Mark Herlaar

**Mark "Tarzan" Herlaar** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2017) and *Australian Survivor: All Stars*.

During his time in *2017*, Tarzan found himself outside of the majority seven-person alliance, but found his niche on the tribe as Samatau's sustenance provider and fire master. Tarzan relegated himself in to the background of the tribe for the majority of the game, but made his first move on Day 11, after finding the Hidden Immunity Idol by a stroke of luck. He decided to give his idol to Tessa O'Halloran, knowing she was the majority alliance's target and thinking he wouldn't be voted out for being the tribe's provider, thus potentially blindsiding Locky Gilbert in a 1-0 vote. However, Tarzan's plan backfired, as Locky got suspicious of his behavior before Tribal Council and was able to get enough votes to get him voted out in a 3-1-0 vote.

In *All Stars*, Tarzan used the same strategy and was steadfast in his loyalty to his allies, particularly Moana Hope and David Genat. Though he did not play strategically, he was beloved by most of his competitors and performed well in the pre-merge Immunity Challenges. The post-merge Immunity Challenges were a different story, and Tarzan's poor performances kept him safe from the surprise Exile Beach twist. As the alliance began to turn on itself, Tarzan would relay potential betrayals to his core allies. Tarzan was eventually voted out when Brooke Jowett went on an immunity run which prompted Moana and David to keep the better performing Sharn Coombes over him.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

* All Stars

**Age:** 51
**Occupation:** Lime Farmer
**State:** Queensland
**Tribe:** Samatau
With his beloved wife, two children and six grandchildren at home cheering him on, lime farmer Mark is going to play hard and will not let his age stop him from giving the younger contestants a run for their money.
Mark owned and built a multi-million dollar insulation business but lost it all when the Government introduced the rebate scheme, so he decided to rebuild his life as a regional lime farmer. The hardworking farmer has also sold firewood, worked in flea markets and invested in property and the stockmarket.
While he may have achieved a lot professionally, Mark's family means more to him.
"My kids and my wife are amazing people and so full of love for each other and that's pretty significant. For my grandkids to sit there and see Poppy on television and be like 'That's my Poppy', I want to win it for that."
Getting into the island vibe, Mark was recently in Vanuatu with his son where they built a grass hut and ate coconuts for two days. "We roughed it but I don't know how I'm going to do it for 55 days. I don't like sleeping on the ground," he said.
"I keep fit everyday by working and at least three times a week, I'll do a long walk. I'm pretty good for 51, I think. I should be ready to take on these kids."
Mark is a firm believer in doing the right thing but knows that when it comes to *Australian Survivor*, his moral compass may start to falter.

"My word is my bond and I teach my children and grandchildren that and we never break that. But this is a game. The door to the universe is wide open so I will jump in and see where I land. I have every faith in myself to do it. I don't know how but I will do it."
**53, Lime Farmer — Season 2**
The sweet lime farmer from Queensland, Tarzan may not be the biggest strategist but he's one of the most loved players in Australian Survivor history. Tarzan, aka Mark, became a father figure to his tribe and even gave up an Immunity Idol that he found to help his mate, Tessa.
This time, he's learnt a few more tricks to playing the game but will still be the Tarzan people know and love. "My Survivor game plan is to become all things to all men and women, gain their confidence and have them take me as far in the game as possible. I might have to turn on people at some point, but I really will try not to and will kill me to do it.
"My biggest goal in all of this is to be in it from Day 1 to 50 – either in the final two or somewhere in the Jury. I just want to be part of it all!"

## Australian Survivor

### 2017

Tarzan looked to be a provider for the Samatau tribe, and his outdoor and life experience made him an asset. However, Tarzan fell into the minority when ally Adam Parkin was blindsided at Samatau's first Tribal Council. That did not faze him, as he continued to be helpful at camp while trying to keep his main ally Tessa O'Halloran in the game. When the majority Samatau alliance split the vote against Kate Temby and Tessa, Tarzan ensured Tessa stayed by voting for Kate. That vote left Samatau with fewer members than Asaga, so Tarzan reminded Locky Gilbert that the tribe should consider voting out the weakest member Anneliese Wilson. However, Locky remained set on targeting Tessa first. Tarzan was faced with a moral dilemma: to hide cookies from his tribe and kept to himself, or to bring a big bundle of firewood to camp. He was torn due to the hunger but felt the right thing to do was to choose the firewood.

Samatau were thankful for his selflessness, although it did not change his position on the tribe. After Samatau lost yet another Immunity Challenge, Tarzan knew Tessa would go unless he found a Hidden Immunity Idol for her. They decided they wanted to use the idol to take out Locky, and tried to recruit AK Knight as well since it would improve his standing in the tribe. However, Locky became suspicious of Tarzan when he said he was willing to vote Tessa off. Tessa played the idol for herself, but Locky's alliance split the votes and Tarzan ended up falling on the sword for his ally.

* Challenge History
* Voting History

 3 | Kate

**^1** In "Episode 4", Tessa used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Mark H.'s vote against her.

### All Stars

Coming in as the lowest placing all-star, Tarzan was not considered a threat throughout the game even when he performed well in the early strength-based challenges. Tarzan aligned with the more "old-school" style of players such as Moana Hope, Mat Rogers, Jacqui Patterson, and Jericho Malabonga. This once again put Tarzan in opposition to AK Knight and Locky Gilbert. Even though his alliance was down in numbers, Tarzan was vocal and adamant in his support for his allies, congratulating Mat for saving Jacqui with the Hidden Immunity Idol he received from Henry Nicholson on Day 7. Tarzan and Jacqui's friendly closeness and banter gave them the humourous reputation as the "old married couple".

Tarzan remained with close allies Jacqui and Moana after the tribe switch, where he would also develop key friendships with Lee Carseldine and David Genat. Like at Vakama, Tarzan's physical strength contributed to Mokuta winning the majority of the Immunity Challenges. In the few Tribal Councils visited during this time, Tarzan remained in the background as the former minority Vakama alliance, the Mokuta athletic alliance, and free agent David joined forces to knock out strategic threats and potential allies to the current Vakama members Phoebe Timmins and Nick Iadanza.

Once the merge hit, the Mokuta seven dominated the rest of the game. Tarzan was shown to be significantly affected by Lee's evacuation due to a family emergency, as the two had grown close. Because Tarzan's individual challenge performances declined from the pre-merge and his steadfast loyalty, he was largely ignored as a target. This was the case even in the chaos that emerged from the Exile Beach twist in which the top three vote earners at the Day 34 and Day 36 Tribal Councils would be exiled. Tarzan was the only person that wasn't immune at either Tribal Council to not receive votes. Though Zach Kozyrski was voted out following this twist, the Mokuta alliance regained control at the following Tribal Council. Tarzan foiled Jacqui's attempts to discretely flip and became locked in on voting her out. That would be made possible in part by David playing an idol on Tarzan, putting numerical pressure on Vakama and ultimately discouraging them from going to a rock drawing tiebreaker. After two more straightforward votes followed, Brooke Jowett continued her immunity run which forced Tarzan, David, Moana, and Sharn Coombes to turn on each other. Tarzan viewed Sharn as the clear target as the last original Mokuta remaining, but since David, Sharn, and Moana were concerned about beating Brooke at the next challenge, they felt Tarzan was a liability and voted him out on Day 46.

At Final Tribal Council, Tarzan confronted Sharn about the final eight vote where Sharn mouthed to Tarzan to vote out Moana and potentially break the tie in Vakama's favor. Tarzan's loyalty to David as well as David's overall respected gameplay was reflected in his jury vote.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 11", the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Moana and Phoebe, forcing a revote. Tarzan did not change his vote on the revote.
**^2** In "Episode 17", the vote ended with a 1-1 tie between David and Zach, forcing a revote. Tarzan changed his vote to Zach on the revote.
**^3** In Episode 18, only the three castaways remaining on Exile Beach were eligible to receive votes.
**^4** In "Episode 19", David used a Hidden Immunity Idol on Tarzan, but did not negate any votes against him. Also, the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Jacqui and Moana, forcing a revote. Nobody changed their vote on the revote, forcing a unanimous consensus tiebreaker. Tarzan did not change his vote on the tiebreaker.
**^5** In "Episode 21", Tarzan's vote was nullified after AK accepted the Trial by Fire.

## Post-Survivor

* Two days after returning to Australia following *Australian Survivor* (2017), Tarzan became severely ill with dysentery and was bedridden for a week.
* Following the departure of Kiosk Keith, Tarzan took over the role of Kiosk Kev for the 2018 and 2019 series of the UK version of *I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!*.

## Redemption Island

### Days spent on Redemption Island:

N/A

* Tarzan is the oldest member of the original Samatau and Vakama tribes.
* Tarzan is the oldest man to compete on *All Stars*.
* Tarzan is the lowest-placing player to return in *All Stars*, having placed 21st on *Australian Survivor* (2017). He was later tied with Stevie Khouw in *Australian Survivor: Heroes v Villains*.
* Of all castaways in *All Stars*, Tarzan went the longest without receiving a single vote.
* Despite being a member of the original Vakama tribe, Tarzan wears a Mokuta buff in his cast photo for *All Stars*.
* Both times Tarzan played, he received no votes until the Tribal Council he was voted out with exactly three votes.
* Tarzan and Moana Hope set the record for the greatest improvement in *Australian Survivor*, going up 16 places between their respective two seasons. This record was later beaten by Mark Wales, who went up 17 places between his 2 seasons.

## References

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-2/mark-h/pa190708bcygd
2. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-5/tarzan/pa200203qojrw
3. ↑ http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/reality/mark-tarzan-h-got-dysentery-after-being-evicted-from-australian-survivor-2017-20170803-gxoz70.html
4. ↑ https://www.buzz.ie/entertainment/kiosk-keith-everything-need-know-307851