Going into last night’s Tribal Council, the question on every Australian Survivor fan’s mind was: “Will Feras play his Immunity Idol to save Kirby?” The answer, in the end, was no, and Kirby Bentley was eliminated from the game.
Over the course of Australian Survivor: Titans Vs Rebels, Kirby revealed herself to be one of the game’s biggest threats, excelling in the strategic, social, and physical elements of the game. A challenge beast with a background in professional sports — she played state netball for Western Australia before moving into AFL, and now works as an AFLW coach — Kirby managed to keep her physical strength mostly hidden until her ally Rianna was eliminated. Once her tribemates realised she was a physical threat in the game as well as a strategic player, her only option was to rely on her alliances.
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Until the end of last night’s episode, it seemed that Feras might save Kirby. The two have been playing big, bold games through the season, and Kirby was a great shield for Feras. But when it came down to the vote, Feras played his Idol — for himself.
Chatting to The Latch over the phone following her Titans Vs Rebels elimination, Kirby told us all about her Australian Survivor experience.
Kirby Knew That Feras Wouldn’t Play His Idol for Her
“Feras has always been a paranoid player, and on edge,” Kirby begins, when we ask what was going through her mind during Tribal Council. She had tried to “feed his ego” and convince Feras to play his Idol for her, with the argument being that they could protect one another to the end, and then let the Jury decide who played the better game.
“I was serious … I wanted to stand at the end with the best, and beat the best, if that’s what it came to,” she says. “That wasn’t a lie at all, I would’ve done that. But I don’t know that he was that confident in his game to do the same thing.”
By the time Feras played his Idol, Kirby already knew he wouldn’t be playing it for her.
“I remember him looking at the Jury, because I said, ‘No one wants to sit next to me’,” she recalls. “He said straight away, ‘I’m not scared to’, and then he looked at the Jury, and I sort of felt a shift then, like,” she laughs, “Oh, ‘This is not good’.”
Kirby Had Never Seen Survivor Before Competing on the Show
After watching Kirby play the game this season, it may be a surprise to learn that when she first landed on the beaches of Samoa to compete, she’d never actually watched Survivor before. Well, technically, she’d “tried to watch an episode” back in the day when her former co-worker, Luke “King of the Jungle” Toki was competing on it, but she “just didn’t get it”.
“I have to do something to really understand what it’s all about,” she explains.
Still, she applied for the game because. she “wanted to challenge” herself.
“I felt a little bit stagnant in my life,” she says. “All I’ve ever known is sport and high performance and pushing my limits, and trying to be the best that I can be as an athlete.”
The idea of competing in a social experiment with complete strangers, all from diverse backgrounds, was enticing.
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“I just wanted to see if my creative thinking would come into play, and it kind of did!” she says.
While Kirby may not have known the game inside and out, she soon found that she was able to make it her own. Drawing from her life experience, sports background ability to read and understand people, Kirby soon found herself one of the season’s biggest players, which she credits to her ability to function well in chaotic environments.
“Creating chaos is good for me,” she says. “I can operate well in chaos, I can manage that, but not a lot of people can.”
After learning more about “the history of the game”, Kirby adds: “From what I understand now … a lot of people like to play the game similar to other players, but it’s so predictable, and it’s so comfortable, and I like not making it comfortable for other people.”
Her ability to strategise, to “chop and change” and be flexible with her alliances through the game is something she credits to her Aboriginal identity.
A proud Noongar woman, Kirby says: “As an Aboriginal woman in Australia, I’ve always sort of had to be one step ahead, or two steps ahead of what is in front of me, to be able to navigate that in society, so that’s sort of what this game allowed me to do. Like, read the play, sit back where I needed to, not be too forward with the way that I delivered things.”
As for what she’d tell anyone who wanted to apply for Australian Survivor in the future, Kirby says it’s all about “knowing what your strengths are”, as well as “not your weaknesses, but your growth areas”.
“[It’s] being open to change and adapting to what the game’s giving,” she says, “because I don’t think you should play like anyone else, because you’ve got your own unique strengths and you wanna back that.”
Who Kirby Would Like to See Win Australian Survivor: Titans Vs Rebels
Now that Kirby is out of the competition, she joins the Jury for the final two episodes of Titans Vs Rebels. Tonight, Feras, Mark, Raymond and Caroline will go head to head tonight, and tomorrow, one of our finalists will be crowned Sole Survivor for 2024. But who does Kirby want to win? Well, it’s a hard question to answer.
“Obviously I’ve played the whole game with Feras and Raymond, and Raymond’s always been Feras’ extra vote,” she begins. “Before [the season aired], I hadn’t seen Feras’ plans and his game and everything else, but because of our rivalry, I think he’d be fun to watch, to stand up there.”
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Kirby goes on to say that she doesn’t “know that much about Mark” and the game he’s played, because they “never spoke strat at all”.
“I’m not too sure what that was,” she muses, “because I was really open to working with anyone; I didn’t care if it was for one vote or three votes, or whatever that looked like, as long as it was beneficial.”
And finally, she’d also be happy giving Caroline the win.
“[She’s] the only female in the game,” she says. “I’m all about boss women and empowerment of women, so she’d be fun too!”
What Kirby From Survivor Is Doing Next
With her Australian Survivor journey (nearly) behind her, Kirby has plenty of things coming up to keep her busy.
“I’ve started a brand called Gnalla,” she says. “Gnalla in my language means ‘Ours’, and it’s an inclusive brand, so it’s yours and mine, to be able to share and celebrate.”
The apparel and artwork brand, Kirby explains, “is about having the conversation when no one is looking”. She wants Gnalla to elevate suppressed voices, and promote inclusion and diversity.
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“It’s about race, it’s about identity, it’s about sexuality, it’s about everything to do with the person,” she says.
“Gnalla in my language means ‘Ours’, and it’s an inclusive brand, so it’s yours and mine, to be able to share and celebrate.”
Beyond her brand, Kirby would like to become an advocate for positive change, particularly in regards to women’s rights, as well as suicide and domestic violence prevention.
“I think there’s an exciting future out there,” she says.
As for whether we’ll see her on Australian Survivor again in the future? Well, she wouldn’t say no.
“Oh, [I’d do it] in a heartbeat!” she exclaims. “I’ve never played the game before, right? So [I played] based on my life experiences, my understanding, my ability to connect on a deeper level and read people. So I would be back, but I would also research what people have done really well, and incorporate that into my game.”
Still, she would “never stray away” from her own game, because she’ll “always back that, too”.
Australian Survivor: Titans Vs Rebels airs tonight at 7.30pm, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand. Miss an episode? Catch up on 10 Play.
Want more Australian Survivor? Read all our content here, and check out the stories below:
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- Survivors Ready?! Meet the Cast of ‘Australian Survivor: Titans Vs Rebels’
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