Lydia Lassila

**Lydia Lassila** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders* (2018) and *Australian Survivor: All Stars*.

A dominating force in challenges, Lydia proved to be an essential part of whatever tribe she was on in *2018*, but, come the merge, her appearance as a threat was too large, inciting allies Shane Gould and Mat Rogers to flip, blindsiding her at Koro Savu's first Tribal Council in a 9-3 vote.

In *All Stars*, Lydia once again focused solely on keeping the tribe strong. Although this put her in the early majority on Mokuta, following the Tribe Switch, Lydia was reunited with former victim Shonee Fairfax, and once main ally Abbey Holmes was blindsided, Lydia was voted out immediately afterwards. Although Lydia was given the opportunity to return to the game with a fire-making challenge, she lost to Phoebe Timmins.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

* All Stars

**Age:** 36
**Occupation:** Olympic Freestyle Skier
**State:** VIC
**Tribe:** Champions
A mum of two, a five-time Winter Olympic aerial skier, entrepreneur and now *Australian Survivor* castaway. There's not much Lydia can't handle.
"I think *Survivor* is a once in a lifetime experience and definitely a challenge. Just because I'm classified as a Champion, doesn't mean it's going to be an easy ride for me. I'm looking for new challenges that will push me beyond my comfort zone and I think doing this will definitely be that!"
A gold medallist who competed in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Lydia has been awarded for many accolades including the prestigious "The Don" award by the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Lydia's knee collapsed on impact after she attempted to land a difficult jump, forcing her to withdraw. Just 16 months later, Lydia made her comeback at the World Cup competition winning silver in her first event.
Lydia's biggest sporting achievement came at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010 when she won gold in the aerials - Australia's second gold medal for the games. At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Lydia became the first woman to complete the ground-breaking aerial manoeuvre: a quadruple twisting triple somersault.
Her achievements and determination became the subject of a 2016 documentary called The Will to Fly, which was released to critical acclaim.

While she's feeling confident she's got what it takes to win, Lydia doesn't want to the bad guy saying, "I think I'm very similar to Lee from the first season. I don't know if I'm as much of an asset as he was in challenges but our personalities and values are similar."
**37, Olympic Freestyle Skier — Season 3**
One of the most competitive and accomplished physical players the show has seen, Lydia returns in full game mode. An Olympic Freestyle Skier, Lydia knows how to push herself to get to the end but had a rude surprise in her season when she was blindsided by Mat Rogers.
Coming back a little bit for revenge but mostly for a second chance, Lydia knows what she wants. "I need to trust my gut and act quickly on any red flags. I was definitely holding back last time, especially in Tribal Councils and I could have been more vocal in my opinion. "I don't want to just be seen as a physical beast. I want to take risks, I want to come up with great ideas and plans and be a strong all-round player."
As a fellow Olympian, Lydia has great respect for Season 2 winner Shane Gould, and still has great friendships with contestants like Sharn, who came runner up in their series.

## Australian Survivor

### Champions v Contenders

Lydia quickly made a strong impression on her tribe by dominating the various physical challenges early in the game. Strategically, she was solid with the majority alliance and especially bonded well with fellow athletes Moana Hope and Mat Rogers. She was among the players skeptical of Russell Hantz's antics and contributed to the split vote against Russell and Damien Thomlinson. Though she would lose Moana at the next Tribal Council the Template:Dab attended due to her getting sick, Lydia's position did not change. Her record in Immunity Challenges, particularly in 1 vs 1 match-ups, made her a force to be reckoned with as seemingly no one on the Template:Dab could match her athleticism and determination.

Lydia was put into a minority following a Tribe Switch where Monika Radulovic, Sharn Coombes, and herself were outnumbered by four original Contenders, albeit a fractured group. Lydia formed a tight relationship with Robbie Skibicki and coached him through a difficult endurance Immunity Challenge on Day 26. This helped Robbie and Benji Wilson decide to work with the former Champions to take out either Heath Davies or Fenella McGowan at a future Tribal Council. That divide was heightened when Lydia and the rest of the Contenders had the option to save Tegan Gasior on Day 28 and Benji and Robbie joined the Champions trio in declining to save her. This newly constructed alliance of five would vote out Heath just before the merge.

Lydia was looking strong at the Day 32 Immunity Challenge, so much so that Shane Gould began talking to Mat and Steve Willis while the challenge was going on about blindsiding Lydia because of her challenge strength. Lydia eventually lost the challenge narrowly to Sharn. While Lydia expected the Champions to use their 8-4 numbers advantage to vote out Fenella, the rest of the Champions recruited Fenella and Shonee Fairfax to blindside Lydia 9-3, finishing the game in 12th place just short of the jury.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 2", the vote ended with a 4-4 tie between Jackie and Russell, forcing a revote. Lydia changed her vote to Russell on the revote.
**^2** In "Episode 6", Shane used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Lydia's vote against her.

### All Stars

Lydia's history on *Survivor* was immediately brought up during Jonathan's opening conversation with the entire cast. This would define Lydia's motives to start the game, laser-focused on voting out Shane Gould at the first opportunity as revenge for Shane orchestrating her blindside. Lydia's efforts succeeded and resulted in her being involved in a strong majority alliance. Though Sharn Coombes also voted out Lydia in their prior season and voted with Shane at the first Tribal Council, she joined Lydia's athlete alliance along with Abbey Holmes, John Eastoe, Lee Carseldine, and Zach Kozyrski. Lydia enforced the narrative of keeping the tribe strong, preferring the less-trustworthy but athletic Henry Nicholson over social players Michelle Dougan and Shonee Fairfax. Unlike her first season where Lydia seemed unstoppable, Lydia proved more fallible this season, such as losing her matchup against AK Knight on Day 8. This trend possibly contributed to Mokuta losing four of the six opening Immunity Challenges though Lydia remained in a strong position throughout. Unfortunately for Lydia's alliance, their last target Shonee was saved by an Exile twist.

Shonee would re-enter the game during the Tribe Switch which compounded a difficult situation for Lydia. She ended up on a swap with five original Mokuta and five original Vakama, though two of those Mokuta members, Shonee and Harry Hills, were excluded from her alliance. Abbey and Lydia continued to push for tribe strength and threw Shonee under the bus, but original Vakama sided with Shonee. Abbey would be voted out 5-2-2-1 with a successful split vote between the two leaders of the once-powerful athlete alliance. This vulnerable position left Lydia and John with no choice but to vote against each other at the following Tribal Council. Lydia was voted out 5-4 in another split vote, but a twist gave Lydia one last lifeline: a fire-making challenge against Phoebe Timmins, who was voted out by Mokuta. Lydia lost the challenge, ending her time in the game.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 5", Shonee used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Lydia's vote against her.
**^2** In "Episode 6", Mokuta was subjected to a mock Tribal Council where the two players who received the most votes were sent to Exile Beach.
**^3** In "Episode 8", both tribes attended Tribal Council to vote someone out. The two players voted out would then compete in a fire-making challenge where the winner returned to their tribe and the loser was eliminated. Lydia was voted out by Vakama and then lost the challenge, eliminating her from the game.

## Post-Survivor

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## Tribal Council

### Total votes received:

16

* Lydia is the first returning player on *Australian Survivor* who did not make it to the jury stage during their career. She would be followed by Phoebe Timmins, Andy Meldrum, Jackie Glazier, and Stevie Khouw.

1. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-3/lydia/pa190317okc
2. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-5/lydia/pa200203qolbp