First Impressions of Australian Survivor Cast – Part One

 FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER

After putting months of work into scoring a coveted spot on Survivor, nobody in their right mind would want to join the saddest club in the world that is exclusively made up of first boot castaways. In a game where perception equals reality, first impressions can make or break a contestant’s season. A rapid analysis of someone’s appearance, voice, mood, and behaviour will generally determine whether you consider them to be likeable, trustworthy, and most importantly in Survivor, advantageous to your progression in the game. To avoid making a negative first impression, good players will interpret how others are perceiving them from the moment they land on the island, making subtle adjustments in their playing style accordingly. Survivor is an extremely complex game to win!

So without further ado, it’s time to get stuck into the first eight contestants who will be battling it out for the title of Sole Australian Survivor 2017!

Aaron “A.K” Knight

29, Wedding DJ, South Australia

I would be skeptical of working with anyone who introduces themselves by a nickname, however based on his bio, old AK looks like he may have some claims to go deep in this season. He seems to have a decent understanding of the game, has proven his desire by applying multiple times, and mentions strategic standouts Phoebe and Nick as his favourites from last year. He states an intention to make ‘big moves’, and is terrified of coming in second place – claims that bode well for a player who will be willing to gamble their safety in the game for a shot at building a winning resume. My biggest concern with AK is that he’ll come out swinging too early, and not have the patience to time his ‘big moves’ correctly. Beneath that sinister looking Adelaide Crows cap, his cheeky smile suggests that he’s up to something, and I certainly wouldn’t trust him to save my spot at the bar. However, I could see myself using him as a strategic shield in a pre-merge alliance, ready to throw him to the sharks at the earliest hint of trouble. I think he’ll need to tone down some of his louder personality traits somewhat to have a genuine chance, but at this stage I’d still rank him as a potential threat.

Adam Parkin

40, International Poker Player, QLD

I once took home a bit of cash from a poker table in Vegas – bought myself a nice jacket and a few fancy dinners. Not sure if I’d class myself as an international poker player though… Despite his talk of studying past seasons and wanting to dominate the game, I’m not yet sold on Adam; something tells me that a degree of arrogance might cloud his self awareness and lead him towards a premature exit. He looks a bit like Chef Keith from The Australian Outback, and follows in the poker footsteps of Jean Robert from China – two players that made the jury but ultimately failed to impress. If I was out there playing, I think I would be willing to work with Adam for stretches of the game, taking solace in the fact that given his poker background, his strategic reasoning should be at least logically grounded in probability, and hence somewhat predictable. Nobody wants to have their game ruined by another player making wild non beneficial moves… If he can leave his arrogance at the table and add a strong social component to his strategic game, I think Adam could emerge as a major player this season. In all probability though, he’ll claim to be in complete control of the game (breaking the first rule of Survivor) and get blindsided pre-merge.

Aimee Stanton

23, Plumber, Victoria

The beauty school dropout turned plumber, who loves a VB and bossing the boys around… Aimee has the potential to be either extremely annoying, or one of the characters of the season. She definitely appears to be a fighter who won’t be fazed by the survival or social aspects of the game, but will likely need to develop her strategic sense as the season progresses. My tip is that she will align with the jock lads (your Locky/Luke/Mark types) and then probably be targeted by the older women and Dr. Tessa later in the game. I can’t see Aimee winning this season but do think she’ll prove to be a much fiercer competitor than what her tribe-mates initially predict.

Anneliese Wilson

23, Student, Victoria

There’s something about Anneliese that reminds me of Sophie Clarke, winner of South Pacific from a few years ago. A self described super-fan, Anneliese looks to have a highly competitive nature, but doesn’t necessarily stand out as an obvious early threat. I think she will be well poised to sneak under the radar through to the merge, and then be able to strike from within her core alliance to steer the end game in her favour. I would be extremely keen to vote Anneliese out as early as possible – before she has the chance to take control of the game. In my opinion this type of player is actually the most dangerous of all threats to steal the win. She could potentially execute a more sophisticated version of the Kristie type game from last year – and we all know how that ended…

Ben Morgan

20, Fast Food Attendant, WA

Sporting an impressive mop of hair, Ben draws a few similarities to ice cream scooper Erik Reichenbach from Fans vs Favourites, who was famously voted out after handing over his immunity necklace to the ‘Black Widow’ alliance. He looks like a nice guy, but there is no doubt that having never left home, his lack of life experience will be a significant disadvantage. His statement that there is no need to mentally prepare for the game sounds alarm bells to me of someone who is going to become overwhelmed and make stupid decisions. For this reason I would be very wary to align with Ben – I can see him becoming a serial swing voter around the merge, in an overcompensated attempt to prove himself as a player in spite of his age. Consider others.

Henry Nicholson

26, Labourer, South Australia

I’m getting a bit of a Survivor Tocantins Coach 1.0 ‘self proclaimed dragon slayer’ vibe from Henry. I’m not sure what he thinks is so threatening about having a marketing degree and being a labourer that he feels the need to pose as a yoga instructor, but I do at least respect the effort he’s putting into building this seemingly pointless charade. I also like the fact that he’s looked into getting an American green card to apply for the US series – something that I too have often thought about doing. I’m skeptical of his strategy to align with only weak players to eliminate the threats, as this generally just reverses the polarity of the game by giving power to the weak, and hence making them the greater threats than the more obvious stronger players. So therefore in order to play the cunning and creative game that he alludes to in his bio, whilst surviving unshielded in an alliance of lesser players, he would need to pull off a Boston Rob and deliver a masterclass on manipulative control. I’m on the fence with Yogi Henry at the moment – I feel like he might Russell too many feathers along the way to win enough jury votes at a final tribal. Strong chance for a place.

Jacqui Patterson

50, Wedding Celebrant, NSW

Anyone who describes themselves as a “straight shooter” and who wants to emulate the games of Kylie and Lee from last year, has no chance of winning this game in my view. Jacqui’s goal to demonstrate to women of her age that life doesn’t end at 30 is fine, but up against a more strategic cast in general than last year, she seems destined to be blown out of the water early. To Jacqui’s credit, she’s already identified a need to curtail her “strong presence” in order to have any chance of success in the game, demonstrating significant potential for social adaptability. Whether or not she will be able to achieve this key performance indicator is another question, and although anything is possible in Survivor, at this stage Jacqui would be one of my early picks for first boot.

Jarrad Seng

29, Photographer, WA

Jarrad easily earns the prestigious honour of having the best hair on the island, and coming from someone who has had long blonde locks his whole life, I can attest to the fact that this will either help him to attract loyal allies, or unfortunately position him as an obvious target. He seems to have an extremely warm aura and would be someone I’d expect to remain loyal to his original word, making him an ideal candidate to take deep into the game. He almost looks like a hybrid version of Woo and Ozzy, and seems destined to become a fan favourite. Ironically, this kind hearted appearance and likability is what will likely lead to his demise – probably in the final six or seven when the other players start to freak out about his social dominance, and send him to the jury. I personally would stick with him to the final three – the nice guys rarely win in the end. Place chance only.

So there we have it – the first 8 contestants! Do you agree with my first impressions? Who’s your early tip for the win? Join the discussion below then check in again tomorrow, when I analyse the next eight Australian Survivor contestants from flight attendant Jericho through to former special ops commander Mark W. See you soon!

You can check out the full cast bios from Channel 10 here.

Tristan Kelly is a 28 year old ex-doctor turned writer, based in Perth, Western Australia. During his final year of medical school he famously watched and analysed every available episode of Survivor (all 368 of them at the time), probably making him more qualified as a Survivor commentator than he ever was a doctor. In between writing and editing short films, he now spends most of his time organising various schemes, and fantasising about one day winning the game.