Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains

Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains is the tenth season of Australian Survivor, which premiered on Network 10 on 30 January 2023 and is based on the international reality game show franchise Survivor. In this season, based on the twentieth American series and carrying the same sub-title, new and returning players were divided into two tribes of Heroes and Villains. Liz Parnov was named the winner of the season, defeating Gerry Geltch and Matt Sharp in a 7–0–0 vote.

The season was filmed in Upolu, Samoa, marking the third time Australian Survivor had filmed there (the first being in 2016 and the second being in 2017).

Contestants
The 24 contestants, which consist of 13 new contestants and 11 returnees from previous seasons, were divided into two tribes Heroes and Villains. The new contestants were divided based on how they see themselves playing the game, while the returnees were divided based on their previous style of game play. The cast includes news anchor Anjali Rao, author Benjamin Law, AFL footballer David Zaharakis, Olympic pole vaulter Liz Parnov and actress Sharni Vinson.

Future appearances
Outside of Survivor, George Mladenov appeared on Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and competed on The Amazing Race Australia 7 in 2023 with his sister Pam.

Season summary
Thirteen new players and eleven returnees arrived in Samoa, where they were divided into two tribes based on their personality, occupation and/or past gameplay: “Heroes” and “Villains”. The Heroes dominated the early immunity challenges, with a hierarchy forming around the strong men like Shaun and Sam while social threats like Hayley and Flick kept the target focused on the weaker members. The Villains tribe was primarily run by the "Spice Girls" trio of George, Shonee and Liz, with Simon and Jordie winding up in the minority.

After a tribe swap, George and Shonee successfully took control of the new Heroes tribe while the “alpha males” dominated the new Villains tribe under Shaun's leadership. Both swapped tribes openly exchanged information and advantages during challenges, including immunity idols. Liz found herself at the bottom of her new tribe, but when given the opportunity to mutiny to the other tribe shortly before the merge, she accepted, rejoining Shonee and George.

At the merge, George and the other Villains pulled in former Heroes Hayley, Gerry and Matt to form a new majority called “the Vigilantes”. The alliance picked off the minority one by one, with George pre-empting several blindside attempts against him by betraying former allies like Shonee and Hayley. George planned to go to the end with Matt and Gerry, but was foiled when Liz won the final two immunity challenges, resulting in George being voted out in fourth place.

Liz, Matt and Gerry then faced the jury at the final tribal council, where all three were questioned on what moves they made outside of George's influence. Matt was criticised for his lack of independent strategy, while Gerry was criticised for failing to make strong social bonds with the jury. Liz took credit for taking revenge against George on behalf of Shonee, and the jury voted unanimously in her favour, awarding her the $500,000 and title of Sole Survivor.

Challenge winners and eliminations by episode

Notes

Voting history

 * Tribal Phase (Day 1–27)
 * Individual phase (Day 28–47)

Notes

Ratings
Ratings data is from OzTAM and represents the viewership from the 5 largest Australian metropolitan centres (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth).

Notes

Critical response
The seventh episode of Heroes V Villains was listed as one of the best television episodes of 2023 by The New York Times.

Awards
The season won the Logie Award for Most Outstanding Reality Program at the Logie Awards of 2023.