Rohan MacLaren

**Rohan MacLaren** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2016).

Rohan came into the game wanting to prove that he was more than just a "dumb model", which began by closely aligning with Phoebe Timmins and finding the Hidden Immunity Idol. However, after swapping tribes, Rohan found himself in the minority for the first time. In an effort to save his tribemate Phoebe, Rohan gave her the idol to play. This led to his downfall, as his rival Kat Dumont, alongside original tribemate Kristie Bennett, betrayed him at the same Tribal Council in a shocking blindside.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

**Age:** 28

**Occupation:** Model

**State:** VIC

Rohan is a charismatic, charming and successful model who completely breaks the stereotype.

Rohan put his modelling career on hold for three years to be the Australian representative of the Rwanda Development Board. He was on the Dean's List at university, has degrees in commerce and science, and is passionate about the environment, sustainability and helping others, especially in developing areas.

During high school, Rohan travelled to Italy on an exchange program and he says that experience taught him independence and how to be assertive, skills that he plans to use on the island.

He says: "People will judge me on how I look, so I will then be able to fly under the radar in stealth mode, which is ideal. To operate undetected on your mission is the goal."

Rohan has been to over 36 countries and thinks all his travel gives him a mental toughness that will prove a winning asset.

"I think I have a great chance of winning *Australian Survivor*. I have the skills so let's see if luck is on my side. The show has a lot of unknowns but I hope to play with my integrity intact."

## Australian Survivor

Rohan began the game on the Aganoa tribe. After losing the first Immunity Challenge of the season, Rohan was faced with his first Tribal Council on Day 2, where he joined the rest of his tribe in voting out Des in a unanimous vote. Following Des's elimination, Rohan became a part of the new majority alliance consisting of El, Evan, Lee, Phoebe, and himself.

After winning the following Immunity Challenge, everything was going smoothly for Rohan until he and his ally Phoebe were faced with a tough decision on Day 6. The pair had to choose between a large bag of beans for the tribe and a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol with a smaller bag of beans. Rohan and Phoebe decided to take the clue, agreeing not to tell the rest of the tribe what happened. While it appeared that they fooled the tribe with their lie, Evan wasn't buying their act and later proved it once he found the clue that Rohan had mistakenly dropped. In hopes of painting a target on their backs, Evan showed a member of their alliance, El, the clue to the idol that he had found. However, unbeknownst to Evan, El relayed this information back to Rohan and Phoebe, which made them grow worried of Evan's scheming.

Following another challenge loss, Aganoa was subjected to their second Tribal Council. Due to her consistently poor performance in the challenges, Rohan's alliance decided upon voting for Kat. However, feeling that he couldn't be trusted, Phoebe tried to rally the numbers to send Evan home instead. When she asked Rohan, he was receptive to the idea and at Tribal Council joined the four other girls in voting Evan out.

With their primary enemy off the island, Rohan and Phoebe were now in a secure position on the tribe and used the clue to help them find the Hidden Immunity Idol soon after. Despite agreeing that he would hand the idol over to Phoebe beforehand, Rohan kept the idol in his possession, causing some slight distrust between him and Phoebe. On Day 10, they lost another challenge, but due to Peter's quit, Tribal Council was cancelled. Luckily, Aganoa went on to win the next three Immunity Challenges, keeping Rohan safe.

On Day 19, the three tribes met for a Reward Challenge for an unknown "game-changing" power. The winning tribe, Saanapu, was allowed to either split off to become the team captains of two new tribes or stay together and handpick four new members to join them, leaving those unpicked to form a new tribe. The members of Saanapu chose the latter option and left Rohan, Phoebe, Kat, and Kristie along with five other Vavau members to become the new Vavau tribe.

With an entirely new tribe, Rohan found himself on the bottom and after losing the next Immunity Challenge, both he and Phoebe were on the chopping block. After being confronted, he accidentally spilled the beans about having the idol, provoking the five original Vavau members to target Phoebe instead. Knowing she was the target, Phoebe pleaded for Rohan to give her the idol, reassuring him that they had the numbers to send an original Vavau, Sue home instead. Rohan ended up handing the idol over to Phoebe, only to send himself home when his original tribemates Kat and Kristie voted for him in a blindside.

## Post-Survivor

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## Trivia

* Rohan is the youngest man on the Aganoa tribe.
* Rohan is the first *Australian Survivor* contestant to find a Hidden Immunity Idol.
* Rohan is the first *Australian Survivor* contestant to be voted out as a direct result of a Hidden Immunity Idol being played.

## References

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-1/rohan/pa191010mhskr