Luke Toki

**Luke Toki** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2017) and *Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders* (2019).

In *2017*, he was known for his humorous confessionals and witty personality, as well as his close bond with eventual winner Jericho Malabonga. After leading Jacqui Patterson's elimination, Luke quickly emerged as a power player, and his refusal to be a backseat driver would work to his advantage. His numerous allies allowed him to travel deep into the merge, before being blindsided for his overall control over the game.

In *2019*, Luke returned as "the people's champion" on the Champions tribe. Despite being left on the outs early on, Luke and the minority alliance were able to dismantle the Sporty Seven Alliance. While close ally David Genat was blindsided shortly after the merge, Luke quickly recovered and joined forces with the remaining Contenders and Abbey Holmes to blindside Simon Black and Janine Allis. During the game's later stages, Luke became the consensus target due to his impressive resume, but a string of Individual Immunity staved off elimination. After spearheading a particularly memorable blindside of Abbey, he was unable to win immunity at the final four and was eliminated after Pia Miranda chose not to force a tie at Tribal Council.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

* Champions v Contenders

**Age:** 30
**Occupation:** Mining Technician
**State:** Western Australia
**Tribe:** Asaga
Luke may be a joker but he takes some things very seriously, including his family, his job and reality television.
"I am a reality television binge watcher, I watch everything. I get into the shows with the missus like Real Housewives and The Bachelor Australia. I make up for it by watching *Australian Survivor*. Last year's series was too tame though, we need more players this year," he said.
"But the last challenge with Lee, El and Kristie was pure guts so if I get to do anything like that, it would be incredible."
After initially applying for the show as a joke, Luke was pumped to find out he was going to the island, thinking it would be "nice to go on a little holiday for a while".
A drilling operator in a Western Australian mine, Luke has recently taken on a desk job to spend more time at home with his adored two sons and wife, Mary.
After growing up with a difficult home life, Luke appreciates his family and wants to make them proud.
"I want to be a positive role model and think it will be great for myself, my boys, my wife and family to look back on. "If I win, I would spend the money taking the family to Disneyland then donate the rest to my home ownership fund."
Already fit, Luke has been training harder to get ready for the physical aspects of the show and working out his strategic moves.
"I will play the nice social game and be friends with everyone as I don't want to be the first to go. I could get along with the devil if I had to. Nothing is off the table when it comes to how much I will do to win the game. I'm a joker, I do stuff for a laugh, but I still play hard and want to win this."

While he is ready for what the game throws at him, Luke has already survived a dangerous situation. "The most dangerous thing that has happened to me lately was when I put the colours in with the whites in the washing machine and I had to avoid my wife for the day."
**People's Champion, 33**
The King of the Jungle is back baby! Luke, the fan favourite and Season 2 mastermind is back on the island and ready to claim his crown.
The loveable prankster and trouble maker has returned as a Champion and is ready to fight back hoping to take out the title of Sole Survivor saying; "I really believe I have the tools to win. I am willing to die out here to win, haha."
Now a father of three, Luke has had to leave his newborn daughter behind but is hoping he'll be successful so he can secure his family's future and take them on a much needed holiday.

## Australian Survivor

### Australian Survivor (2017)

As one of Asaga's strongest and most liked members due to his humorous antics, Luke sought not only to take control of the game but to shake things up whenever possible. His first plan was to throw a wrench in Samantha Gash's split vote plan that would see Joan Caballero voted out in a 9-3 vote. Luke, Jericho Malabonga, and Ben Morgan flipped their votes from Joan to Kent Nelson to force a revote, in which this time they voted out Joan. Though it did not change the overall outcome, it did make Sam, Kent, and Mark Wales a bit more paranoid going into the following vote, and gave Luke's group a chance to pull in Sarah Tilleke, Jacqui Patterson, and Henry Nicholson to take control of the tribe. During this time, Luke and Jericho developed a close friendship through their affinity for scheming and putting other tribe members against each other, namely the pairs of Sam and Mark W., and Jacqui and Henry. Luke was one of the Asaga members who threw the challenge on Day 16 to finally vote out Sam. Luke then had his sights set on Jacqui, and although he failed on his first attempt (Mark going out the next Tribal Council), a swap that saw Ben and Henry switch tribes with Anneliese Wilson and Tara Pitt (the latter two voted out in a fake Tribal Council) allowed Luke to succeed in the second attempt. Luke's core alliance of Jericho, Sarah, and Michelle Dougan maintained control and voted Kent out next.

A second tribe swap saw a collision course paved for the season's two most vocal personalities and strategists in Luke and AK Knight, the latter who despite overplaying strategically managed to retake control of Samatau. However, AK and his ally Peter Conte were swapped into a minority as Odette Blacklock stayed loyal to her original tribemates and Tara held a grudge from AK voting her out of Samatau earlier in the game. This resulted in AK's elimination and eventually Peter selecting the Template:Dab option at the following Tribal Council, sending the latter back to Samatau. Before that, Sarah was caught plotting with Peter about possibly voting out Luke. Sarah played it off saying she was targetting Odette, but Luke remained suspicious. Ultimately, the two strategic players joined forces to take out Odette and go to the merge with four remaining Asaga members, though they both reconnected with some allies at the merge.

Ziggy Zagame winning the initial Immunity Challenge meant that the other physical threats in Luke, Henry, and Locky Gilbert were in danger. However, Tara's connection to Locky and Luke's connections to Michelle and Henry allowed the Asaga quartet to vote out the leader of AK's remaining allies in Jarrad Seng. This new alliance would succeed in voting out Anneliese when Ziggy flipped and used her super idol to cancel out Anneliese's regular idol. However, at the next reward, Michelle, Luke, and Tessa O'Halloran formed the "Champagne Alliance" in order to blindside Henry, a physical threat with an idol in possession. Sarah, Jericho, and Peter joined them and the blindside was a success. All alliances and bets were off soon after, as everyone claimed credit for Henry's blindside and started seeking new targets. Tessa made a plan to vote out either Locky or Jericho next, so Luke formed a counter plan with only Jericho and Sarah, knowing there would be a split vote between Locky and Peter. The result was an unprecedented3-2-2-2 vote where Tessa was blindsided. Luke seemed to be in a precarious but shaky position, but Locky and Sarah remained bigger threats than him. Locky however would go on an immunity run resulting in Sarah being voted out on Day 44. Luke tried to shift the target off of him to Ziggy, but Tara, Peter, and Michelle sided with Ziggy and Locky to vote Luke out 5-2 on Day 46, with Jericho remaining loyal to the end.

At Final Tribal Council, Jericho claimed that his plan all along was to make moves with Luke as a shield, albeit with the odd analogy depicting Jericho as Santa and Luke as his reindeer. Luke found this humorous and was a good sport, crediting Jericho's contributions to their alliance and helped Jericho defeat Tara by a 6-3 vote to become Sole Survivor.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 1", the vote ended with a 6-6 tie between Joan and Kent, forcing a revote. Luke did not change his vote on the revote.
**^2** In "Episode 11", despite losing the Immunity Challenge, Asaga did not have to go to Tribal Council.
**^3** In "Episode 14", rather than voting out a member of the tribe, Asaga was given the chance for one castaway to mutiny to Samatau. Luke did not choose to mutiny.

### Champions v Contenders (2019)

As the first Australian to play Survivor for a second season, Luke relished his status as the "People's Champion" and the challenge. His approach to make allies was in reference to his former ally, Jericho, winning his season. Luke quickly found his "new Jericho" in David Genat, with the hopes that David would be more of a shield. Luke also identified that the Template:Dab tribe was older and contained many athletes, thinking ET Ettingshausen was the ringleader. Vowing "another 60 year old won't win this season", Luke tried to find a crack in that athlete alliance. Though his ally Anastasia Woolmer was voted out at the first Tribal Council, Luke managed to bond with Ross Clarke-Jones over their love of adventure and thrill seeking (the latter being a big wave surfer). This social maneuvering convinced Ross and Abbey Holmes to flip on their alliance, putting Luke in a position of power after a precarious start. Luke also found a Hidden Immunity Idol prior to the Tribe Switch, something he did not accomplish two years ago.

All of Luke's hard work appeared to be undone by the switch placing him, albeit with his closest ally David, in a 7-2 minority on the Champions tribe. Luke approached a number of original Contenders attempting to get them to flip, and although initially unsuccessful, Andy Meldrum caused enough mistrust for Daisy Richardson, John Eastoe and Baden Gilbert to join Luke and David in blindsiding Sam Schoers. This power shift allowed David and Luke to take out another contender in the following Tribal Council, though it was short lived after a twist sent Shaun Hampson, the most popular Contender and Daisy's tightest ally, to the Champions tribe. Luke wasted his idol at the following vote as David needed his to survive. Though they targeted Shaun, Shaun's alliance split the vote between David and Hannah Pentreath as the latter was eliminated. Just before that Tribal Council, Andy approached David and Luke about voting out Daisy, to no avail as neither trusted Andy. This lead to Andy returning to camp frustrated in them and eager to finally take them out. Fortunately David was able to signal to the Champions on the other tribe that they were in trouble, prompting them to throw the challenge and keeping Luke safe for the next round. From there, the Champions won the remaining Immunity Challenges prior to the merge.

The 12 players that made the merge consisted of 6 original Champions and 6 original Contenders, with Luke and David still carrying vendettas against Andy and Shaun. Both contingents had cracks, as the Champion women didn't fully trust David due to his power trips and Shaun and Andy being tempting targets even by their own allies. Shaun's immunity win on Day 30 confirmed Luke's target would be Andy, who was voted out unanimously despite the pervasive "Champion/Contender strong" rhetoric. This gave Luke's alliance the advantage, as original Contenders would be 3 of the next 4 players voted out. The exception to this rule was a David blindside that caught Luke by surprise, also happening when Luke won his first individual Immunity Challenge across his two seasons on Day 34.
After Daisy left the game and only 7 players remained, Luke was wary that he was on the bottom of the Champions alliance, with even former outsider Simon Black threatening to take his spot in the eyes of Pia Miranda and Janine Allis. However, Luke managed to keep his closest Contender ally Baden in the game while bonding over late night food raids and other antics alongside Harry Hills. By convincing Abbey to flip, that new alliance of four successfully blindsided Simon on Day 39. Once again, things were looking good for Luke. However, as individual immunity wins piled up and the end came closer, Luke's threat level also grew.

Following Janine's vote out, Luke found an advantage that allowed him to send any player of his choice at Tribal Council back to camp, making them immune but also ineligible to vote. Luke considered using this to save outsider Pia in order to have a contingency plan should he fail to win an Immunity Challenge down the stretch. Luke did win immunity on Day 46, so he used his advantage, albeit on Baden. This confused Abbey, Harry, and Pia, and that confusion lead to a 2-1-1 blindside of Luke's biggest physical threat in Abbey.
Despite being the clear strongest player physically out of the final 4, a crucial mistake in the Day 48 Immunity Challenge allowed Harry to win the Immunity Necklace. At this point, Luke's likelihood of winning appeared to be almost certain, meaning Harry and Baden didn't consider anything other than voting for Luke. Luke's last chance was asking Pia to force a 2-2 tie, appealing to their similar backgrounds as parents with young children and that they worked together for much of the game. Additionally, if Pia were to vote out Luke, it would appear she would need to win the Final Immunity Challenge otherwise Baden and Harry would take each other to Final Tribal Council. Pia took that risk, sealing Luke's fate in a 3-1 vote.

At Final Tribal Council, Luke asked Pia to explain the logic behind voting him out. Pia reiterated her words at that previous Tribal Council saying how tough it was to vote Luke out, but it was a necessary move because she felt she could not beat him. Despite that decision visibly devastating Luke when it happened, he contributed to Pia's unanimous victory.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 10", Luke used a Hidden Immunity Idol, but did not negate any votes against him. Also, the vote ended with a 2-2-0 tie between Hannah and Shaun, forcing a revote. Luke did not change his vote on the revote.
**^2** In "Episode 17", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Abbey and John, forcing a revote. Luke changed his vote to John on the revote.

## Post-Survivor

* Luke attended the wedding of Mark Wales and Sam Gash on December 14, 2019.
* Luke hosted the *Australian Survivor Talking Tribal* with James Mathison for the *All-Stars* season.
* A GoFundMe page was set up for Luke by *Australian Survivor* fans. Within a few days it had reached A$250,000.
* Luke appeared in commercials for Tylenol with *Australian Survivor* host, Jonathan LaPaglia.
* In the summer of 2021, Luke appeared as a housemate in *Big Brother Australia VIP 2*. He received the most audience votes, winning him the season, and $100,000 for his chosen charity, the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation.
* In 2021, Luke was inducted into the Australian Survivor Hall Of Fame.

## Tribal Council

### Total votes received:

17

* Luke is the first *Australian Survivor* contestant to return for a future season.
* Luke is the youngest and highest-placing male member of the original Champions tribe.
* Luke is the first contestant on *Australian Survivor* to win his first individual Immunity Challenge on his second season.
* Luke is tied with Locky Gilbert (in 2017), Brooke Jowett (in *All Stars*), and Emmett Pugh for most individual Immunity Challenges won in a row, with 3.
* Luke is the first man in *Australian Survivor* to place fourth.
* Luke is the first castaway to have participated on a season of *Big Brother* after appearing on *Australian Survivor.*
	+ Internationally, Luke is the third castaway to have appeared on both *Big Brother* and *Survivor*, after the USA's Hayden Moss and Caleb Reynolds, albeit Luke participated in the franchises' Australian versions.

## References

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-2/luke/pa190708dwrxg
2. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-4/luke/pa190721lkjzh
3. ↑ https://www.newidea.com.au/samantha-gash-and-mark-wales-our-survivor-wedding
4. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/articles/survivor-all-stars-2020/tpa191010nbeas
5. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7VCrvnG-1/
6. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CR7VCrvnG-1/
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/bigbrotherau/status/1424113119761027079?s=21
8. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-10233435/Big-Brother-VIP-Luke-Toki-crowned-WINNER.html