Des Quilty

**Des Quilty** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2016).

In the beginning of the game, Des rubbed several of his tribemates the wrong way with his lazy and rude demeanour, which caused him to become socially isolated. Despite attempting to prove his worth by helping with shelter construction, his lack of social bonds resulted in him being the first person voted out.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

**Age:** 59
**Occupation:** Courier Driver
**State:** QLD

Des is a courier driver and a classic Aussie bloke who loves to have a laugh. He is a loyal man who has been married for 37 years.

Des boasts that he will surprise his fellow *Australian Survivor* contestants with his brains. His game plan is to observe and befriend his fellow tribe mates and then ultimately become the puppet master, pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

Des says: "I intend to make some big moves because the meek may inherit the Earth, but they don't win *Australian Survivor*. In the game, my word is glass. It's meant to be broken in case of fire."

Straight-talking Des talks a big game. He says: "I'm born to play a villainous game. If they don't get rid of me first, they are gonna be in trouble."

Des was a Sergeant in the Australian Army for seven years and has experience living in tough conditions. Since leaving the army he has worked in a variety of different industries including automapping, computing, pest control and publishing, and says: "I don't look like the smartest bloke but I've actually got a few brains."

A family man with three daughters, Des has been happily married for 37 years to Caroline, whom he affectionately calls "The Queen". When he told his wife he was leaving the family behind to compete in *Australian Survivor*, she had one piece of advice: "Don't come home without the bacon."

Having quality time with his family is very important to Des and winning the half million dollar prize money would go towards helping his daughters get the best start in life.

## *Australian Survivor* (2016)

Assigned to the red Aganoa tribe and the oldest of his group, Des initially believed people would think of him as a country boy who doesn't know much but wanted to play up to that role as he believed himself to be much smarter than those around him. Upon arriving at camp, Des explained about his military background working in logistics and focused on handling the supplies from the initial reward challenge instead of building a foundation for the shelter, much to the chagrin of Katherine "Kat" Dumont as the two would butt heads about work ethic and Des' insistence on focusing on the strategic side of *Survivor* and aims to not exert himself for the sake of wasting energy - Des and Kat's conflicting views on camp life caused a splinter in the tribe with the majority siding with Kat's views. Des also maintained distance from his tribe even at night, opting to sleep out of the shelter and avoid physical contact with the others.

At the first Immunity Challenge, Des and Kat were the nominated puzzle solvers but a lack of communication and frustration between the pair caused the tribe to lose sending them to the season's first Tribal Council. Upon returning to camp, Des wished to curry favor with the tribe and elected to improve the failing shelter that was swept away the night before though Rohan MacLaren noticed his intentions were only due to losing the Immunity Challenge and not out of wanting to maintain unity. At Tribal Council, Des openly admitted to disliking Kat and that he didn't wish to interfere with the tribe dynamic for fear of not allowing them to learn from their mistakes. Once the votes were read, Des was unanimously voted out and become the first player eliminated from Australian Survivor (2016)

In his final words, a visibly upset Des believes that his wife would agree with his tribe to vote him out because of how difficult he is at times and warns of a tempest sea, and to enjoy the early days.

## Post-Survivor

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## Trivia

* Des is the oldest member of the Aganoa tribe.
* Des is the first man in *Australian Survivor* history to be the first person voted out of a season.
	+ He is also the first person in *Australian Survivor* history to be the first person voted off and not cast a self-vote.
* Des is the first person to be voted out of the *Network Ten* incarnation of *Australian Survivor*.
* Des's name was spelled "Dez" in the Rites of Passage.

## References

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-1/des/pa191010ldfmj