Survivor down to top four All-Stars as Tarzan sent packing

Ousted Survivor player Tarzan made some very surprising claims about his 46 days in the game during a candid interview with news.com.au today.

I’ve interviewed dozens of Australian Survivor contestants over the past few years, and for many, the script is the same.

The challenges are brutal. The constant hunger is psychologically crippling. The lack of a proper night’s sleep leaves you constantly exhausted. In short: Survivor is so much harder than you could’ve ever imagined.

Seems Survivor’s latest evictee Mark ‘Tarzan’ Herlaar never got that memo, delivering a surprisingly cheerful verdict on his 46 days in the game in a chat with news.com.au today.

Here’s what Tarzan had to say about his Survivor experience:

Survivor star Tarzan: The man could not be more chill.

THE HUNGER

“I went in a little bit heavier, and I lost over 10kgs. But I didn’t feel overly hungry for any of the time I was there. Sure, the food rewards were exciting, but I’m a vegetarian anyway, so it was only the salads in the food rewards for me. A lot of the guys who were eating meat didn’t get to final five - you got two vegos (he and Moana) in the final five! The rice and beans were really good, nice and salty. I was pretty content to just eat rice and beans, to be honest.”

THE CHALLENGES

“The one where you had to stand on those pegs? That was tough. Very intense. But they’re all in their own way an absolute delight, because it adds intensity to the whole day. You wake up wanting a challenge - you want to play, you don’t want to sit around on the beach all day.”

THE CONDITIONS

“I slept like a log. I slept just outside of camp under a coconut tree - away from the fire and away from Jacqui farting. When I laid my head down at night, other than the odd crab running over the top of me, I’m out. I think it’s because I allowed myself to be immersed in my environment, and to be honest with you, I’m probably not thinking about the game as much as some of the others.

“And I was really happy to get the final five, it was a lot longer than I made last time around. When I played first in 2017 in Samoa, the conditions were tough - it rained every day. In Fiji, the conditions were nicer, and I really enjoyed every day... it was enlightening.”

EARLIER: LAST NIGHT’S EPISODE

Tarzan’s eviction in Monday night’s episode leaves just four players left in the game: Sharn Coombes, David Genat, Moana Hope and Brooke Jowett.

Brooke has emerged as one of the game’s biggest challenge threats, picking up individual immunity once more in Monday’s episode, leaving her safe for the vote. It also meant she could finally break up the alliance of the other four players that had held tight for several episodes.

Brooke was gunning for David, arguably this season’s most dangerous player – but he produced a hidden immunity idol at tribal council, meaning he was also safe from the vote.

In the end, David and Sharn copped a vote each, while Tarzan earned three – the first time this season anyone’s written Tarzan’s name down.

“The tough thing about this game is that to get to the end … you have to bury a few friends,” said LaPaglia after Tarzan’s exit.

Survivor fave Tarzan is out of the game.

The 51-year-old lime farmer has been one of the quiet heroes of the season, offering support to close friend Lee Carseldine in the heartbreaking scenes a few weeks back when Lee was told his mother had suffered a massive stroke.

As this season of Survivor nears its end, the show has, like many others, been affected by the developing coronavirus pandemic: Jonathan LaPaglia will host the final episode via satellite link-up, as strict quarantine measures meant he couldn’t fly from the US to Australia to film in person. And filming for the next season of the show has been put on hold, with a Network 10 spokesperson saying that “while this news is disappointing, the health and safety of everyone involved with the show is our number one priority. We will update everyone on when production will start as soon as we can.”

Survivor: All-Stars continues 7:30pm Tuesday on Ten.