During the very first episode of Survivor: Australia V The World, Kirby Bentley admitted that she hadn’t watched Survivor before, which raised some eyebrows from viewers, considering she was competing on the all-star season.
“I’ve only played once, and I didn’t watch it before coming on. I’ve kept that the same, so I don’t know any of you. I don’t know — that could be a detriment, maybe, or it could work to my advantage,” Kirby said during the premiere.
But the Titans v Rebels alum quickly proved herself as a powerhouse this season, making it clear early on that she wanted to align with iconic Survivor US player Parvati Shallow.
With five seasons of Survivor and one win under her belt, Parvati is undoubtedly one of the biggest names of Australia v The World — alongside two-time winner Tony Vlachos. So how did Kirby know to team up with Parvati if she hadn’t watched the show?
“I spoke to some of my best friends who know me well, who know what triggers me, what makes me work, what makes me tick, and who they think would work well with me. And, they gave me a breakdown of some of the best players in the world, and a few of them happened to be out there,” Kirby told Chattr.
“I was aware of Janine [Allis] and David [Genat] and their playing styles, and then I was aware of Cirie [Fields], Parvati and Tony and their playing styles as well, just from those conversations. So I didn’t go in completely blind. I had enough information to use what I needed to.”
Why didn’t Kirby watch Survivor before competing on Australia v The World?
Kirby explained that once she found out she’d been cast, she made a conscious decision to continue not watching any Survivor episodes.
“I relate it back to sport,” she explained. “Whenever you overanalyse any opposition team — it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve played them — the game is never going to be played the same. You know, your big players might not be the same, or they might have adjusted or adapted in their space. So that was an intentional thought.”
Kirby added that in retrospect, she backs her choice of not learning about the other players by watching their seasons, because she thinks it’s easy to get starstruck — something Lisa Holmes (nee Stanger) experienced with Cirie, who has been cast on Survivor six times.
“I think it’s easy to get over awed — they’re big-time players, and their energy speaks for itself. They’ve got big auras, big personalities, and I felt it out there naturally. So if I had looked too far into their game, maybe I would have hesitated, or maybe I would have second-guessed, for whatever reason, just out of fear of what they had once done. But yeah, I think it might have worked in my favour.”
Maybe a few more players should have taken a page out of the Survivor Princess’s playbook.
Survivor: Australia v The World airs at 7pm on Sundays, and 7:30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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