The inaugural season of Alone Australia may have started off with ten contestants, but the finale episode confirmed that there were only ever two key players; Michael Atkinson and Gina Chick.
The two competitors battled it out and went head to head for 34 days after the only other remaining contestant Michael Wallace voluntarily withdrew at the 33 days mark. While Atkinson is a professional survivor by trade, it was bushcraft teacher Chick who was crowned the winner and took home the $250,000 prize money after surviving 67 days in the Tasmanian outback.
Two records were smashed during the Alone Australia finale
During the finale episode on May 24, not one, but two, international Alone records were smashed.
Firstly, Chick and Atkinson’s one-to-one stand-off was the longest in the history of the franchise!
Secondly, at the age of 52, Chick snatched the crown off season two Alone US winner David McIntyre to become the oldest contestant to ever win any version. Amazing!
However, despite taking home the winner’s bragging rights, Chick said that her time on the survival show runs much deeper than a competitive yearning to win.
“For me, it was never about winning the competition. My focus was on solving my needs every day. I’m not an expert survivalist, but what I’ve found is that I can let my instincts and the land teach me what I needed to know,” she said in a statement.
“I really wanted to show that there is a way of being at home in the wild. There’s a way of connecting with an ancestral way of being that isn’t about dominating nature, or about having all the bells and whistles and tricks. I want to thank the palawa for the tens of thousands of years they’ve lived in harmony with this country, leaving footprints for me to follow.”
Chick, whose best friend Lee was the one to tell her that she had won, said that her time on the reality TV show has changed her life for good.
“Coming into this experience, I said the Gina who walked in would not be the Gina that walked out. I left more windswept, more grateful, more in love than I’ve ever been in my life,” she said.
The Reunion episode
Fans can catch up on what’s happened since filming wrapped on Alone Australia with a special one-hour reunion program Alone Australia: The Reunion which airs May 25 at 7.30pm on SBS.
Hosted by Amanda Keller OAM, the entire cast is reunited for the first time since they were dropped in the remote wilds of Western Tasmania / lutruwita to discuss their experiences and reveal never-before-seen footage.
Alone Australia: The Reunion airs May 25 at 7.30pm on SBS.
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