Mysterious, Abrupt 'Australian Survivor' Exit Finally Explained

I have watched every season of American Survivor, which is no small feat, as the series is currently airing its 48th. I love it. I never tire of it, and I hope it never goes away.

But last year, Podjiba co-host Dan Hamamura introduced me to Australian Survivor. And Australian Survivor is no joke. If American Survivor is the equivalent of leasing a new car, Australian Survivor is like buying the car and permanently moving in. It’s intense. There are more players. The episodes are much longer. There are three episodes a week, and the finalists have to stay on the island for upwards of 50 days.

There are, however, more reward challenges and, therefore, more food, which is necessary because the challenges themselves go hard. American Survivor challenges often feel like obstacle courses built by safety experts, with a puzzle at the end. A lot of challenges on Australian Survivor amount to basically throwing a ball, hoop, or sandbag in the middle of a pit and telling two people to beat each other up until one escapes with the ball.

It’s very physical, which inevitably leads to more injuries. In one of this week’s episodes, in fact, a player was wrestling with another guy over a hoop and tore his bicep. On American Survivor, they’d bring out the gurney and helicopter and evacuate you for that. On Australian Survivor, the dude got a few X-rays, put on a sling, and got back in the game. “I’ve got one healthy arm and two healthy legs,” he said, because he’s a f—king Aussie.

That same episode continued as normal, but when the losing tribe went to the Tribal Council that night, there were only two minutes left. “How are they going to get through an entire Tribal Council and vote in two minutes?” I wondered. They didn’t. The host, Jonathan LaPaglia — who is essentially what you’d get if you combined Jeff Probst, Bear Grylls, and an Australian guy named Tony (he’s Anthony’s younger brother) — came out, sat down, and said, “There won’t be a vote tonight. This might come as a shock, but Ben has decided to leave the game … sadly, he won’t be with us anymore.”

Ben is a player on the other tribe. LaPaglia provided no further information. Nothing. Nada. The episode ended, and we had to wait several more days for the next one.

Naturally, the Australian Survivor subreddit exploded. I spent an hour on it. There was a lot of speculation about what happened to Ben, along with plenty of accusations of nefariousness — everything from cheating to sexual assault. And honestly, I think the subreddit had convinced itself of the latter based on … well, nothing.

Thankfully, Ben took to Instagram to dispel any rumors. He had torn a calf muscle, slept in a puddle for several consecutive rainy nights, and — though it wasn’t evident in the edit —contracted “severe pneumonia.” On top of that, he discovered he’d entered the game with something called Ross River fever.

The fact that he stuck it out until halfway through the season despite the torn calf, Ross River fever, and eventually pneumonia says a lot about how tough these people are. It has been months, and Ben still hasn’t fully recovered.