Hit targets to win a trip to a private island; I’d like to win that!! Spaghetti, bread (notice the emphasis on bread by Probst…), salad and red wine is on offer, but there’s a twist! The odd person out (Joe) doesn’t compete, but wins automatic reward, AND gets to choose who in the winning team gets to eat first. Joe then gets to eat last.

Joe gives first dibs to Devon, who pretty much scoffs down a third of the spaghetti! I mean, you’d definitely eat as much as you could right?! He’s too busy eating to think there’s a hidden clue. JP is 2nd; he’s too clueless to realise there’d be a hidden clue. Cole is 3rd; the not-just-a-pretty-boy sees and covers it up with a tea towel. Good try, Cole! Chrissy eats 4th and finds the clue under the towel. Both her and Cole think they are the only ones who have seen it. Chrissy leaves the clue for her mate Ryan to see.

Ryan reads the clue and cleverly hides the plate in the jungle (should’ve done that, Cole!) before rejoining Chrissy. Whilst Joe is enjoying his few strands of noodles, Ryan and Chrissy talk about the clue and (hilariously) whisper about Cole being too dumb to find it. They return to camp and it’s one of the most epic scenes we’ve witnessed in a long time! It’s a mad scramble to the tribe flag while Cole steps off to have a pee. Ryan gets there first with Chrissy close behind. Cole realises his pee can wait and jumps on Chrissy… Ben jumps on Cole. Get the popcorn, guys!

Little do these beef boys know that Ryan already has it… BAM!!

IMMUNITY CHALLENGE

Cole wins his first individual immunity and boy does he need it most. Cole tells us he’s ready to move on from his fling with Jessica and move forward with his game. What path does he have now, but winning immunities to the end though? Hmm. As for the majority, they plan on killing off all the Healers (yeah, I went there) by splitting the vote between Joe and Desi. Joe, knowing he’s on the bottom, starts to talk smack about Ben; my beautiful Ben!! It’s sun’s out, guns out with the two boys getting into a domestic. Oh boy, I don’t like when my faves start fighting! Needless to say, Joe does a bloody good job getting under Ben’s skin.

TRIBAL COUNCIL

Joe continues to throw Ben under the bus, while Chrissy has a Sherri Biethman moment and tells Joe to stop talking. Hahaha.

It’s pretty much Joe against everyone and Desi sitting pretty. At the vote Lauren uses her advantage and fakes it. First vote: Desi-4 Joe-4 Lauren-1 Ben-1. Lauren fakes it again on the revote: Desi-5 Joe-3. NOOOOO. Who the heck saw that coming?! While we see Desi crying on her way out, we’re all wondering if ANYONE noticed the missing vote, but I guess the majority were already read to send Desi home. Very sneakily done CBS and congrats to Lauren for pulling it off! Our gorgeous Desi becomes the first Juror. Phew! <3

Check out Desi’s Ponderosa HERE

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AK was a force to be reckoned with on 2017’s Australian Survivor, playing hard from Day 1. Unfortunately, with the others on Samatau being on a different page this made AK an outcast for the rest of the game. But this guy didn’t back down. Manipulating tribe mates and weaving his way through Tribal Council, AK escaped votes and even found an Idol (not the chicken coop) to save himself when he needed it most. The tribe swap to Asaga spelled the end for AK with only Pete swapping over with him. AK lasted 28 days and went out in 15th place.

LyndzO: AK! Welcome to Reality Ramblings, where you can ramble as much or as little as you like about our favourite show. Firstly, how are things with BaeK since Australian Survivor has aired? As Adelaide’s #1 DJ, you have any fun wedding stories you can tell us? #loveislove

AK: Thanks for having me! Ahhh BaeK, I was given this nickname on a night out in Sydney gay-clubbing with Petey and it’s stuck haha… Preach 🙌🏽 life is great for me, back to normality which is soo nice after a hectic year. Unfortunately, I won’t be selling teeth whitening on Insta, soz peeps… back to doing what I love! Best wedding story since being back is probably an older lady calling me AJ and telling me she voted for me every week 😂

LO: To Survivor HHH, we’re on episode 8, we’ve hit the merge and saw our first juror. There has been much backlash this season in regards to the cast and the decisions made; what are your thoughts overall on 1) the cast, and 2) how the game has played out?

AK: Absolutely digging this season, not too keen on the different tribe divisions (would’ve loved to save the title ‘hero’ to be against villains), but for the most part I’m pretty positive on it all, even the fast-tracked editing, which I hated at the end of game changers.

LO: Another big change this season are the juicy one-off Advantages that have been introduced, from Ryan’s idol transfer to Chrissy, to Lauren’s ‘save my vote for later’ Advantage. Do you like these or think there are too many in the game?

AK: I love the “one off” advantages. Could you imagine if someone from my season came up with the genius idea that an idol that had to be played at the first Tribal Council… Hahaha #chickenidol. Honestly though, I like that it showed very early just where Chrissy’s level of strategic thinking was at first Tribal Council by holding onto it. I hope she gets to pull it out and fake out people at Final 5! Sorry Ziggy, but maybe you should’ve held the Super Idol and lied about its super power ala Tony Vlachos 👌🏽

LO: Do you have any favourite players this season who you thought should/would have made it further? Who do you think has played the best game so far? (can be your definition of ‘best’ gameplay)

AK: I have had four stand out favourites from day one and I am super happy that they all remain in the game. Ryan, Chrissy, Dr Mike & Joe (This is my dream F4 scenario). I think up to this point they all have made some mistakes, but managed to recover as well as also having some huge credentials on their resume. P.S watching Joe stir up Ben gave me cray flashbacks to stirring up Locky 😂🙌🏽 Love it!

LO: To the spaghetti reward, be honest, how much would you have eaten if you were first (Devon)? 😛 And if you had found the idol clue what would you have done to hide it from the other four who hadn’t eaten? (Lezbehonest, Ryan won that round)

AK: I screamed at the TV when Probst announced the change up in reward. “THERE’S AN IDOL CLUE”!!! But I was thinking each person would sit down and a new plank of wood with a sentence on it would be there to take. Each person now has a small plank which when all planks are put together a clue will form. (Gee, I over think everything don’t I, lel). Could 2,3,4 people join their planks and work out where the idol is based on the position they ate? … sorry I’ll stop boring your readers with my brain methodology. Oh, I would’ve eaten as much pasta I could until I threw it up 😂 Being the first one there I would have torn the table apart looking for a clue and when I found it I probably would have chucked out the salad, put the pasta in the bowl and buried the plate.

LO: Back at camp, the mad scramble for the idol ensues. Cole jumps on Chrissy in the sand, while Ben jumps on Cole in a juicy scene. Do you think Ryan is playing a ‘winning’ game? I think he’s solidified his position pretty perfectly so far… 

AK: First of all, what’s with Chrissy thinking she can always talk/whisper in stupid scenarios. It’s like she wants people to know she’s playing 🙄 I think Ryan played that whole afternoon perfectly, destroying the plate and encouraging chaos to deflect the suspicion on Cole. Ahhhhh, all that scene was missing was Dr Mike running in and jumping on top “stacks onnnn”, haha gold Survivor moment.

LO: To Tribal and Lauren plays her Advantage. I mean, this is a no-brainer right, she HAD to play it? BUT, do you think Desi was the right person to send home over Joe? Desi crying on her way out… Bet that brought back feels for ya. :’(

AK: Desi was the right choice, it breaks my heart because I’m all 😍 for Desi, thanks for reminding me 😭 But no one is going to Joe for a number. Well played ‘Team Ryan & Chrissy’ on that one. I think Lauren’s advantage is cool, but I want to know if anyone picked up on the missing vote. Like come on, surely!!! I know I thought through all the numbers and potential voters each vote. Surely someone has realised, not that they would know how it came about. Hopefully makes for an interesting future vote.

FINAL QUESTIONS:

LO: If US Survivor ever took on your Chicken Idol as a new type of Idol, what special power would it have?
AK: The chicken idol is a solid foundation, hahaha. You choose between using it as an idol for yourself or use it to get a chicken coop for your tribe at the first Tribal Council. Make it happen, Probst!!!

LO: Would you rather go on a spaghetti date with Cole and Jessica, or Ali and Patrick?
AK: Ali 😍 & Patrick all day, every day.

LO: Describe JP in three words:
AK: Who is JP?

LO: Would you place yourself in the Healer, Hustler or Hero tribe and who do you think you would have aligned with?
AK: Hustler tribe (obviously hahaha). Ryan would be my go to guy for shiz.

LO: Who do you ‘want’ to win? (Ashley, Ben, Chrissy, Cole, Devon, Joe, JP, Lauren, Mike, Ryan)
AK: I want one of my fave four to win. I heard Chrissy has been swearing on her kids lives out there and it’s not sat well with people. So for that, I hope Chrissy wins. 

LO: Who is your dark horse?
AK: Dr Mike.

LO: And who do you ‘think’ will be Sole Survivor
AK: Devon.

Follow AK on the socials, on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook

It’s been a long time since I covered this season of Survivor USA back in week 2, but all that pent-up tension has finally found an outlet. This week on the Spice Rack we’re lucky to have BaeK, aka AK, best known as the winner of the prestigious ‘Spice Rack’s Sexiest Man-Bun on SurvivorAU’ award, reveal his season crushes. I’ll also overshare the pain of my messy breakup with my Survivor crush, and discuss why Chrissy is under no obligation to be your feminist icon (if that is too political for you just skip that bit).

Interview with AK

First up let’s have a look at what SurvivorAU’s very own McDreamy, and SR crush Hall of Famer, AK had to say:

Annabel: The SR is all about Survivor crushes; who have you been crushing on this season? 

AK: Talk about Total babes this season… Ali, Jessica & Chrissy are all high for me but I have an exclusive for your Spice Rack! My number 1 Survivor crush of all time, Michelle Schubert, has been knocked off top spot for my new one true love, Desi.

Annabel: Dying to hear an explanation behind Michelle Schubert, but I don’t think anyone is going to quarrel with you about Desi – definitely a certified babe.
If you were to write erotic fan-fiction about this season, who would your starring couple/ thruple be? If you’d like to add some PG plot details that’s fine.  For reference, mine would be Dr Mike/ Lauren/ Joe. Mike & Lauren are married, but things spice up at home when Lauren is out to sea…

AK: Oh wow, saucy haha! My narrative also has a happy ending… get it maybe Jessica is ready to sin but when it gets down to it, JP can’t perform to his best which infuriates him (of course)… In steps Dr Mike to help with JP’s troubles and Bam… the rest writes itself… blah blah blah, happy ending 🏽 yaaaay, hahaha was that ok?

Annabel: Wow, give me a moment to cool myself off; we all know erectile dysfunction is the cornerstone of any good erotic novel!
Lyndz recently confessed she has a crush on JP. Would you like to take this opportunity to crush-shame her? Or is this a reasonable choice on her part?

AK: I would never knock someone for crushing on the worst survivor player of the season.

What a dreamboat. Mop your brow with a damp cloth and get ready for a deep dive into what may be my final say on SurvivorHHH.

The bright shining light at the end of the tunnel

I came into this season with a pretty hardcore crush on Joe. I was a fan of the #twitterfingers for a long time, but there is no excuse for mocking other people for their mental health problems. And even if deliberately triggering someone’s PTSD is something Joe would never do outside of the game, I think exploiting someone’s disability to get further in the game crosses the line.

Like most breakups, I am coming out of this one feeling hurt, betrayed, and a little bit mad. But as my granny always says, there is no better way to get over a man than under another one, and I already have a new squeeze. ~Good vibes only~ surfer bro, Devon, is just what we all need right now after a draining year. If I am desperate to bask in his bright light here from the comfort of my sofa, I can only image how much his fellow contestants appreciate his presence around camp. I know I am not alone in thinking he has a serious shot to win this game.

The Iron Lady

I feel compelled to address the now prominent criticism that Chrissy does not work well with women, and that this is a fatal flaw. I always come into a Survivor season looking for two things: 1) someone to crush on, and 2) someone who will promote my insidious political agenda. What leaves me both shocked, and quite frankly sceptical, is that so many other people seem to care whether Chrissy is actively furthering the interests of other women.

My grandparents came to visit this week, and my grandad treated us to another lengthy lecture on the finer points of Margaret Thatcher’s career (1^st female British Prime Minister & very polarising right-wing figure). As I zoned out and started daydreaming about Survivor, I couldn’t help but think about another cutthroat woman who thrived in a male-dominated industry. I don’t think anyone would argue that Britain’s first female Prime Minister did anything that benefited women as a group, but that was a core part of why she was so successful.

I have long felt that the discrediting of emotions, softness, and subtle social intelligence as legitimate Survivor gameplay is a reflection of how male-dominated Survivor commentary is. Instead, we seem to value qualities that are socially coded as masculine: rationality, hardness, control, strategic dominance. Chrissy, like Thatcher, embodies all these qualities, and yet doesn’t get the same kudos a very similar character, Spencer (Reagan), has received. It is not unreasonable to suggest Chrissy does not work well with women; every woman who has come out of the game, having interacted with her, says the same thing, so maybe we should listen. But Chrissy has never pretended to have signed up for Survivor to be a feminist icon. Burning effigies of Reagan has never held the same appeal as a Thatcher bonfire for the Left, and while Chrissy might reseal that glass ceiling behind her, I never expected her to help me anymore than I expected Ryan to.