The claws are out on Survivor NZ and no one can be trusted. Photo / Scott McAulay
The claws are out on Survivor NZ and no one can be trusted. Photo / Scott McAulay
It's only episode two of Survivor NZ - but alliances are being thrown in the bin and backstabbing and betrayal is already well underway.
Monday night's episode opened with Mogaton contestants ruminating over their decision to vote plus-size model Hannah out of their tribe.
Reading Duncan Greive's piece on the matter, I didn't want to believe that in 2017, a group of Kiwis could vote a woman out just because of her size, but that was 100 per cent the case.
Hannah was literally voted off of Survivor NZ for being "oversized". Photo / Scott McAulay
"A lot of people are feeling guilty," said Sala. "I've learned that you can't judge a book by its cover and I'm grateful to Hannah for re-teaching me that lesson."
And Tony, while remorseful, didn't mince his words saying: "I made the mistake of judging a book by its cover. I looked at Hannah and thought no, she's definitely going to slow us down, she's a big girl, she's oversized."
He then started rambling a little incoherently whilst wiping tears from his face about how he could shoot a man if he had to but it didn't sit right with him how they'd all blindsided Hannah.
Tony gets emotional on Survivor NZ. Photo / TVNZ
After the first elimination though, everyone saw how quickly the tides could turn and every survivor and their pet volleyballs started hustling to secure alliances, with Tony, Sala, Shay and Lou creating the "Tight Four" and planning to give untrustworthy Tom the boot.
The immunity challenge saw one member from each team become the "caller" to lead their blindfolded teammates through an obstacle course.
You know things aren't going well when you hear someone screaming: "Right! Right! No, your other right!"
The teams struggled through a blind obstacle course getting beaten and bruised along the way. Photo / Scott McAulay
Hermosa - whose knowledge of left and right was a bit better than Motogon's - won the challenge, sending Motogon back to elimination and sending Tony - who had previously heard he was on the chopping block - scrambling to secure alliances.
It didn't work. The so-called "Tight Four" quickly unravelled and Tony was sent packing with a knife still sticking out of his back.
Tony's last look at the teammates who betrayed him. Photo / TVNZ
Host Matt Chisholm said what we were all thinking: "You've just voted out a man who has been integral to setting up your camp. It'll be interesting to see how you'll survive without him."
First Hannah, who is a super athletic powerlifter who moved boulders for her team's camp with her bare hands, and is a damn treasure for body positivity on New Zealand television, and now Tony, the only one with any conceivable real-world survival skills.
Tony will now head to Redemption Island to battle it out with Hannah to see who stays to have another shot at the grand prize and who will leave the show for good.
