Australian Survivor: Blood v Water

Australian Survivor: Blood v Water is the seventh season of the Network Ten incarnation of the competitive reality TV show Australian Survivor. Adopting the twist used in two seasons of the American version of the show (Blood vs. Water and San Juan Del Sur), this season featured twelve pairs of loved ones initially competing against each other.
After surviving 47 days in , , returning player Mark Wales defeated Chrissy Zaremba and Shay Lajoie in a unanimous 10-0-0 jury vote to become the Sole Survivor. To date, two castaways from Blood v Water (Jordie Hansen and Nina Twine) have returned for a future season.
==Production==
Similar to Brains v Brawn, this season was produced locally as the COVID-19 pandemic continued, under the same health protocols. Production stayed in Queensland, but the filming location was moved from Cloncurry to the Charters Towers region. Endemol Shine, the company that produces the series, received AU$3.9 million through the Australian Federal Government's Location Incentive grant after filming Brains v Brawn in the previous year, which was heavily attributed as the reason for the series being produced locally again.https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/second-qld-production-of-australian-survivor-to-inject--29-million-into-the-state.html
==Twists/Changes==
* Blood v Water: The castaways were pairs of loved ones competing against each other. 
* Import Castaway: Two-time Survivor (U.S.) winner Sandra Diaz-Twine was invited to compete with her daughter Nina who was competing for the first time.
* Returning Players: Mark Wales and Sam Gash, who met in and later married, returned as a competing pair. Additionally, Andy Meldrum from competed with his sister Kate.
* Rules regarding transferability of Advantages: Starting from this season, idols and advantages may no longer be passed to another player once their holder is voted out.
* Hidden Immunity Idol: Multiple Hidden Immunity Idols were planted:
** A temporary idol was placed below Jonathan's podium where the voting urn was placed while reading the votes. Two copies of the same clue were hidden at the Water tribe camp. This idol was only usable at the first Tribal Council.https://www.instagram.com/p/CZY7_Q7BXUZ/
** A pair of idols, one for each tribe, was made available during the castaways' trip to the Survivor Shop on Day 3. The idols can be combined to form one "super-idol", which can be played after the votes have been read.
* Tribe Switch
**Mock Vote Tribal Council: On Day 9, under the pretense that the Blood tribe voted a member out for losing the Immunity Challenge, they unknowingly sent the person "voted out" (Sophie) to the Water tribe instead to be its newest member.
**Tribe Switch: On Day 15, a tribe switch took place, randomly distributing the final 19 castaways between the Blood and Water tribes. The odd-person out had the option of deciding which tribe to join.
**Kidnapping: On Day 22, the Water tribe lost the Immunity Challenge and went to Tribal Council. The castaways who received votes were eligible for kidnap. The winners of the Immunity Challenge then had the opportunity to vote to kidnap one of the eligible players.
* Fire-Making Elimination: On Day 24, instead of a tribal Immunity Challenge, both tribes competed in an individual Immunity Challenge. At Tribal Council, instead of voting someone out of the game, both tribes voted one member into a firemaking challenge, with the loser being eliminated.
*Purgatory: On Days 32 to 35, the people voted out were not sent home but instead sent to Purgatory to face each other to earn their spot back into the game.
*Double Elimination: At the Day 34 Tribal Council, two people were voted out.
*Safety Without Power: This advantage allows its user to send three castaways back to camp and without casting a vote.
* Expanded Jury and Final Three: For the first time in Australian Survivor, the Final Tribal Council had three finalists face a 10-person jury.
==Castaways==
Contestant	Contestant 	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Tribe Affiliation	Finish	VotesAgainst
Contestant	Contestant 	OriginalTribe 	Post-SwapTribe 	SwitchedTribe 	Post-KidnapTribe 	MergedTribe 	Finish	VotesAgainst
 	Andy Meldrum49, Noosa, QLDKate's brother 	 	 	 	 	 	 	9
 	Briana Goodchild26, QLDDavid's daughter 	 	 	 	 	 	 	10
 	Kate Tatham46, QLDAndy's sister 	 	 	 	 	 	 	3
 	Alex Frost26, VICJay's brother-in-law 	 	 	 	 	 	 	2
 	Jay Bruno34, VICAlex's brother-in-law 	 	 	 	 	 	 	4
 	Sandra Diaz-Twine47, Riverview, FL, , & Nina's mother 	 	 	 	 	 	 	13
 	Sophie Cachia31, Melbourne, VICKJ's sister 	 	 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Amy Ong24, VICKhanh's sister 	 	 	 	 	 	 	9
 	Nina Twine24, Riverview, FLSandra's daughter 	 	 	 	 	 	 	0
 	Croc Crocker41, Sunshine Coast, QLDChrissy's brother-in-law	 	 	 	 	 	 	4
 	Ben Watson33, Sunshine Coast, QLDShay's partner 	 	 	 	 	 	 	6
 	Khanh Ong30, VICAmy's brother 	 	 	 	 	rowspan="13" 	 	10
 	Mel Chiang33, Melbourne, VICMichelle's twin sister 	 	 	 	 	 	17 	
 	Jesse Hansen22, Canberra, ACTJordie's brother 	 	 	 	 	 	7 	
 	Michelle Chiang33, Sydney, NSWMel's twin sister 	 	 	 	 	 	10 	
 	Jordan Schmidt29, VICJosh's cousin 	 	 	 	 	 	5 	
 	Sam Gash37, Melbourne, VICMark's wife 	 	 	 	 	 	7 	
 	David Goodchild51, QLDBriana's father 	 	 	 	 	 	16 	
 	Jordie Hansen25, Melbourne, VICJesse's brother 	 	 	 	 	 	22 	
 	KJ Austin37, VICSophie's sister 	 	 	 	 	 	16 	
 	Josh Millgate31, VICJordan's cousin 	 	 	 	 	 	11 	
 	Chrissy Zaremba42, Sunshine Coast, QLDCroc's sister-in-law 	 	 	 	 	Runners-Up 	3 	
 	Shay Lajoie31, Sunshine Coast, QLDBen's partner 	 	 	 	 	Runners-Up 	10 	
 	Mark Wales41, Melbourne, VICSam's husband 	 	 	 	 	 	8 	
==Season Summary== 
==Voting History== 
==Trivia==
* Blood v Water is the fourth season internationally to have pairs of loved ones as contestants, following from the Philippine version, , and from the American version, and .
** Unlike the earlier iterations of the couples format, this season is the first to feature a pair of returning players instead of both being first time players, or one member being a returning player.
** This season however is the second internationally to feature a full pair of returning players with a familial relationship, following Rob and Amber Mariano.
* Blood v Water contains the most contestants of Asian descent of any season in Australian Survivor, with 4. This would be tied by .
==References==
AU09
Category:Australian Survivor
09
Category:Australian Survivor: Blood v Water
Category:Returning Player Seasons