After winning the final Immunity Challenge, Caleb Beeby secured his place in the Australian Survivor 2026 finale and the power to decide who would join him. In a move that shocked fans, he chose Jackson Gooney over Loz Mac, despite being aligned with her for weeks.
Both Jackson and Loz pitched their cases to Caleb about why he should take them through to the finale. While Jackson leaned on the angle that they’re both underdogs and said Caleb wouldn’t be able to beat Loz in the finale vote, Caleb interrupted Loz’s speech to reiterate that he wouldn’t be in the position he was without her help.
Then, in a savage move, he cast his vote for Loz to be eliminated, and host David Genat revealed that Jackson would be heading to the final.
“I love you, but it would have been the perfect pitch,” Caleb told Loz as he said goodbye, implying that he believed she would have beaten him at the final Tribal Council.
Did Caleb make the wrong move by sending Loz home?
While Loz hasn’t played a bad social game and has managed good relationships with almost everyone on the jury, it could be argued that Jackson has taken bigger risks throughout the season. In particular, when he betrayed his own alliance and voted out his close ally Ben. On top of that, much of Jackson’s alliance is sitting on the Jury panel, who ultimately choose the winner.
On social media, opinions are split about whether Caleb made the right move.
“It was a great move! He shocked everyone so that’s a plus! He controlled his narrative and his endgame. He flipped the script! Like I said, these two make for great TV! But just to really look at the credentials, I’m leaning towards Caleb! Survivor is the title, right?” One person wrote on the show’s official Instagram page.
“No shock here! He knew Loz would get the sympathy vote from the jury. Well played by not giving in to her demands for the immunity necklace, you deserve to win, Caleb,” a second wrote.
Another credited Caleb for making the most exciting move — whether it would ultimately benefit his game or not.
“Great move, you want the two best players at the end and not just take Loz through, who would have been the easy beat,” they penned.
However, some fans think Caleb essentially handed Jackson the win, comparing the move to Survivor: Cagayan US, when Woo Hwang took Tony Vlachos to the Final Tribal Council and lost.
“Another Woo who took Tony to the end… congratulations to JACKSON. YOU WON!!” One person wrote.
“Did Caleb make a million-dollar mistake like Woo? We’re about to find out,” another said [Editor’s note: The Australian Survivor prize money is $500,000, not $1,000,000 like the US].
The Australian Survivor 2026 finale airs at 7:30pm on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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