Kent Nelson

**Kent Nelson** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2017).

Although initially targeted for being a weak link in Asaga, Kent's easy-going persona allowed him to become a member of the majority alliance, becoming one of Jacqui Patterson's closest allies. However, the alliance crumbled when Henry Nicholson decided to swap over to the opposing tribe, resulting in Jacqui's elimination. Kent's elimination soon followed, but not before he exposed Michelle Dougan as a weak link.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

**Age:** 51
**Occupation:** Chief Financial Officer
**State:** South Australia
**Tribe:** Asaga

A devoted father to his three children, Kent is no stranger to taking on new challenges and heading to *Australian Survivor* is no different.

At 39, Kent decided to take up swimming and swam to Rottnest Island in Perth. At the age of 50, he swam the English Channel, which was a 13-hour non-stop swim.

"I like to challenge myself and work hard at something so after some of the experiences I have had in my life, I thought I would give *Australian Survivor* a go. I have watched every single episode and yelled at the television and thought I could do better," he said.

Working for the past 10 years as Chief Financial Officer at Parliament House in South Australia, Kent says he is good at reading people's personalities.

"I deal with politicians and all kinds of employees daily. I can smell when an individual is lying or more likely omitting the truth or telling a story. This will be a great tool for me during the game," he said.

Kent's great fear is being the old guy who gets kicked off first, so he plans to prove his worth at camp early on and play to the egos of his competitors to keep himself in the game.

"A lot of the young kids look to the older people as a bit of a role model or advisor so if you can gain their confidence, it's like guiding a lost kitten," he said.

"Everyone has a plan. Twenty-three of those plans will fail. I need to survive the first vote, as it is an easy vote to get rid of the old guy. Once I get to the middle, the young will cannibalise each other. I need to survive the early rounds. You have got to go out with a fight."

While hoping to inspire his kids, Kent also wants to be the old bloke at the nursing home telling stories of his time on *Australian Survivor* and is not afraid of the challenges ahead.

"I would love to be rained out for days, have lightning bolts and no food. I hope the conditions are terrible. I will stand up there looking at the sky, asking 'Is this the best you have got?'"

## Australian Survivor

Kent was excited to compete in Survivor, but was worried that him being the oldest tribe member would make him an easy first target. His position in the tribe was made even further perilous since he and Joan Caballero responsible for losing the puzzle portion of the first Immunity Challenge. Kent was able to make strong relationships with eventual power duos Jacqui Patterson and Henry Nicholson as well as Samantha Gash and Mark Wales, and despite Luke Toki's meddling, those connections helped Kent survive the first Tribal Council.

From that point on, Kent's challenge performances improved along with his position in the tribe. He helped Henry and Jacqui turn on their allies Mark and Samantha, since they posed a huge threat to that trio. Although Luke aided in doing so, he then viewed Henry and Jacqui as the new power players and sought to eliminate them as well. Henry's decision to swap tribes to Samatau weakened Kent's alliance, though Asaga still had newcomers from Samatau in Tara Pitt and Anneliese Wilson to vote out. Jacqui, Kent, Odette Blacklock, and Sarah Tilleke though the plan was "Asaga strong". Instead, the alliance of Luke, Jericho Malabonga, and Michelle Dougan recruited the Samatau girls and convinced Sarah to flip, blindsiding Jacqui on Day 22.

Kent and Michelle's conflict started to escalate. Kent hoped that by fading into the background the target on his back would minimize, but instead it made him seem like a poor sport after his alliance lost power. Following the Day 24 Immunity Challenge loss, Kent refused to scramble and waited for players to come to him. Although Sarah, Tara, and Anneliese considered teaming up with Kent to take out one of the trio of Jericho, Luke, and Michelle, they stayed true to their alliance and voted out Kent.

* Challenge History
* Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 1", the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Kent and Joan, forcing a revote. On the revote, Kent did not receive enough votes to be eliminated.

## Post-Survivor

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## Trivia

* Ken was the oldest member of the original Asaga tribe.
* Kent received the most votes in *Australian Survivor* (2017).

## References

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-2/kent/pa190708szhao