RHAP: We Know Survivor - Survivor AU: Australia V World Ep 5 Exit Interview

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

We Know Global Survivor host Shannon Guss chats to the fifth boot of Australian Survivor: Australia V World.

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Survive. Suave. Twenty one South African, 12, ordinary Australians. Siftane New Zealand. Quimmeda. One million pounds. Million.

Euron. Suckelium. Aetium. Rumbium. Try to Spoke. Try it. It's a shit. Try.

The adventure of a lifetime. The adventure of a life here. Getting you ready for our episode 5 X interview for Australian Survivor versus the world. If you haven't seen episode 5, that is the merge episode, the Monday night episode. Firstly, watch it.

It's so good. If you haven't watched this season, you're missing out. It's honestly so good. And click away if you haven't seen it. Okay. If you have seen it, you will know. Sarah goes home. We spoke to Sarah. She called in from Europe, which was very kind. I had a lot of questions for Sarah because her decision making has been a catalyst for so much of the season. So it was great to get the insight into some very complicated relationships that she had out there, which again have been so pivotal

to the season at large. Also, the recap with Chappelle, if episode four is out, with Poof, episode five is out. And I think right about now, episode six should be out with the recap out for that as well around this time. So that's going to be week two for us. Remember to donate to the Chizzy Raffle. We've got about a week in a bit left for that so that you can take our finale Chizzy Points in under two weeks at this point, which is insane. And we'll have an episode 6X interview as well. So hope you guys are enjoying all of the coverage. We'll have a show with Rob, all of the coverage. We know global survivor.com. Follow me at Shannon Gates so you don't miss any of it because you don't want to miss any of it because this season is so fun and also so short.

We have to really grasp it while it lasts. But thank you all for listening. Hope you enjoy this ex-interview, and I will see you next. Vera, calling in from Europe. You look like you're in Europe. I'm so jealous. How are you doing? You know, Shannon, I highly recommend being voted off from Survivor whilst traveling Europe.

I'm really leaning into the luxuriousness of being Mayor of Jerry Villa. So I'm doing well. I love it. I love it. I'm not going to do the whole interview like this. I just thought it'd come in strong with the theme. You have to do the whole interview like this now. I will accept nothing less.

So you've made your bed. Well, I was taking reference from when you were in morning on that and your podcast episodes. So I was like, okay, we love a theme here. But I'm going to take off. But you look too chic. You like, you can't help it. But Sarah, I have so many questions.

And like, look what you're, like even right now you're being so chic. Are you doing that on purpose? Like, what is that happening? I know, I'm being ported channel. I know it's going to get clipped up. Like, I got to, you know, deliver. Giving the people what they want. Okay.

So many questions. And I want to start with Kirby. We could probably do a deep dive on just you and Kirby, and one day I really hope we do. But take me back to the formation of that. Like you have relationships coming into the season with people you've known for a long time. Kirby had just played. Why did Kirby become the hopeful right or die? Oh, my God.

Well, firstly, the charm of Kirby should be studied. It is very potent. And, you know, so there's that. But beyond that, it wasn't just a simple being smitten by the charm. that being incredibly powerful. For me, it was I really wanted a partnership. I wanted like that right-or-die kind of player, as I said. And what I liked about Kirby in her previous games

was how she had that kind of right-or-day partnership. And I was hoping to have a nice collaborative alliance in that sense. And that's part of the reason why I didn't lean so strongly or as heavily into the Dave and the Luke relationships because I did feel like I would be maybe a bit of a caddy, and maybe kind of used as a number for their plans, plus the fact that they also had Janine as a really strong number two. And I wasn't actually sure that if push came to shove,

that I would be able to one up Janine in, like, as we got later in the game. So I was really trying to forge my own kind of independent relationship. But, you know, that was really based on the assumption that it would be this kind of to and fro peer-to-peer alliance, which I was really hoping, you know, Kirby's such a strong character. She, you know, she plays big, which I also really love, I love players that play big. Yeah, that was the kind of logical reasoning of being drawn to Kirby in that sense. Yeah, so we see from the first vote how difficult that is.

She wants David. You're very tight with David. You've known him for over a decade. We see you kind of struggle with that trying to tell him to play an idol if he has it, You feel like you're stuck to Kirby. In your final words, you're like, I should have gone with David. Like, what was the thought process through a very, very sticky situation in the first vote that you had in the season?

Yeah, yeah. I think, well, you know, that original intention of having the right or die and Kirby was really put to task on that first vote. I was like, oh, okay, so this isn't going to be the alliance that I had intended to have. So, yeah, it was like, look, it was completely frustrating. And if you know me as a player, I do not. not take well to being told what to do. I really like having a conversation.

So I really was not super happy after that vote. And it was a challenging, really challenging spot. Yeah, if I had my time again, I absolutely would have. You know, I think the writing was on the wall, even in that moment that, you know, this was not going to be, you know, a partnership where, that I had wanted to, sort of had. So I think if I really kind of run that logic in my head, I would have just flipped back to Dave. But I did think that, you know, with the investments that I've made in Kirby that we could kind of recover or I could still use Kirby in the game. But yeah, I mean, from that point,

I was really on the back foot and the rest of the game was recovery and just everything was thrown out the window and all of my good intentions were kind of really, yeah, challenged after that very first vote. So just tricky. Yeah. What would have been your perfect vote? Like, who were the names that would have been the perfect names for you in a situation where you do have a lot of different and varying relationships? Look, I'm scared to go against the shoddy fandom because, you know, they're impressive, they're a mighty force. And I'm also part of the shunny fandom, just FYI, folks.

But it would have been shodny for me, obviously. And the only reason being is it was, you know, none of it was personal. It was simply that I could see her playing a really similar game to me. So I'm really nurturing a lot of relationships and really playing the cracks of these big players. And that is exactly what I wanted to do in the game. And then equally, I just, you know, she's so charming that I just knew the world tribe would completely take to her as well.

So it was simply just a matter. I mean, it's exactly what I said to Kirby. how Kirby felt about Dave in terms of Dave was taking up Kirby's sort of space that she saw herself playing strategically in this game I really saw Shawnee as that same you know threat for me personally so yeah that that would have been the perfect one

and I would have loved to work with George like you know I love I love a villain I love a cheeky little naughty character that's maybe a little imperfect would have loved to play with him but then he was so close with Shawnee so that I couldn't like he was his right or die ended up being shoney so i was like oh damn like i can't i don't know that i can get in there because they really only had each other in the early stages of the game so

yeah it just really um panned out totally differently to what i had a lot of my assumptions i had going into the game yeah i was thinking about this last night i think we recapped brains be brawn when george was on like the original braids and like everything was going wrong and i'm pretty sure you gave him chizzy points and i was like that's madness so i was thinking about that last night I'm like there was a real foundation there for a relationship. Did you go into that tribal council thinking it was George and then Kirby pushed it at tribal council? Yeah, absolutely. Like part of the reason why I did speak to Dave on the beach was that I didn't want to spook Kirby.

So like I was worried that if she saw me speaking to Dave at all, she would think that I was changing the plan, which was not the case. I was just trying to relay that we're all on John. it's all good. But Kirby was so hyper-fixated on Dave on that first day that I was like, if I'm having a conversation with him at all, she's going to think that things are changing up and then panic and then change. Little did I know, perhaps she was always planning on changing. And again, had I picked up on that, I would have just spoken to Dave and like, you know, have that be out in the open. But at that point, I thought she was sort of going to stay the course and do what we as an alliance had agreed to do

because I just think that that's also how you, that's how you foster and nurture a good alliance. If you, you know, we're playing OzV world. I think a lot of the players, you know, we're used to having someone who leaned on them for kind of to set the strategic direction. But what was really obvious to me was that like no one's going to be just, yeah, being anyone's caddy in that game.

And I think in Kirby's mind, I think she thought maybe I was happy just to kind of follow along and by her leadership. But that's not how Selah likes to play. Well, in line with that, we never actually saw the conversation where you want Shawnee out and she wants George out and it becomes George. And you obviously have a conversation where you need Kirby's vote to pile on to what you think is going to be a one vote split. And that doesn't happen. How does that conversation go? With the getting. Kirby to vote for George when you won

Shawnee. On the first vote. And the second vote when George goes. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I think the conversation I remember having was very much about Shields, which I think is the conversation around Shields was, I think, shown. Again, I've been kind of watching from social media and picking up on the comments.

But it was really a conversation about Shields And I was saying to, sorry, no, I'm thinking of the first vote. How I got to George? Because you wanted Shawnee out and she wanted George out. And then it was George. And we kind of feel that tip you into like pushing against Kirby because you don't get your way a second time to get Shawnee out. Okay.

She wanted Shawnee out, yeah, and she wanted George out. I don't, to be honest, this was a year ago. I can't quite remember the conversation. exactly, between Kirby and I. But what made it end up being George, what I do remember, the deciding factor was he was simply just damaging too many relationships around camp. So, like, I think I would have pushed a lot harder for George

and, you know, really push the kind of how you feel about Dave is how I feel about Shawnee thing. However, he was really becoming very hard to advocate for around camp. just through nature of his, like, how he was handling those relationships. So I naturally just backed off because I was like, well, if I push too hard, like this actually now makes no sense because like no one wants to work with him. So I'm not going to just fully put myself out there as the sole person who wants to work with him. So that's where that's where that decision was kind of made.

Yeah, I don't remember the conversation though, but yeah, I think I just naturally pulled off the pressure. So we see there that you go to Janine and you're like, well, maybe we'll, you know, maybe Kirby, but you know, probably Shawnee. It was more Shawnee, I feel. Like, talk to me about the relationship with Luke and Janine because they're going to blow up your spot, but then you also have the connection with them. You have a multi-year connection with Luke. So where were those relationships and that working dynamic when that all happened?

Yeah, so that was tricky. So like I said, after that first vote, I was really coming for Kirby. or I had it in my back pocket that I was going to come for Kirby after that first vote. I didn't want to burn straight away the investments that I'd made. She had no reason to distrust me because I was like, I'm going to save base with her and just see, you know, appear like I am fine with the David boat. Like, didn't love it, but I'm fine.

But really in the back of my mind, I was keeping that kind of betrayal in my back pocket and do a bit of tip for tat later in the game and feel completely justified up by doing it. So because I trusted Janine and Luke quite implicitly because of that previous relationship I had with Luke, I had been keeping them in the loop with my plans against Kirby kind of early, early days. It was like night two or like right after that boat, I let them know what was happening

there. And I did trust that they wouldn't take that back to Kirby. I thought that they would kind of hold that knowledge and use it to their advantage later in the game. I guess I underestimated how badly they also wanted to work with Kirby. And, yeah, and they ended up telling her, and that was absolutely my undoing in that sense. But yeah, that was, you know, the irony is I did have,

I lent on that same trust of the kind of outside relationships as maybe Dave did on me and went against my instincts to be like, you know, no one owes anyone, anything in this game. So, yeah, watching it back and seeing the clip where it looks like, hey, maybe you tell Kirby that bit of information to Janine. I was like, oh, cheeky bar. But, you know, what's fair is fair? And I don't think I really want to talk.

So. Well, how out were you on Kirby? Like, it's in the back pocket, but you're saying Shawnee's name. You all obviously, like, need each other at the merge, and that's kind of the thought process you're going with. Like, at what point is push coming to shove with that? How much could Kirby trust you? Or was she kind of right to get you out, ASAP?

she was completely right to get me out, to get me ASAP. I'm not sure how much it was shown, like I was being consistently loyal post that Dave vote. I was certainly showing, you know, publicly that I was, that I was completely all strategic because I didn't want to give away where my head was actually at. But no, she was completely right to get me. And that's why when the blind side happened, I was like, you know, fair enough. However, the reason I felt so safe going into that post-merge vote was I was like, well, no one's going to break the Aussie numbers going into this first critical boat.

Like that's, you know, do that. Like I sort of describe it as, you know, if you really like chess and you know all the kind of general rules, you play in chess, like, oh yeah, this is kind of the general way of playing chess. I see Survivor that way, but playing chess with Kirby is like playing. with someone who doesn't know chairs so they just do like wild stuff and you're like oh my god I did not see that but you know it works really works really well when you're playing with someone who just is just strictly looking at the kind of rules of the law of gameplay I guess yeah I mean we spent a year-long pre-season being like Dave is the center of everything and Kirby was like nope immediately and I was like oh I forgot that that's that's not

Kirby's not going to do the predictable thing ever so that is hard to remember yeah and I think that's why I was so drawn to Kirby as well. Like she's clearly a huge player. Like she's going to be okay with other big players. You know, she's going to be cool with shields. So I'm going to be able to play off this Kobe Dave thing for a while and hide behind both of those shields.

But no, she was like, nope, I have my sword. No shields needed. I'm good. So, yeah,

did not say that. What about the other relationships? I mean, I know it must have been a thrill for you to meet poverty, as short-lived as it might have been and as upsetting as it might have been. been to be voted out by poverty. I don't know if it's kind of like a Regina George type thing

where it's like it's she couldn't, I guess that she can vote you out of still an honour. What about those other internationals? Were you clicking with anyone? Like what was the thought process with those new five relationships? It would have loved. I think of my, if I had my complete pick,

I would have loved to work with Tony. I just thought like he's just that like, I just love a, I get a lot of pleasure from like really chaotic players and I find them really great to work with if they, chaotic but collaborative, if that makes sense. I would have loved to just work with Tony.

I would feel like I would have really fueled his wildfire and had a lot of fun with that game. I'm not sure he would have wanted to work with me. This was the challenge. Being a bit of a lesser known player, it was really hard to have any kind of influence in these alliances because, you know, people are naturally drawn to the big ticket items.

so it would have been interesting to see that play out and with respect to Surrey and poverty like I had constantly been telling myself, giving myself pep talks along the way being like they're just people when you meet them if you meet them, treat them as such don't get played by them they're completely strategic masterminds

and in a way it was maybe good that I was voted off because I would have been played like a fiddle by and Sarin because I was not able to take heed of my self-talk. Relatable. Yeah, yeah. So, but yeah, it was epic to be on the same beach as it. Like, truly unimaginable. Well, this is a bit of a rogue question, but if you're saying you want to maybe work with Tony, I don't know if you know how in trouble Tony was on the other side. You make fire that actually dooms Tony in the hope that you, I mean, you're immune.

You're hoping Shawnee will go. Who knows how Kirby's going to blow it up, but you're definitely immune. Was any part of you like, maybe I don't make the fire? Maybe I save some of these international legends and maybe Shawnee goes home. Yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. I think, look, in that moment, I think I could have convinced Kirby to get Shawnee. I don't know, though, because now post-game, I'm like, eh, you know, I feel like I've convinced her, but she might just do something totally random in the moment. But I, for sure, in the moment in that game, I was like, I think I could convince Kirby and Luke and Janine to get Shawnee. Like, I think I could force my way being that I am immune. Yeah.

in that vote. Because I would have had to pick someone. I really think I could have gotten Shoney in that moment. Yeah, and looks not voting Janine, and you're not, you want to go. So it kind of feels like maybe that was Johnny's time. Yeah, and I felt like that was fully my opportunity to get what I wanted individually. And, you know, looking back, maybe I should have done. Maybe I should have tried something different.

But again, I was just like, we're about to go into merge. I want to have more Aussie numbers. But again, in retrospect, you know, hindsight. 20, like our tribe was fractured. I should have just moved to get to look after my own interests in that moment. But I was really like, you know, this world tribe, it's going to be a tough competition. So let's try to go in even numbers. Otherwise, we're going to get eaten up. So. Yeah. I didn't think about it at the time. I don't think that's like an instinctive thing to do. But it is interesting to think in hindsight of like Tony survives and you can get Seanie

there. Like the whole landscape of the game is very different in like a fascinating way. But I mean, that's a big thing to do. Yeah, yeah. I know, but I think if I ever play next time, I'm just going to not bide my time all the time and not wait and overthink. And, like, I just, I think the inspiring part of Kirby is that she really just acts and it's impressive.

Like, the way she backs herself in that way, it's something really to be learned from strategically from her. Well, what were the, like, longer-term plans? If this goes through and the Australia tribe, I guess win at rocks is, Is the hope at that point, are you voting for Cass? Was that, yeah, it was, yeah. I originally wanted Cass, because she seemed to be really,

I mean, I think I correctly perceived that she was really in with everyone. Like, she was quite pulling the strings. So again, like that middle player, able to be very adaptive. I'm like, no, that's what I'm trying to do. So I don't want any of those. I want really, you know, black and white players. But she was incredibly nuanced and, yeah. Yeah, awesome.

Well, but then, and so where do you go from there? Like, what were the, who did you want to work with long term? Like, if you're out on Kirby, like, what are the thought processes to get to the end? Like, who are the people you're trying to work with? So first, I really wanted to get Kobe out post-merge. And I really liked Lisa. I don't know if it was shown, but, like, I was really nurturing that relationship with Lisa on the immediate merge beach.

I really wanted to work with Parbity, but, you know, I was. And I would have. But like I said, I think I would have totally been played like a fiddle by her. So I don't think that would have been advantages for me. Yeah. And then I really wanted to work with Surrey as well. I mean, of course, I'm a survivor fan. I'm going to want to work with these, you know, OG players.

But yeah, I would say those three. I wanted to work with Lisa, Barb and Surrey. But I think Lisa might have been a really good alliance member for me. Did any part of you at that point then think to just, immediately flip once you got there and like those are your kind of working interests anyway to work with the internationals was any part of you at the merge who you know to break it up the way that they ended up breaking it up on you yeah so I think once I would have if I could have gotten rid of Kirby I would have been free from that and I would have paid for it later in

terms of getting the um you know saying that you're going to play oil and then get rid of kirby but my justification you know all all the while if I were to get to the end was like well, Kirby betrayed me first vote and a ride or die, by my assumption, is like a two-way street. So when that's not being reciprocated, that, you know, that plan was dead in the water. Vote one. So I was going to always justify it in that sense, like coming for her. But once I would have been freed up from her, yeah, I would have wanted to, yeah, I would have completely flipped. Like I would have been a free agent in then.

And I know that Luke and Geneal working really closely together. We, Luke and I were going to kind of play on the download. We agreed that we would, on the beach, we agreed that we would have each other's back on the download. So I never thought that Luke would actually proactively, you know, try to click my wings strategically in that sense. So I feel like I would have flipped but tried to foster that relationship with Luke. Delusional strategy or not.

that was maybe I would have played out for the rest of that game. Right, but no part of you was going to do that was going to do that before, like was going to cut into the Australian tribe before you got a winner's Australia. You know what I mean? Like at that actual, at the void where you go home, did any part of you think, like, I'll just slip right now? Like, I won't wait to take out a cast as an example. Like, I'll just flip on Kirby tonight.

No, because I just really, you know, I fundamentally believed in maintaining dominance. So I was maybe, you know, I was a bit two, two dimensional thinking, you know, like as someone who completely overthinks and overanalyzed things, I was really simplistically, I was being really simplistic on that first vote and it, it really, yeah, I wasn't in my own what ifs, what is the normal way of thinking about things on that vote. So yeah, no, I didn't really have a consideration because I thought it was in the collective interest to just maintain numbers and and pick away at what was left of the World Tribe post that. Yeah.

Well, look, your decisions to find the season have made it, helped to make it. You know, one of the best seasons of all time, you've been a major character in that it was complicated from the jump, but the season is so much richer for how complicated your journey was. So thank you so much for calling in from Europe as well. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your trip. I hope we get to speak more personally and maybe on the podcast as well if you ever want to talk more about it.

But thank you so much, Sarah. It means a lot for you to call into the podcast today. Oh, thank, Shannon. It's so fun. Yeah, it's been awesome watching, like, the season's epic. So at the end of the day, as a fan, like, you know, any true fan of Survivor would just want it to be a great show. So the fact that it is, you know, the community is losing their minds over it.

I get so much glee and joy from that. So, yeah, great to talk to you, too, as always. Thanks so much, Sarah. Have a good time in Europe. Bye. Right. See you, Shannon. Bye.

The Bajaves. Twenty-one South African-12 ordinary Australians. Seven million pounds. One million euros. Million of Ukraine. I think a million. Trive Spurion. Try to Spain.

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