Speaking to 10 play after being voted out of the Red tribe on Wednesday night, Kate said she was almost entirely certain the whole vote was going to be put on her. At least that was the initial plan until ‘Juicy Dave’ imploded his own game.
“It just made me laugh,” Kate said, “I had been practicing in my head all night, ‘By the way… Dave’s got an Idol.’”
Fans of the series will remember that in Andy’s original season his parting words were similarly, “Oh, and Dave has an Idol,” painting a fairly large target on David “Golden God” Genat’s back. At the time, Andy wasn’t even aware that Dave actually did have an Idol.
Kate, however, was almost entirely sure that Juicy Dave had pocketed one when he and Khanh wen to the Survivor Store.
Constructing an elaborate lie about pocketing a bar of soap he thought was an idol only to be disappointed when he later opened the package, Kate said she later asked Dave for the soap. Later, during a one-on-one conversation, Kate said she again pressed Dave on if he had an Idol in his possession.
“It was so thrown in when he was talking about his daughter he stammered and then corrected himself, so I was fairly certain he had an Idol,” she said adding, “Who in Australian Survivor finds a bar of soap and wouldn’t bring it back to camp!”
Unfortunately for Kate, when Dave began accusing his closest allies of betraying him, he was forced to play his Idol almost as quickly as he had gotten it.
“You see my face at some stages, I look shocked. That is me actually going, oh no… he’s ruined my line!” Kate said, laughing.
“I wasn’t devastated about leaving, I was devastated about not being able to use the ‘Dave has an Idol’ line.”
Entering the game with her brother Andy, Kate knew he would have an uphill battle to stick around in his tribe with his reputation as returning player and superfan. After Andy’s Blue Tribe went to the first Tribal Council, Kate said she “already knew” he was the first boot.
“I just had that feeling in my tummy, my gut instinct is what I live by but I could just tell by the dynamic, even on the mat,” she admitted. Still, it was difficult for her to see the tribe arrive the next day without her brother.
“You don’t want to be out there without your loved one, that’s part of the game — to look over and have someone to communicate with.”
Being the first on the Blue tribe to see their loved one voted out, Kate was in two minds about what that meant for her game.
“I honestly feel it can actually be an advantage in some ways because you’re seen without a threat, you’re one less number, you’re someone who can easily join someone else… but it can also be an easy target,” Kate said.
“It’s like oh, their loved one is not here, there’s no retribution on the other side if we get rid of them anymore. It works both ways.”
While she unfortunately was the collateral damage to Juicy Dave’s implosion, Kate was still lucky enough to form a tight bond with Michelle and Survivor legend Sandra.
“As a mum — being my age — it was a quick connection for us,” Kate said. “We were the little trio that soaked up the experience together.”
Sandra would teach them tips and tricks and help them out in the camp, but as a superfan, Kate also got to get all the insider goss she ever wanted.
“Her storytelling was amazing. She was extremely kind and generous, especially for someone like me who had so many questions, she answered them honestly, openly and told me stories that were mind-blowing!
“As a superfan it was crazy and once in a lifetime but as a friendship it was just so sweet.”
Australian Survivor: Blood V Water continues Sunday - Tuesday at 7.30 on Network 10 and 10 play on demand