Australian Survivor: Redemption Exit Interview | Ep 23 | Beyond Tribal

In this episode of Beyond Reality: Beyond Tribal, long-time Australian Survivor producer Hayley Ferguson sits down with the latest player to be eliminated from Australian Survivor: Redemption and the final member of the jury - Loz.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hi, I'm Hayley Ferguson and this is Beyond Reality. I've spent the past decade working as a producer on Australian Survivor. And now I'm taking you beyond trial. I'll be chatting with the players from Australian Survivor Redemption as they leave the game, unpacking their strategy, their downfall, and their story beyond the vote. This is beyond reality. Hi, Loz. Good morning, Haley. Congratulations on making it to the final three. Last night was a really emotional episode. And I want to know how are you feeling now being able to watch it all back?

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Uh yeah, it was incredibly emotional last night, you know, seeing seeing the kids on TV and that final challenge. I definitely feel like, you know, I've got a bit of an emotional hangover today. Um, I feel a bit puffy. Um, but ultimately feeling feeling just a sense of, you know, really proud and privileged and honored and grateful for having the opportunity and being part of the game and getting that far and having such a full experience. Um, also a bit of relief today as well. Like it's been a big journey. So all the feels, Haley.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Yeah, I mean, it was an incredible episode. It was an incredible feat seeing you compete in that challenge. And it was a huge shock, obviously, seeing Caleb vote you out and send you to the jury. How did you feel in that moment?

SPEAKER_02 1:44

I did have a sense when I was sitting on the stool at Tribal Council that he would write my name down. I think we'd got to that point after experiencing that final endurance challenge and getting a sense of where we were all at during the challenge, and then sitting there in my heart of hearts, I kind of knew, but it's still a shock when you see Dave hold up your name. Um, but I think in terms of all our faces, mine was probably the least surprised. I was just kind of like, and the jury were going off and everyone was going off, and I think Dave was shocked. Um, but something within me just were like, Oh, I think I think it's you, Loz.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Comparing that raw moment, and I guess now being months later having time to process it. I guess does watching it bring those feelings back or does it hit different?

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Watching it, uh, I can see it makes sense. Uh, I think Caleb spoke really beautifully and it demonstrated our relationship and all the dynamics that were happening in the game all sort of came together for that final vote. So I kind of feel like it was the right decision, and I had a beautiful, beautiful end to my game. And I just, yeah, I just feel proud and relieved.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

That's really interesting because I guess from our perspective, we got to hear Caleb's justification when he wrote your name down and the beautiful words that he spoke about you. But for you, you just get David saying that you're joining the jury. Did seeing those words give you some comfort watching it last night?

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Yeah, it did. And it just really showed uh yeah, Caleb's character. Like, I think there was a chance for me potentially to be insulted by calling out, you know, being a mum with kids, like not wanting to go against me, where I could feel like, but it's the gameplay that shouldn't come into it. Um, but the way he spoke, um, yeah, it was really beautiful about him not really wanting to go against me, which is different to just putting it on me, you know, being a mum with kids. So it really just really demonstrated our relationship and the bond that we had and the friendship and the beauty of it, which was yeah, very beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

I really love that too, how he said that basically he wouldn't be able to be at his best and to pitch his game against you because of the relationship and because of who you are.

SPEAKER_02 4:14

Yeah, and again, it just demonstrates the beauty of that relationship and how genuine and solid we were. And it feels like it can be quite hard to find that in Survivor because obviously a number of relationships I had in there uh were not genuine, but looked like they could have been genuine. And so to find that in the game, I feel like it's gold because it just enables you to just drop into that deeper level and just have one person that you can actually talk to is phenomenal in the game of Survivor.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

And if you had have won that necklace, was there any part of you that thought you might cut Caleb?

SPEAKER_02 4:52

Oh, absolutely. I think if I had won the necklace, it would have been a huge consideration. I had my family there, I had my kids, and so ultimately my decision would have been about my children and it should be and our life. Um but I would have chosen Caleb for you know a number of reasons. I think I would have loved to pitch with him, I think it would have been really beautiful, and I would have been more comfortable, and I could have pitched really well, I think. Whereas pitching with Jackson, even though I felt like I played as strong a game as him, um it wasn't as showy, but I feel like I always knew where the votes were going, whereas he didn't have a sense of the votes. And but also he was an amazing speaker and showman. So me going against Jackson, oh, he would have just like obliterated me, I think, um, with his ability to pitch and convince a jury. So ultimately, I think it made sense for my game and my pitch and my relationship with Caleb to choose Caleb.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

We saw this connection you had with Caleb. Can you tell me a bit more about your relationship, where you felt like it really was forged and what connected you so deeply?

SPEAKER_02 6:09

It was really forged around the fire at camp. Him and I like were always collecting firewood, making fire, talking about fishing or hunting. We both have a lot of bush skills and we're really passionate about being out in nature. So once we started talking about our lives and our passions, we were just like, oh, and we just talk and talk. And we were also kind of stragglers in in the camp. Like sometimes it felt like people sort of didn't take us serious or value us, and we were just kind of brushed aside a little bit. Um, so we kind of felt like we had this really special relationship bonding over, you know, what we love, but also coming together and being able to just be like, oh, I know, like this and this. Um, and just having that genuine connection, really forage that relationship around the fire.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

I'd love to know about your decision-making process in terms of sending Caleb to fire and giving him the chance to save his game and get into that final three. What was your consideration around sending Sally to the jury?

SPEAKER_02 7:12

There were lots of pieces to that decision. Um, so firstly, Cell played an amazing game, which I don't know has come through. Like her social game, you know, on Barron. There were a lot of Barron members on that jury, and she had incredible connections. She also too was similar to me. She always knew where the vote was going, and her social game was amazing, and mine was amazing as well. She also would have done really well in that endurance challenge. She's a yogi, you know, she's incredible. And also, I got the sense that she was going to take Jackson. They had this special connection, and I know that she wanted to pitch with him. So there was that side of it uh that she was really amazing. And also, too, I definitely had, you know, this connection with Caleb. I wanted to bring him forward in the game, even though he might have had more moves to me. I was giving him the fire. Uh, it was a consideration that I did with awareness and knowing. I would have loved to make fire. Oh, like I'm great at fire, you know, it's one of my skills. But at the same time, I couldn't trust Jackson with a vote. Like, we had no relationship, we'd been going each other the whole game. And so, yeah, I just couldn't trust him. So I feel like there were these three parts to that vote that made sense for me for my game.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

I can definitely understand that. And I mean, Sally told me in our chat that she wanted to take Jackson to the end. So I mean, your instincts were right on that.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Yeah, yeah. I just had the sense.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

Tough spot, whatever way you go. I think the final four, it's uh it's a huge decision. Where does your relationship stand with Caleb today?

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Um, yeah, it's beautiful. Like he's one of my best mates. Um, we're still really close, we talk all the time, we're gonna go fishing together. So, yeah, it's solid. It was a genuine relationship. It wasn't one where I'm gonna pretend to say, oh, we're gonna have dinner after the game, or we're gonna do this. It was really genuine, really authentic. And yeah, he's one of my best mates.

SPEAKER_00 9:15

I love that. I love when people can, you know, build those relationships and the game stays in the game and then you can walk away, then leave the game where it is.

SPEAKER_02 9:23

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 9:25

I guess watching, I don't think the audience can ever truly get the intensity of what that day is like. It's such a huge day in terms of arriving at the final immunity challenge, seeing your family competing in a really brutal challenge and going through that physical pain and then heading to tribal council and even either making a decision on who goes home or finding out you're going home or going through to the final two. Can you try and explain what that feels like?

SPEAKER_02 10:00

It was definitely the biggest day in the whole game. Um, normally we would cook in the morning and have something to eat, but we just didn't have time because it's such a big day. So we hadn't really slept and we hadn't eaten as well. So you're going into a challenge already really depleted, and then you have this huge big emotional experience with your family. So it's just layer upon layer of like emotion and you know, your body's in this state, your mind's in this state. And then doing this endurance challenge again, like it's almost indescribable being up there. Like, yes, there's the physical game, but I think the mental game is probably underestimated, and that psychological game because going into the challenge, Caleb and I were tight, like we were like, we have got this, we just got to beat Jackson. But then up on those pegs, everything kind of unravels and those alliances can fall away, and you have your family there. So there's so much going through your mind, which is already foggy and trying to make sense of it, and you're in this incredible amount of pain, so it's huge. It was like the biggest day, and also you don't get to scramble after the challenge as well. You go straight to tribal. Uh, so that it was it was absolutely huge, and we were all broken at that tribal. Like, in terms of coming to the end of like 44 days, we just sat there broken. And when I went into um the final tribal, you know, the next day, I looked at the boys and I could just see how broken they were, and I really felt for them and I knew I was gonna be tough on them because they needed to prove something and show their game, and it's half a million dollars, but I absolutely could just see the state of them as well.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

Yeah, the final three tribal council, it's always it's always the most low-energy tribal because everyone is so exhausted, and it's also just there's this, I guess, wave of sadness over it because I feel like everyone has spent so much time together at that point. And even if someone, you know, you can be cutthroat throughout the game, but making that final decision is really hard, and it's hard on the person that goes. And um, yeah, I feel like you can we I could really feel it in the tribal council last night.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Yeah, you can see the brokenness, and you can also, I think, see the bond as well. Because even though Jackson and I were kind of going at each other in the game, something happened on those pegs with his mum there, and I saw the relationship and Caleb's dad and my kids. And yeah, it's just a bond that's hard to explain, but it's just this like reverence and respect and love. And so sitting at that final tribal, I really felt like, yeah, we have this, we're gonna have this bond forever. I'm gonna, you know, love both of these guys forever. Um, it kind of transcends the whole game once once you have that experience. Like yeah, it's it's an incredible thing to be a part of and have the opportunity to to experience those those deep levels.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

I do genuinely think that going out third is the toughest spot to be in because you literally have hours to process what's just happened, and then you're back at the final tribal council to decide who the winner is. And then you're back in the real world, back to your normal life. Can you talk me through how that adjustment was for you?

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Strangely, when you get your torch snuffed, it's this intense moment, but then as you're walking out, it's like this wave of relief that fills your body just being sort of out of the game and that pressure being taken off. And it's almost like this big crazy high, which you would think that I would have been devastated and sad, but I was actually like a crazy person, like, ah, um, which goes to show the emotions and the psychological stuff as well. So coming out, I felt a deep sense of sort of relief. Um, but at the same time, I felt the closeness of that win. So it's like you're so close yet so far. So there's a lot of feelings to manage coming out of the game. Um, and then the processing when you get home is a whole new journey. You start like spiraling at night. Um, I'd be having dreams for you know many weeks and months, but you know, and you start to think the what ifs if I'd have done this or done that. So it's a real journey outside the game once you leave. And then you get to see everybody, you know, um, and that's really healing. It's really healing to see all the players as humans and get to, you know, know each other out of the game. So there's so many stages to this game, and it's it's it's incredible. Um, but it's a lot to process in every stage. It's it's huge.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

I mean, when you're a mum of two girls as well, it's not like you um have a lot of time to be processing and looking after yourself.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

You know, you hit the ground running, and I think the funny thing was like coming out of it, like I'm like, I'm gonna be the best mum in the world. I'm gonna be one of those mums that makes lasagna and this and that. And then I got home and I was actually quite broken. So like it took a while to really recover, and I definitely was a broken mum when I got back, but the kids were amazing, and the beauty of it was they understood because they had the experience to go out there, they got to see the reality, you know, of me being up there with players. You've got a TV production, so it wasn't something that I had to really try and communicate. Whereas when you get back, often your friends and family, they're supportive, but they don't kind of get it. And so I was very fortunate that my kids got it and I could talk to them about it, which was yeah, pretty, pretty special and phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

It's so special that you got to be able to share that moment with them. Yeah. Yeah. You showed us how amazing you are at challenges. Like, I mean, you came so close to winning so many immunity challenges. You fought so hard. Where does that come from?

SPEAKER_02 16:10

Oh, I think, yeah. I think it's something my my mum and dad would talk about, my tenacity, um, and I love winning. And I think it was really an opportunity for me to come back to those edges and show my strength. Because previous to having children, I did a lot of adventurous things. Like I climbed high attitude peaks. So I did Everest Base Camp and Kilimanjaro, and I loved challenging myself. And so being out there, having opportunity to do those challenges was phenomenal, phenomenal for me. And especially being, you know, I'm 47. I like I just loved going up against those big boys and just, you know, getting so close. So I think I was definitely underestimated going into the game. Um, but I would have loved to have a necklace so bad. It definitely haunts me. Like that's one of the things that haunts me the most of never quite getting that necklace. Like, I would have loved it so bad.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

I feel like you deserved it. You got so close. I feel like you came second in most of the challenges, I feel.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

It was so frustrating. They needed more puzzles at the end, Haley. If you could just have a chat with, you know, production for me and challenge challenge people. Like, I needed more puzzles at the end to even that end game because throwing the balls in the beanbags wasn't my skill. So I often found that I'd get to the end game, but I just couldn't close it because I couldn't do those balls. But puzzles, more puzzle survivor.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

Before we get to the quick fire questions, I'd love to know. I guess what have you taken from this experience and and what does it all mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Oh, the biggest um piece I've taken like is that, you know, idea of just setting out to make something happen, manifesting it, or you know, the dream you have. Like, I just really want to get across that, you know, being 47, having a dream, and really setting my sights and making it happen, like being on Survivor, playing Survivor, getting to the end of Survivor. Like, yeah, it was it was something I wanted to do, and I just made it happen. I just said I'm doing that, and I kind of want to inspire other people that are thinking about something, whether it's survivor or something else in your life, that it's just never too late. Like, seriously, just go out, believe in yourself, and you know, I've got this one life. Like, do it, just do it. Like, that's probably what I want to get across the most. Um, but also too, like I went into it wanting to make you know my kids proud and everyone proud. And I did realize at the end that they were all already proud of me. Like, I just really needed to be proud of myself. Um, and I am so I feel like I got so much from the game, and especially with my redemption story, I feel like I really did, you know, make that in the end, and I'm incredibly grateful and proud of that.

SPEAKER_00 18:54

I'm so happy that you're proud of yourself because you should be. What you've been able to achieve is amazing, and I love that your girls got to experience it, and they're obviously proud of you as well.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Yeah, thanks, Haley. Yeah, amazing. I'm so lucky and privileged and grateful.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

Are you ready to get to some quick fire questions? Okay. Who was your favourite person in the game?

SPEAKER_02 19:14

Lindell. She was so goofy and hilarious, like we had the best time.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

Who had the most annoying habit and what was it?

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Simon. Like, just so performative, like funny at the start, but grated on us all by the end.

SPEAKER_00 19:28

What was your proudest moment of your game?

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Oh, it has to be the final endurance challenge, having my children there, um, four hours on the pegs, like that would definitely be my proudest.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

Most embarrassing moment of your game.

SPEAKER_02 19:42

It was probably at one of the tribals. I think it might have been the cam vote where I went up to the booth and I did my spiel, wrote the name down, and then I put the pen in the box. And the camera person's like, what are you doing? And I was just like, oh my god, I was so delirious, but I like put the pen in the voting box. So at that stage of the game, like I was just starting to lose the plot.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

What song sums up your time on Survivor?

SPEAKER_02 20:07

So when I left the game, a friend of mine sent me a beautiful song which I hadn't heard, and it's called This Is Me. And it's by um, it's on the greatest showman, and it just talks about how like you know, you're just being yourself and making no apologies for it. And that was my game.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Would you ever play Survivor again?

SPEAKER_02 20:25

Oh, oh I would. I oh yeah, I would play Survivor again if it was the right timing, the right money, and the right season.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

If you could be on any other reality show, what would you be on?

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Definitely the amazing race. Like I love travel, I love adventure. A cast member and I actually already applied for that. So talk to me. Talk to us. Let's do it. Caleb. Oh. Caleb and I have already made an application video, ride or die, take two, the amazing race.

SPEAKER_00 20:59

What celebrity would you want to see play Australian Survivor? Oh, I would love to see Sam Kerr from the Matildas.

SPEAKER_02 21:06

Uh I love the Matilda so much, and I think Sam Kerr would be an absolute boss.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Yeah, she would be amazing. Amazing, right? Describe your survivor legacy in three words.

SPEAKER_01 21:18

I would say attuned, thoughtful, and perceptive.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Thank you so much, Loz. I really appreciate your time. Yeah, I love getting to chat to you and learn a little bit more about your game and how you've processed it all. Oh, thanks so much, Haley. So good to speak to you. Thanks for your time today. See you later. Bye. This is Beyond Reality.