Australian Survivor to utilize temporary Redemption Island format

If you were thinking Russell Hantz would leave Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders after first few days of the game, think again.

Whenever returning players compete once again on their reality show of preference with brand new players, production tends to keep the new players insulated from harm at first. Survivor tends to make select returnees captains on tribes, allowing the group to come to them in establishing bonds and create alliances.

However, with just one returnee (Russell Hantz) competing in Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders, the odds are much more stacked against him. He’s just one of twelve people on a tribe of alpha competitors, making it hard for him to work a “dumbass girls” alliance and idols his way to the end.

The producers did not jump through the loopholes necessary to bring him on the show for him to just be voted out immediately. As revealed by The West Australian in an interview with Jonathan LaPaglia, the host teases that there will be, “For a limited time, a form of Redemption Island, where contestants get a chance to fight their way back into the game.”

The entire interview looks like a brief overview of Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders, going so far as to break down hints of bromances, weeks of rains, “a serious injury,” a four-hour challenge and dynamics between the tribes. For example, apparently “the Champions were a little more conservative in their approach” compared to the Contenders, who came to play the game.

Both the reveal of Redemption Island in play and a weaker, recruit-heavy Champions bodes well for Russell Hantz, as he will seek to take advantage of a tribe that doesn’t know how to play Survivor. There are obvious changes in the gameplay dynamics – there are extra weeks of play and many more castaways – and having just one player with experience in the game is enough to vault Russell over the edge.

Australian Survivor: Champions vs Contenders debuts on August 1 at 7:30 p.m. AEST.