After 46 days stranded in Samoa, it was rebel Feras who rose above 23 other competitors to claim the title of sole Survivor.
Following in the footsteps of Liz Parnov, Pia Miranda, David Genat, Shane Gould, Jericho Malabonga, and Kristie Bennett, the 28-year-old is now half a million dollars richer thanks to his epic social game and strategy.
WATCH NOW: Kirby’s journey on Australian Survivor Titans vs Rebels.
Describing his win as a “dream come true” to New Idea, the HR Manager said that being cast, let alone winning Australian Survivor Titans vs Rebels was “absolutely life-changing,” adding that the prize money would be used responsibly.
“This will all go to planning for the future and hopefully starting a family soon,” he shares excitedly.
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For the rebel, his journey to being cast on the show was unorthodox, and in true Feras fashion, hilarious.
“I made sure to be as entertaining as possible in that one-and-a-half-minute-long audition video. I didn’t talk about how much of a fan I was, I literally role-played a scene from an old season of Survivor and pretended I was talking to JLP. My deodorant can was a pretend idol,” he laughs.
While the self-confessed superfan did what he could to prepare both physically (by consuming copious amounts of cheeseburgers) and mentally for the game, he says nothing could have ever prepared him for the way his time on Survivor actually unfolded.
He also made the candid confession that while he did regret not playing his hidden immunity idol for Kirby, he would have still voted her out at the next tribal council.
“The only reason I say that is because I think it would have been so much more entertaining. As a fan watching the show, I would have loved to have seen me do that but at the end of the day when it comes down to $500,000 I just wasn’t taking any risks.
Going up against 55-year-old Caroline at the final tribal council, Feras knew he’d have a challenging time pitching to the jury.
“I talked about all my moves in my pitch. I mentioned everything. Once the jury started asking questions it threw me off only because I didn’t expect them to go as hard as they did.”
“I thought they would be more straightforward. They definitely made me work for it.”
But despite the stress he endured through the game both on his mind and his body, Feras tells us he had an “absolute blast.”
“I never took anything to heart, everything was just a game to me,” he says.
“I was very unorthodox in my plays and I’m so proud of that. I love that I wasn’t your typical player. My experience was completely more than anything I ever expected, the good and the ugly.”
As for what’s next for the Western Sydney native, he says he’d love to ditch his day job for an entertainment career.
“That for me is the ultimate dream ever since I was a kid and I’m going to be pushing towards that.”
He also has plenty of plans to catch up with his fellow castaways.
“Kirby and I speak every single day. Raymond [also] slept at my house a couple of days ago. I’m just so grateful to have made these long-lasting friendships.”
RELATED || Feras Basal has won Australian Survivor Titans vs Rebels
He may even make a return to the shores of Samoa if only casting producers let him!
“I definitely would love to go back a second or even a third time. I want to show the different versions of myself. And I think we saw so many versions of me this season but I want to show what else I can bring to the table and provide as much entertainment as possible.”
We are sure Survivor fans everywhere would love to see this!
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