. Everyone else is like fifty bucks and Mark was paying a dollar fifty from day one, so I don't know, but it was fine for me. I liked anyone who's asking me, all, how'd you go? Where'd your cama?

I realized, like, just let him enjoy the show a bit more, you know, like that made the show interesting when no one knew the results, So it wasn't too bad.

Because if you only came third and you were out there for eight and a half weeks, people are going to know you came third, second or first. It's very clever that the jury's there. I live in a little town, like a little state, Suntime coast, so everyone thinks it's okay to go. Who won. I'm like, I'm not going to tell you. I can't tell you, but I just, you know, I was able to say, obviously, I make the final ten. And they didn't know how long until each night when I was still on the show. Oh

Yeah, I guess for something like this, Shaye, what about you? Was it hard to keep your Survivor story a secret?

Not that hard because I had kind of disassociated from it. I always head deep into my UNI and just not not really too much with the drama of the show. There was a lot going on, even socially with the majority. They were still the majority outside of the game, having lots of catchups and meetups, and I just wasn't really involved in that, And so for me it was pretty

Well, it sounds like a lot was going on for you guys in the waiting process. When did you find out who the winner was?

We went to Sydney. They flew this into Sydney for Final four. Yeah, and we were all like wow, really.

Really I always wondered whether or not they offer you a cash bonus if you, guys keep your mouth shut.

They should.

That'd be nice to help you swallow the bit of pill when you get voted out in the final hurdle.

We're not better. You know, this might make you feel a little bit better. But if who Weekly still ran most Sexiest TV Star of twenty twenty two, I think you'd be in the running. Did your head nearly explode reading any of the comments that we're on social media because there was just a lot of love for you.

Really, Oh that's good.

I honestly don't read the comments because you know, you get the love and you get the hate too, And I just thought, can't be bothered.

You can't get into the arguments with people watching saying oh, you.

Should do this, you should do that. So no, I just try to keep grounded. And I actually didn't want to be known as the hair guy. I tried to wear my hat every challenge. They wouldn't let me. Jonathan one day goes, oh, Josh's hair somehow always perfect. I'm like, Jonathan, please don't start that up.

You know what I mean.

But yeah, and I suppose if people are saying that, it's cool, but try and keep your level head and keep grounded.

Hmm, Shaye, how hard is playing a strain and survivor with your partner? You know? Were you worried that the game you know, would or could change your relationship?

Yeah, to be honest, like seeing him the first day after being well, not first day at the final tribal when he turned up, He's never held me so tight before. He was like, I'd never want to leave you like for that long again, So both good and bad things relationship, because obviously it's good being separated, you know you what is it.

Makes the heart growth fonder?

Isn't a distance? Yes, we definitely felt like we had had that time apart and we were just really happy together after. But watching it back, you know, watching people say certain things about your partner that can be quite challenging.

Pritty right, we had it from the start, the bond that we built. You're calling me family, you know, and we say we're going to look out for each other the whole way through the whole game. You pitch loyalty, family, you're talking about my new incoming baby. We're family together.

He just threw me under that.

Pose.

My question is it was just you.

Know why, I've been looking into your blue eyes the whole time. You are absolutely my number one, and my social cues picked up that you had changed yesterday, and for the first time ever, we talked strap and I didn't want to.

Talk to strat with you.

I just wanted to talk to you. You were different and I knew you were coming for me, so I had to be super brave.

Josh, I need to ask you about that water cooler moment post finale. Did you somehow forget that you'd voted for Christy too? There was a lot of questions online surrounding that double standard.

Yeah, well, look, I think again, it come across the wrong way. I understand I was going for Christy I wasn't upset at Christy for voting for me. I think it was just the fact that she said were one and two the whole way, and then I sense I was slipping her, so like I didn't go. I feel she went for me first by doing the Mark votes. You voted for Jordi when I was trying to protect both of us in the day vote. So there was

But there was definitely.

No yeah, I understand that comment, but I was more upset that all of a sudden, you know, we were together the whole way and then at the last minute she thought she had a shot against Mark, and so they go and take Mark to the end and then Mark wipes some ten nil. Because I knew that, you know, the jury, they didn't respect Chrisy's game that much. They didn't respect Shay. So I was like, well, you say that we're tight one and two and then you you know, you'd go and give it to Mark sort of things.

I want to stay on this. You threw Josh under the bus, made it to the final three, which was in my mind, out of the cannon for you. Do you wish that you hadn't felt the pressure to make a big move?

No, because what was my resume? You know, I'd done a few things and I'd been part of lots of votes. But I just thought he was my big move, you know, like if I executed how I thought it was going to happen, Mark was my move. I was going to take the soldier out the night before, but the girls didn't do it. The girls flipped and went Josh. So when they flipped and didn't have me, I was like, this is what happens. You go one time for strategy

Showing myself that I am a physical threat. I'm an absolute beast and could have gone for an extra half an hour, hour and that final challenge. This whole time, I've been at the bottom, actually fighting for my life. That is why I'm deserving a sal survived.

One of the biggest things in Survivor is your final pitch. Shay. I have to ask, were you happy with that final pitch that we saw go to wear?

My pitch was? I mean, obviously only seen and edited part of it, but I struggled because I'm not a salesy person. I don't know how to talk myself up. I've never been like that. I'm not overly confident, so to I knew my heart why I felt like why I felt deserving of the Soul Survivor title. But to portray that with the right words under so much duress and sleepiness and no foo or my brain, I really struggled.

Yeah, like public speaker.

Well he's the public exactly. It's built in his DNA to be able to pick the right words. My brain was spaghetti. There was just slop in there that I had no words. People would ask me questions and I was like stair at the fire and hope to God that words enter my brain. Like there was not enough calories in me to work. I just didn't work. I didn't function as a human. So having said that, my greatest downfall was my pitch. For sure, I couldn't get it across the jury.

People liked it, you know. There was a lot of people on Twitter and not the Twitter is the vox pop of the world, but there was a lot of people that really liked you, pitch. You're a very smart, intelligent, beautiful woman, and I think that sometimes self can be really hard. I mean, I'm I think I'm a very social person, but once self doubt comes in, it's really hard for me to get rid of it. So I

Yeah, yeah, no, thank you. I do think if I got the opportunity to go again, I would, but I would definitely take a couple of acting classes and just learn. That's what I think it needs. I think you just need that, like what you said, you learn to give you a little bit of a partner back and not be afraid to boast about your game and to put it on show. I think I was afraid to come across silly. I don't know, but.

You're still stepping out of your comfort zone. You still, I mean, this is the thing I think on television, regardless of what show you're on, you need to be authentic, you know, and if it means you're a bit villainous, I say to people, well, that's just who If that's who you are, then people will still love that, you know, and if you are the comedian whatever it is, you know, I think that you do need to lean into it.

Oh that's really nice to hear. I've been trying to say offline and not read the comments, so it's good to get that summary. And I'll take the positive spin on the comments. I'll leave it there.

So do you think because this was a lock like Mark took the competition out? You know? And I don't imagine, and I haven't watched every Survivor, but I imagine that's probably one of the first times it's ever happened. But do you think that if Chrissy or Sha had better pictures the result could have been different?

Ah?

No, No, I don't think so. I think Chrissy may Well Christie's pitch is pretty good.

Yeah, it was very good.

Yeah it was good.

So no, I think it was just that's that was part of where my frustration stemmed from, is that I actually felt like I had better relationships with Christy and Sha and then they just went and gave it to Mark, Like I think it was it was too late to try and do a big move, like it's not going to get done like that.

When like your player's loyalty.

Then going against the loyalty at the last one is probably not going to get the job done. So yeah, I think that's where part of the frustration came from. But Mark just played a great game and the jury knew it. The jury respected there were players in there when I didn't get much time in the jury Villa. But the day of that final trouble, everyone was practicing their questions like they all had notebooks in there, Like it was intense, Like these guys are taking the game

Are you surprised with the choices of what questions were recorded and then played for television? There's a time constraint and obviously we cannot play you know, the Godfather Special Edition Special Edition and have Survivor go for three hours. But were you surprised to see who went to Aaron who didn't? No?

Not really.

I think again we all knew that, like it captured enough, you know, like it made Chris's pitch look or right. Actually had that, but there wasn't much else in there. I don't think that would have given a different pitcher Mark. Mark had a great pitch, He played the jury really well, and everyone respected his gameplay as a Survivor player. And what people don't get Marks, He's got this presence about him that, like, you know, when people talked to him,

Chrissy, what about you? You had a fairly dramatic but very powerful final pitch were you Were you happy with how that played out?

It's the best I had. The last forty seven days have been the hardest forty seven days of my life. But if you think for one minute that I left my three babies at home with no idea where I was going, what I was doing, how long I was going to be, you are sorely mistaken. I'm not here as an accident. I made my way here on purpose, and I guess let's start at the beginning. I have

I thought it was brilliant. And I thought, for a second, even though I knew Mark was going to win, like my Heart of hearts and all the editing and all the tricks and all the bells and all the whistles, I was like, oh my god, she's going to win. This is the best speech ever. And I said, we got my little bum along the along the couch to the edge of the screen. I was thinking, oh maybe, and then I realized, you know, as soon as the

So maybe the next time we'll do we'll do the people vote. An immediate reaction, one vote quickly, Chrissy.

The people vote on Twitter last night from the Survivor account was whose pitch was the best? And you were at the very end just before the announcement forty seven percent and Mark was at thirty percent and Shay was at eighteen percent, which means that they aren't the correct percentages because that's not good maths. But around those.

Areas didn't matter. Yeah, okay, it.

Did not add up at all, so great, but they were in that. They were so teens for Shay, twenties for Mark, and you highs. Anyway, I'm so Twitter was really on board, but who Twitter? Come on, you can't. You can't hang out on Twitter.

Please, we're not going to Twitter.

Hell no. Anyway, Mark got the majority vote, which was epic. Do you think that Sam being on the jury allowed for some massive campaigns?

Yeah, of course it did. I would have loved to have Krok in there. Imagine what he would have been saying. Because it's personal. You know said he got to be in there for a long time, reminding everyone, reminding you know, how good he was and what he did and what they did. I dumb, dumb. I went in thinking they've done too much damage. You know, I'm going to be

I just think it's funny because imagine that Sam's there at nighttime and before everyone's going to bed. She's like, you know, does anyone want to hear a story about Mark when he saved the word? You know, anyone who'd.

Like to hear about our survivor baby?

Every day you have the opportunity.

He saved Australia, he went to the war war, It's exactly.

How it is, well, Josh. The other thing that I thought was interesting was Sam going across to the jury so early. You know, do you think that that was a conscious decision from the two of them.

No, I think they would have planned for that contingency. You know that one of them is not going to make it to the top three. But you could see it in Sammy's face when you know, I flipped on them and she actually went home like they were still shocked. You know, it's good to talk about it, and you know, like Mark said, they left the idols back, so that they did do that, but when you go home, it's

She probably deserves the money then, But I also believe that you know, this vote did one hundred percent go to fifty to fifty. I think that people were voting for Sam and Mark. I think it was evenly split, or do you think that's unfair of me to think that it's evenly split.

To be honest, man, yeah, I actually think you know, Mark played the best game, Like you know, I'm great friends with Sammy, but I think her style was quite you know, it was aggressive, It was in your face, and I think that rubbed people the wrong way, like you saw it on the Juryville episode, like she had a frosty reception when we went in there.

So yeah, I.

Think Mark Mark's game needs to be highlighted more. To be honest, I think he Yeah, a lot of that was was Mark. He was a great social guy, the big gentle giant, played a great game and had that he just had a Yeah, he played a brilliant game.

So more credit to Mark.

I think, Shay, had you been on the jury and Josh would have been in the final three, who would you have voted for Josh?

Yep, I would have read it for Josh and I might have been the other person verted for Josh. Yeah, I think that. I think that I resonated with his game more. I think that even though Mark was pulling the strings and there's lots of lives and whatnot, I probably would have brought a social element into it. Mark was not as socially friendly, I guess or approachable or warm as Josh and Josh had some great banter around the fire. He always had interesting stories about being a pilot.

Well, Chrissy, same question to you. Had you been on the jury instead of Josh and Josh was in the final three, who would you have voted for.

Oh jeez, So that means that I would have gone home and I'd be sitting there looking at them. Oh, you know, I actually can't say it because it wasn't untill we went back for that four when I felt Josh pull away. So had that had been me, I probably wouldn't say Josh because I'd probably would have said Joshi for the wind because I didn't feel that he hadn't pulled away by then.

You could still have said Shaye, Like there's so many options there for you. I mean, it was the question.

I wasn't close to Shaye. No, I wasn't close to shape. We've spoken about it since. We actually have a bit of a giggle coming out because we weren't close because I didn't throth any in there, you know, like he dogged Croc and I couldn't get over it. No, I don't. I mean I could probably look down the jury now and there wouldn't have been many people that I probably would have taken to be fair over Mark. But yeah, I think jos should have got that one.

Well, a slightly different question for you, Josh. What secured your vote for Mark to win? And at what point did you decide to do that.

I think I knew, like in the afternoon, I was sort of going to go that way again.

I was.

You have a huge date, like you don't get back to jury villa until like eleven thirty, and you know, you have a couple of beers, you're trying to just wrap your head around everything going on. Then the next day you go back and you've got to do some other obligations, filming and stuff like that. So I actually didn't have any time to think about what questions I was going to ask.

It was just go, go, go.

But when I was sort of in the you know, driving to the tribal from the villa, I was like, yeah, I think, you know, out of a Survivor game play, Mark had all three aspects, whereas like you had a brilliant social game and it got her all the way. But Mark had the social, he definitely had the strategy, and he also had the physical. So yeah, I think I was Mark pretty early on.

But do you think it was a little unfair for you to be on the jury or was it a little too soon to be there? Was it harder to make a clear decision having such limited time to put such a blindside behind you.

Yes, yeah, definitely, and it was that.

It was it's just the emotion of getting that close, being told that, man, you're you're a huge street you had a really good shot at winning this. If you got there, it all burns, you know. And yeah, so you're just you're piecing it all together. You're so tired still, you're just trying to adapt to what's just happened, and it's a blur, and so you just throw your best and yeah.

Well, Chrissy, what did you think about Josh leaving the competition and not saying goodbye to you?

That's an edit, Bennie.

He said, Okay, he said goodbye.

He's got a hunk. It wasn't very heartfelt.

Well, good to know. Good to know.

Shaye.

What did you think about the conditions of Survivor? Did you think that the conditions this year were too harsh?

No, because I think that clon Curry was harsher. I think they had more heat in the day and more coolness at night. I'm pretty sure I saw single digits in the nighttime temperature in clon Curry, and I reckon we only got that a few times were there was a couple of nights where we were shivering around the fire. I just had an argument with kJ so she wasn't spooning me like she normal would. She was about twenty centimeters away, and that made me so cold that I

Then you never spoke to Chrissy again, because.

She did.

And the thing is everything. I was trying it off the Christmas leave for sure.

No.

I was trying to say, like Christy, please just listen to me, like I understand the rations. I did the rations when we were at the Red Tribe. It will not come overnight. And but but kJ and Josh were holding me back. They were like, don't do it. She's get she already doesn't like you. She's gonna hate you more for having to chime in about your nutrition facts. And then because I was like the nutrition nerd out there, and they were like, shut up with your science. We

You know getting away from the last night? Instead of talking about Survivor and your experience in general, Josh, there was a lot of conversations about editing this year. Was there anything ever Frankin grabbed. I think that's the term that didn't sit well with you that you went, oh.

What there were like I could hear it massively in my voice, like I never really noticed it too much. But there are a couple there that I was just like, oh wow, like they're just completely chopped and changed, and

Like a real prick, to be honest.

So that was probably one of them because our full playing into that boys club thing at that time as well, and I was just like, it's just a bit disappointing with that. But you know, again, people forget and move on, and I haven't copted too much from it. I don't read comments and stuff like that because of that sort of stuff, so I just move on and yeah, we're.

Not like that. Well, the interesting thing is that we are watching the game, and we can see that you have alliances and friendships with people like Chrissy, and I don't think that she would be your friend if you were some sort of male, chauvinistic pig.

With Nina, Shay, Chrissy like kJ like all the girls like and it was always Yeah, it's just just the way that the show went, and it was unfortunate.

But some people that.

Watch it and see how tight I was with everyone. If I was a misogynist or whatever, the girls wouldn't hang out with me, you know what I mean?

So yeah, I do, and I think you make a very good point. Chrissy. Do you know anything about the next series? Because people are you know this time that I was talking to the the final three last year, we were already talking Blood versus Water. Do you know anything about another series?

No, I didn't know about the one I was on. For God's sake, Ben, that's a ridiculous question. The chatter. The chatter is villain hero villains and heroes, fans, those favorites. That's what people are saying. But no, I don't know anything. I don't know anything. Shaye.

What was the most outrageous thing that you read about yourself? Online.

Someone on some fan page I don't know, someone called me flop l and I thought that was creative and insulting at the same time, and I was a couple of people started going, oh, flop El, like hasn't done anything or whatever. This is free furgetry days. And then that was when I stopped reading things. But my best friend went on to check that website to reassure me what was going on there, and she said, it's just

My last question is something that I ask everyone who joins the podcast, and Josh, I'm going to give the floor to you. What is something from behind the scenes that we as an audience didn't get a chance to see that we might appreciate from the makings of Survivor.

Well, yeah, I don't know how far I can go.

All the way, mate, all the way, And I didn't think i'd say that on this podcast.

Yeah, behind the scenes, you spend a lot of time, like in sitting in silence, like you're not allowed to talk like game chat and stuff like that, and so a lot of one of the hardest parts about the game, besides the food, is sort of sitting around waiting for production to get set up and do that, and it is a lot of forced silence and that is super draining, and you're just sort of sitting there waiting all day and it's like it can be up to, you know, five to eight hours a day of just like sitting

Anyway.

I wish I could just go absolutely have.

A nap, but I'd be laying there trying to sleep and all I'd get was just like, all right, if this does this, this and one mind would not stop.

So that was a huge.

Training part of it and one of the hardest parts of the game. All the just waiting around behind when the cameras are getting set up.

Well, so many amazing insights into the game. So lucky to have this final chat with the three of you. You guys did so well. Pipped at the post at the last minute, but lovely people. I just want to say thank you so much for being on TV reload yay, thank.

You so much, awesome, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for me