The latest season of Australian Survivor started disastrously for one team on Monday night, with a brutal first-episode challenge that sent two contestants to hospital.
In hard-to-watch scenes, two contestants from the ‘Villains’ tribe – returning players Jackie Glazier and ‘King’ George Mladenov – both suffered injuries at the same moment, as they attempted to pass a difficult section of the first immunity challenge.
Contestants had to mount one of two large moving boxes, which would then rotate, turfing them into a mud pit below.
Those who executed the move successfully were the players who managed to flip off the boxes, landing on their backs in the mud. Without a flip, they’d land head first, with a much greater risk of injury:
That’s exactly what George and Jackie both did as they tackled the course together, with host Jonathan LaPaglia calling for medics as both struggled to even get out of the mud pit.
Both were absent for the rest of the episode – and as the Villain team headed to tribal council, LaPaglia revealed that Jacquie had broken her collarbone and would not be returning to the game.
As for George? His fate still hangs in the balance, as LaPaglia told his tribemates he was still under medical observation.
With two players absent, LaPaglia offered the Villain tribe a deal: If they wished, he could call off tribal council and not read out the votes to send anyone else home.
Despite being potentially two players down against the ‘Heroes’ tribe so early in the game, the Villains insisted LaPaglia read the votes and oust another member of their tribe.
Among the most vocal was former CNN journalist and Real Housewives of Melbourne star Anjali Rao – who got quite the shock when she learned her team had turned on her and she’d been voted out first.
“I was really all for reading out the votes – we’re not here to play it safe, let’s rip the scab off this bad boy! I was pretty surprised,” Rao told news.com.au of her elimination.
“When you see your name written on those cards over and over again, it is a horrible feeling.”
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Rao also opened up about the “terror” she and her tribemates felt after they watched George and Jackie get injured earlier in the episode.
“It was terrifying. We all saw what happened, but then we had to continue on with the challenge after that, which really gave people the heeby-jeebys. I think a lot of people thought, ‘Oh my god, if two people go over that challenge at the same time – and they both end up in hospital – what’s going to happen to me?’”
Australian Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains continues 7:30pm Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday.
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