Lee Carseldine

**Lee Andrew Carseldine** is a contestant from *Australian Survivor* (2016) and *Australian Survivor: All Stars*.

Wanting to provide a good example to his sons, Lee quickly formed a bond with El Rowland and to a lesser extent, Kristie Bennett. On Saanapu, he joined what became the majority alliance with El, Flick Egginton, Brooke Jowett, Matt Tarrant, and Sam Webb and received a vote stopper advantage on the day of the merge to Fia Fia. On Fia Fia, it became apparent to the others that his true loyalty was lying with El; despite this, the couple plus Kristie made the final three. With Kristie winning the Final Immunity Challenge, Lee was taken to the Final Two; however, his hypocritical and sanctimonious attitude towards strategy was lambasted by the jury and, coupled with Kristie's intense performance, caused him to receive only El's vote to win.

During his run in *All Stars*, Lee remained in a comfortable position on the Mokuta tribe, befriending everyone and not being targeted at all. This allowed him to enter the merge in the majority. However, his time came to an abrupt end when he received news that his mother had a stroke and he had to be rushed back home.

## Profile

*Retrieved from 10play.com.au*

* All Stars

**Age:** 40
**Occupation:** Aerial Photographer & Ex-Pro Cricketer
**State:** QLD
As an ex-professional cricketer, Brisbane-based Lee is hoping his background in team sports and leadership will be helpful in winning *Australian Survivor*.
Lee played cricket in the IPL, Sheffield Shield and KFC Big Bash League. In 2004 he suffered stress fractures in his back that forced him into early retirement, but he bet the odds to return to the game and played professionally until 2011. He now owns an aerial photography drone company.
Lee is hoping to be an inspiration for his two sons, who he says he will miss more than anything. He wants to play the game in an honest fashion. He says: "I would feel very uncomfortable going behind someone's back if I have given my word to someone."
Highly competitive, Lee has always been sporty but in preparation for the series, he started going to the gym five times a week, doing a mix of running, boxing and yoga.

In 2015, he completed the Kokoda Trail, which he said was the toughest thing he has ever done. A devoted single dad, Lee says his main reason for applying for *Australian Survivor* is to inspire his sons. "It's all for my two boys. I'm always teaching them to get out of their comfort zone so I thought this would be a good example to show them. I would like to be remembered as someone that worked hard, stayed loyal and tried to help every other Survivor on the way."
**43, Ex-Cricketer — Season 1**
The original good guy and runner up of Season 1, Lee is back for All Stars and his second chance at taking out the win.
After a harrowing and nail-biting final challenge in Season 1 with Kristie, Lee knows his way of playing is not always the fan favourite. As the unofficial hero of the series, Lee believed and still does that playing honestly can take you all the way.
"The foundations of how I will play the game will stay the same, however being prepared to lie more to protect my alliance is something I am prepared to do. I think the way I tried to play the game last time, hadn't really been attempted before."
Father of two and owner of a drone company in Brisbane, Lee has watched the other series and picked up a few new tricks along the way. He said: "I've learnt a lot after my series of how people play the game, so I think I'm going to do more game play this time around. I've also trained every day in the past few months which has helped me mentally and physically."

## Australian Survivor

### 2016

Lee's personality and strength in challenges allowed him to become allies with everyone on Aganoa (excluding Des Quilty and Kat Dumont). Though the former was voted out at their first Tribal Council visit, Lee was the only one who refused to turn on Evan Jones after he and Rohan MacLaren had an argument regarding a Hidden Immunity Idol clue. Despite this, the remaining six members of Aganoa avoided further Tribal Councils until the Tribe Switch on Day 19. Because Saanapu won the Reward Challenge, they got to select players from either Aganoa or Vavau to join their tribe. Lee was selected for his challenge strength, remaining united with his closest friend and ally El Rowland and integrating with the Saanapu alliance. Lee and El's closeness became more apparent, but they denied any romantic intentions. Saanapu would sweep the rest of the Immunity Challenges, eventually reaching the merge as 10 of the final 13 players.

Lee played a major role in keeping the Saanapu alliance solid and promoting "mateship", the belief that the good players should go the furthest. This prevented outcasted players such as Conner Bethune and Nick Iadanza from making many inroads, with the latter particularly being villainized simply for trying to play the game. Lee also managed to reconnect with Kristie Bennett and purchased a Vote Stopper advantage at the Survivor Auction. Lee's grip on the game allowed him to get to the final seven with El and Kristie needing to flip one of Flick Egginton, Sam Webb, Matt Tarrant, or Brooke Jowett. Lee would then go on an immunity streak and with Flick flipping on her closest ally and challenge threat Brooke, Lee and El appeared to be on course for victory. Lee's Vote Stopper prevented Sam and Matt from forcing a 2-2-2 tie with El, safely eliminating Sam. On Day 53, Kristie remained loyal to Lee and El in voting out Flick, meaning Lee had a great chance to get to Final Tribal Council. Though Lee and El planned to get to the end together, Kristie shocked everyone by winning the Final Immunity Challenge on Day 54. Kristie voted out El that night, allowing Lee to still reach the Final Two.

Lee seemed to be the favorite to win the title of Sole Survivor due to his control of most of the post-merge. However, Kristie's strong Final Tribal Council performance along with some intense criticism, particularly from Nick and Jennah-Louise Salkeld, for using "the moral high ground" to justify his gameplay while stigmatizing that of others. Though Lee apologized for his actions, he ultimately lost to Kristie in a 8-1 vote.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 23", the vote ended with a 2-2 tie between Matt and Sam, forcing a revote. Lee did not change his vote on the revote.

### All Stars

Despite costing the first Immunity Challenge for Mokuta, Lee got off to another strong start to the game. Lee made friendships throughout the tribe, even making amends with previous rival Nick Iadanza, and was part of the athlete alliance along with Lydia Lassila, Abbey Holmes, Zach Kozyrski, John Eastoe, and Sharn Coombes. Lee didn't push the vote as hard as some of the other members of his alliance, allowing outsiders such as the "Little Rascals" (Nick, Shonee Fairfax, and Harry Hills) to approach him for ideas.

The Tribe Switch allowed Lee to work more closely with Sharn and Nick while also connecting with the original Vakama members on the new Mokuta. Lee ultimately sided with those Vakama players over Nick on Day 24 which resulted in Phoebe Timmins being voted out and Nick being on the outside. Lee lamented that development, having formed a friendship with him. In the following immunity loss on Day 28, Lee and Sharn considered Nick's proposition to vote out Zach, but they decided not to shift the dynamics and contributed to Nick's unanimous vote out. Despite this tough vote, Lee and Sharn were now strongly ingrained into this new Mokuta seven with David Genat, Moana Hope, Mark Herlaar, Jacqui Patterson, and Zach.

After the Mokuta seven successfully blindsided Locky Gilbert at the merge vote, Harry tried hard to convince Lee to make a move against Jacqui. Lee began to realize that in order to avoid the same fate as his first season, he would have to make some moves rather than ride out his alliances. Ultimately, Lee decided that was not the night to do so and Harry was voted out.

Coming back from a Reward Challenge loss on Day 33, Lee was notified that his mother had suffered a stroke and it could be fatal. Receiving love and support from each of the remaining players, Lee left the game and did not serve as part of the jury in order to be with his mom and family.

#### Voting History

**^1** In "Episode 5", Shonee used a Hidden Immunity Idol, negating Lee'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 11", the vote ended with a 5-5 tie between Moana and Phoebe, forcing a revote. Lee did not change his vote on the revote.

## Post-Survivor

* Lee was in a relationship with *Australian Survivor* (2016) castmate El Rowland. The couple broke up in 2019.
* Lee appeared on the January 2017 issue of Australian Men's Health magazine.
* Lee's mother passed away after he was evacuated from *All Stars*.

## Exile Island

### Times exiled:

1

* Lee is the only male member of Aganoa to reach the merge.
* Lee is the only man on Template:S to win individual immunity.
* Lee is the only member of the post-kidnap Saanapu tribe to not be a member of the jury.
* Lee went the longest without receiving an elimination vote in *Australian Survivor* (2016).
* Lee is the highest-placing man in *Australian Survivor* (2016).
* Lee lost 17 kilograms during his time on *Australian Survivor* (2016).
* Lee is the oldest man on the original Mokuta tribe.
* Lee is the only castaway to receive no votes during *All Stars*.
* Lee is the second contestant in the *Survivor* franchise to be evacuated for a family emergency, following Terry Deitz in *Survivor: Cambodia*.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/player/4541.html
2. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-1/lee/pa191010itoma
3. ↑ https://10play.com.au/australian-survivor/participants/season-5/lee/pa200203ypfgw
4. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3842138/Australian-Survivor-s-Lee-Carseldine-confirms-relationship-fellow-contestant-El-Rowland.html
5. ↑ https://www.hit.com.au/story/aussie-survivor-couple-lee-and-el-have-called-it-quits-123146
6. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/survivor-runnerup-lees-shocking-weight-loss/news-story/318fa71690c862adb4c798e2353045f8
7. ↑ https://10daily.com.au/entertainment/tv/a200202bqigm/it-was-bloody-tough-lee-carseldine-exits-survivor-after-family-tragedy-20200309
8. ↑ http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/reality-tv/survivor-runnerup-lees-shocking-weight-loss/news-story/318fa71690c862adb4c798e2353045f8