After fierce deliberation by the jury, Myles Kuah has been named Sole Survivor and won season 10 of Australian Survivor Brains v Brawn II.
He will now join the Australian Survivor Hall of Fame and take home a life-changing $500,000 for his efforts (as well as bragging rights for life).
It was a tight game for our final three with many predicting that “jungle rat” Myles would take home the crown with odds of $1.32 to win. He was followed in second place by Kaelan Lockhart at $3.75 and AJ Antonios with odds to win of $6.00.
Ultimately Myles did emerge triumphant thanks to his persuasive pitch to the jury where he went over his gameplay and strategy, social game, and physical achievements which helped him secure a majority vote at the final tribal council.
“I could never in my wildest dreams have imagined I’d be sitting here at the end. I couldn’t be prouder of the game I played,” he shared shortly after being crowned.
After 46 days of outwitting, outlasting, and outplaying their opponents in the jungle, it all came down to a brutal final individual immunity challenge for AJ, Kaelan, and Myles.
The tight trio was challenged with standing on a series of pegs, each narrower than the last, with only bamboo plants around them to help keep their balance. At each stage the bamboo supports were also distanced further and further away, making it an exercise in resilience, stamina, and focus.
For poker champion AJ, with already bandaged feet (presumably due to an injury obtained from camp) he struggled early on, his determination evident as he fought through the pain radiating through the soles of his feet following the first transition.
He did however hold an advantage due to his longer limbs being able to reach bamboo that his competitors struggled to due to their smaller stature. Unfortunately, it was this that was financial analyst Myles’ underdoing who fell just before the two-and-a-half-hour mark and shortly after the second live transition.
After hour three and in the final live transition it was Kaelan who emerged victorious after AJ fell, his pain finally too much to bare.
But while PHD student Kaelan had secured his spot in the final tribal council, he was visibly emotional as he came to terms with the weight of which friend he would take with him, and which friend he would be ending their Survivor dream.
Ultimately it was Myles he decided to take with him to the end – a heartbreaking but necessary decision that saw AJ become the 21st member of the jury.
It was a season of firsts with the final three being comprised of all men for the time ever, and all from the same original tribe – Brains.
Kaelan also made Australian AND US Survivor history by securing the most individual immunity wins in a single season – seven!
And how could we forget Myles making franchise history by finding the most hidden immunity idols in a season?
Speaking with New Idea the morning after what he described as a “surreal” win, Myles shed light on how he planned on spending his half a million in prize money.
“I’m a finance bro so I’m just going to be investing it all. That’s what I do with my job. I know it’s such a boring answer but I’m just going to be setting myself up for life,” he told us.
He also opened up about his friendship with AJ and Kaelan, two people he described as “lovely, kind” and “beautiful people.”
“They were always really supportive and had my back.”
While Myles and Kaelan are separated by distance and have been unable to catch up in person since filming wrapped, Myles tells us that he and AJ are seeing each other regularly, often to play boardgame Catan.
“AJ lives a ten-minute walk from me so I have caught up with AJ many, many times.”
As he reflected upon why he believed he secured all but one of the votes to win in the final tribal council, Myles was quick to respond.
“One of the biggest differentiators between Kalean and I is the jury being a brains-heavy jury, a jury of fans. They really loved how much passion I had for playing the game. Kaelans approach came off as very robotic, methodical,” he told us.
While he doesn’t have any major regrets from his time on the show, he says he would be open to returning to Samoa to play again.
“I feel lucky because I was able to tick everything off my bucket list. I don’t have any unfinished business. I also am in a position where I would love to play again but I’m a lot more comfortable doing it on my terms. It depends on life.”
“I got a Survivor experience that I don’t think many other people have gotten in that I just had everything. I won challenges, I found idols, I made big moves, I played from the bottom, and I played from the top, it’s everything you could ever hope for as a fan and more. I just blew all of my own expectations of what was possible away.”
