Liz Parnov has been named this year’s Sole Survivor, as Australian Survivor: Heroes Vs Villains comes to an end. She’s also gone home with $500,000.
This season has been filled with intense emotions, numerous betrayals, unexpected blindsides, and some of the toughest challenges in the show’s history.
Heroes Vs Villains was first done by the US Survivor back in 2010, and featured all-returning players battling it out for the title of Sole Survivor. The Australian Survivor format is a little different — rather than all-returning players, the cast was made up of half returning players, and half new players, with five returnees on the Heroes tribe, and six on the Villains.
It all came down to George Mladenov, Matt Sharp, Gerry Geltch and Liz Parnov in the finale.
But it was the 28-year-old Olympic pole vaulter who took the crown. Parnov started off in the Villains tribe on Australian Survivor 2023. She allied with George and Shonee Bowtell to survive at each tribal council. When it came down to business, the Survivor managed to vote out dominating player George earlier in the episode.
However, it wasn’t an easy feat as she had to deliver a tense pitch to the jury, along with the other two finalists, who were challenged to identify any significant moves they had made in the game that were not orchestrated by George. This made all three finalists uneasy.
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Liz faced the jury of eliminated players with confidence and delivered a compelling performance. She highlighted her numerous alliances and strategic maneuvers throughout the game. She also took the opportunity to address George directly, emphasising that voting him out was her finest moment in the game. And she had been seeking revenge ever since he turned on Shonee.
“I have played a far more exciting game than the two people sitting next to me,” she said
“That’s why I am in pole position to be sole Survivor.”
Her pitch won the majority of votes from the jury, and she took home the $500,000 prize.
“I can’t believe I’m here and I’ve won. My strategy to get to the end was to play hard, take risks and push myself,” she told cameras.
“Playing in survivor is ten times harder than going to the Olympics.”
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