[dramatic music]
[applause]
Do not adjust your screens.
We're still "Alone, Australia," but this time we're alone
with friends.
I'm Amanda Keller, and here are 10 extraordinary humans.
Showered, fed, pants on, just.
And they're ready to spill the sausage soup on season one
of a "Alone, Australia."
Gina, congratulations.
Incredible work.
Well, all of them.
You are simply inspiring humans.
Over the next hour, we're going to relive
some of those seemingly unlivable moments.
We're going to show you some never-before-seen footage
and gain some insights into how you all
tapped in to that inner resolve and then tapped out.
I predict some tears, and probably mostly from me.
But first, I can reveal to Australia
that other than Gina, none of these people
knew who won "Alone, Australia" until about an hour ago.
They watched those final two decisive episodes together,
and I could hear your jaws drop from my very comfortable
dressing room next door.
Now, Mike, so much to discuss.
But before we do, and this is always the hard bit,
we're going to make you relive those last moments after 64
long, grueling days when on your birthday, of all days,
you found out your time was over.
[dramatic music]
[cuff inflating]
Spin around.
So the last few times I've come and seen you,
your blood pressure's been trending downwards.
The values that I've measured are unsafe.
The safest thing to do is to extract you.
So is that it?
I'm out?
MEDIC: I'm afraid so, mate.
So when the doctors say it's time to go, how do you feel?
Are you in denial?
Are you in shock?
Had part of you been preparing for that?
I looked at him.
He's a good bloke, the doctor.
I looked at him and wanted to kill him.
It was really devastating to hear those words
because once they come out of his mouth,
they're never going to come back.
And I will say, it's been a difficult time,
to come to terms with that decision.
I can now see why they made that decision.
But there's overlays into it.
So I actually had COVID out there.
So I got it on day two.
I had it up to day seven.
Yes, but unlike Jimmy, they felt that you
didn't need to be extracted.
That's right.
Yes, so I didn't have complications,
and I greatly appreciate the fact they left me out there.
And then when it came to my cardiovascular observations,
COVID can affect those in the medium
and even long-term for some people.
So those factors-- I didn't know those particular factors
at the time.
And when I look at my results, I'm like, OK,
I get why you might have made that decision.
Have you heard of MacGyver, the '80s TV character who could
make anything out of anything?
He could make a box girder bridge out
of a Paddle Pop stick.
I think you are MacGyver.
You threw everything at everything.
You had traps.
You had rods.
You had a net.
How frustrating was that?
Did you think, how much more can I do?
Yeah.
Of course, it is frustrating.
And I came so close on so many things.
Just a little tiny bit of luck one side,
and I would have got a Paddy melon several times.
And with fishing, as well.
There's that shot of me losing an eel.
I don't know how slimy they are, but I know that they're
supposed to be very slimy.
[splashing]
Shit.
Nice little slice inside.
Shit.
Fuck.
I lost it.
Do you see that eel in your dreams?
I do.
AMANDA: Wake up strangling him.
I had to cut the line.
And then as I tried to put both hands--
I put the line in my mouth.
Put the hands on a stump that was right in front of me, just
to move around it.
And my foot just slipped out on the mud.
And I think as I swore, the line came out of my mouth.
So it's extremely frustrating.
But that is survival.
Luck is a huge factor.
It's what you do with the luck, that's all you can control.
You didn't think of maybe building a helicopter?
Oh, a helicopter.
That would have been nice.
Yeah.
But were there moments of despair,
where you just thought, I can't win a trick.
The luck's not going my way.
Yeah, lots of times.
It's probably 20 times that I thought that.
But once again, you just let yourself have that emotion.
And then you take a big breath, and you sit down,
and then you rethink.
And it's just a process that allows
you to focus on the next task.
So this doesn't put you off adventuring?
No.
This makes me want to do more.
Adventuring is great.
You really appreciate life, and it's just rewarding.
When you look back at the beginning, man,
that was a cool thing.
I'm so glad I got to do that.
A warning.
If you're offended by bad language,
you may like to look away and block your ears right
about now.
PETER: Ah, [bleep].
Can't even [bleep] walk here.
[bleep]
That [bleep] hurt.
My ax smacked me in the back of the [bleep] head.
Everything just keeps [bleep] me here.
Am I not supposed to [bleep] be here or something?
Why [bleep] come film me?
[bleep]
My wife [bleep] told me, keep your [bleep] organized.
Keep your [bleep] organized.
Got all my [bleep] warm clothes wet.
[extended bleep]
[laughter]
That was a very long beep, wasn't it?
That was a very long beep.
Just from the short time I've spent with you tonight,
you're charming. You're funny.
You're warm.
That's a side I'm not seeing.
Did your family recognize you in the footage
when they were watching the show?
Yeah, they did.
But when I'm by myself, I do tend to swear a lot.
When I'm around other people, I don't.
But that's exactly how I felt in that point in time.
So I'm not sorry for swearing.
So boot camp is where you go for a week
or so beforehand to learn the rules so we can make sure
that you know what you're doing, camera techniques, things
like that.
How did you find each other there?
I thought he was like Rambo, you know?
He's gun crazy, this fellow.
Yeah, he's just like-- he said, I'm a hunter.
I've got this gun.
I've got that gun.
I was like, far out, dude.
He goes, I'm pretty full on.
So I thought, I better stay friends with this fellow.
Yeah, and we're still friends.
And you made a comment about the 10 items
that Pete was taking in.
Yeah.
Well, everyone was sort of speculating what
items each of us had chosen.
And I just said, look, Pete's items
will be a knife and 9 different marinades.
Marinate those worms.
Rob, one of the first things you did
when you got there was to say a beautiful Maori prayer.
It seems that everyone was moved by that.
How did that equip you, Rob?
Look, I just--
it was just important that I did that, I think, just
as part of protocol, really.
It was a way of settling and grounding myself
when I was first dropped off there.
So we come from a blended Aboriginal and Maori family,
and language is very important to us
because when we use language, our ancestors,
our [maori] can hear us.
So that's called a Karakia.
It's, as you said, a prayer.
And it was a way of acknowledging the [maori],,
the ancestors of that place, and the [maori],,
the spirit of that land, and the [maori],,
the people of that land.
So the [maori] and the [maori] people.
And it's really a way of just showing respect
to say that I'm a visitor here to this place
and sort of stating that my intentions are good
and I mean no harm.
And you know, it's a way of just showing that respect so
that the [maori] of t hat place, the ancestors of that place,
kind of give you guidance and protection while you're there.
So yeah, it's a way of opening space,
and also a way of closing off space as well.
You had a really good shelter.
You seemed in a really good place,
but the pull to come home was so strong.
It was, yeah.
I think it was strange, the way that kind of emotion
came over me because yeah, the first night, I was fine.
You know, I made fire out of material I'd never used before.
Built a good solid shelter, or at least,
you know, it was for the first night,
and managed to filter and boil water.
And I felt completely fine.
And then when I woke up the second day,
I had a really strong pull to go home.
And it's kind of--
I guess what I've taken away from that
is that it's OK to say no when something's not right for you,
I guess.
I did-- I must admit, I carry a lot of shame with me.
I really hold-- to be the first one to tap out,
on the first-ever season, I'm number one at something,
I guess.
Just number one at the wrong end.
So Mom, Dad, I made it.
Number one.
So Peter, you gave us the impression
that there was no food there.
Did you think at one point the producers were trying
to kill you?
So with what I do every day, I'm out on country.
I'm out on land every day, pretty much.
And I'm always hunting, stalking things.
It's what I do.
And just knowing what I know and being where I was,
I was not going to last long at all in that area.
And then stuff got wet.
No sign of animals.
And it was just really like, OK, have I been set up here
with where I've been put?
Did they drop me off in the right spot?
Like, it was really playing on my mind.
And then when my knee went out, I
knew that that was the sign to be just--
just let's just get out of here.
You're not meant to be here.
I think it was you, Chris, that said it's like Noah's Ark.
All the food's been taken away.
Yeah.
Damn Noah, he didn't leave me any sign.
All that rain, and no food.
Yeah.
Anything left, I scared it away with yelling, so.
AMANDA: I was wondering about that.
Yeah, another strong takeaway from this
is the importance of listening to country when country is
telling you not to be there.
And the Palawa people that welcomed us to country down
there were quite clear that the mob would not be there
during that time of year.
And I think that's such an important message.
So in the short time that you're there on "Alone," or long time,
you're there long enough to have the resonance
to know when it's time to leave, that country's
telling you to go.
Absolutely.
Well, let's play a little game of show and tell.
I'm going to show you some of the choice tweets
that have flooded social media since the show began, and I
want you to tell me what on Earth
or who on Earth they're about.
Bring it.
Here's one.
Can't wait to drop dingo's breakfast in a convo this week.
Where did dingo's breakfast come from?
Rob.
AMANDA: Describe again the dingo's breakfast?
It's a drink of water and a look around.
Is that the polite family version?
Yeah, well, you know, the old dingo, he's
got ribs sticking out, and he hasn't had much to eat.
So he just has a bit of a sip and a bit of a look around,
and then off he goes.
Yeah, so there's a few--
a few of them come out looking like dingoes, I think.
Move over, shoey.
We now have the booty.
Now, who do you think that might be about?
What?
Yep.
Mike, having read social media before,
I thought booty might have been something very different.
Can you please explain?
Well, the old boot came in handy.
Water storage.
Many, many uses.
So to me, it was a no brainer to just use it as a water storage
device.
All right, here's one.
Never thought I'd hear "fish sperm" and "yum" used
in the same sentence, but I'm here for Gina
doing what she has to do to make it through.
You're going to get a call from MasterChef with that shortly.
You know, it's a delicacy.
It's an absolute delicacy.
And so you knew exactly-- you knew to look for it?
You knew what it was?
Yeah.
And also because the fish were in spawn, so you know,
if it was a female, it had roe, and they were amazing.
You know, think caviar.
And if it's a male, they generally
would have some sperm.
So that's life force.
And out there, starving, having something
that is basically concentrated life force is amazing.
What are you doing?
I'm gonna gag.
She's gonna gag.
Life force is a much nicer term, isn't it,
than fish sperm?
Here is a look at some never-before-seen footage
from "Alone, Australia."
We're not allowed to bring toilet paper.
And apparently, there's some stuff
that is quite gentle on the sphincter.
That could be it.
Oh, she's rough.
--sausage.
I don't need to poo yet.
But when I do, I'm not looking forward to that.
Did you find some, Beck?
I kept that in.
[laughter]
You didn't do a poo the whole time?
I was only there a day.
OK, that's fascinating.
Let's also talk about drop shock.
This is something I've heard about.
How did it affect you?
As much as I respect the country and very
thankful to the Palawa people of Iutruwita,
it was a horrible, hideous place that I--
and these guys are mad enough to have stayed for as long
as they did.
But yeah, definitely day two, that's when it got real for me.
Beck, you're a teacher.
How did you students enjoy your swearing?
I bet they loved it.
Yeah, they're cool with it.
I could really relate to you.
It's like me in the morning before I've had a cup of tea.
Can't find my keys.
Can't find anything.
My brain's not in my head.
I could really relate to what was going on here.
Shoot.
Why the-- oh.
Fuck!
That cannot ever get lost.
So this is going in the bra.
No.
OK, I ought to really get serious about this.
Yes!
I did it.
Yay.
Jimmy, you had a very unusual experience.
It was just bad luck that you went in there with COVID.
You're probably the only person in Australia
who tests positive to COVID and gets taken out of isolation.
[laughter]
Such bad luck.
At what point did you think, this is just so
much harder on my body than I thought it would be.
You didn't know it was COVID.
Did you just think, oh, this is so hard to do this show?
Yeah it was--
I was just so tired.
And I thought, it must just be so hard with this camera
equipment and lugging everything around.
But I didn't really know what everyone else was experiencing.
I just thought it must be really tough because there's
so much mud.
You're kind of walking through mud,
and you've got big camera packs and everything.
It was just-- it wasn't what I'm used to.
Yeah.
And how did you feel watching it?
Did you think, oh, I would have lasted till the end.
I'd have lasted till the end.
I mean how do you pit yourself against it?
Were you still competitive as a viewer?
Oh, yeah.
Well, actually, it's funny.
The last episode I was watching, I was by myself watching it.
And just for a brief moment, I thought,
man, I wish I was out there.
And then I realized I was on the show.
I keep forgetting I was even on the show.
Well, five down, five to go.
Duane, Chris, Kate, Michael, and Gina, with or without pants,
are up soon.
But as I take a toilet break-- a luxuriously flushing toilet
break with paper, Beck-- here are
some of the exclusive unseen moments
that never made it to air, and I wonder why.
It smells like wet socks.
Tastes like shit.
This is Rob.
I'm just calling in to say I'm officially tapping out.
I think they hung up on me.
[laughter]
Hello?
I've lost it again.
That's why they give you a second camera.
OK, camera, don't get lost.
If you were standing behind me right now,
you'd see my frickin' plumber's crack.
Oh, no.
No, I'm just joking.
Am I nervous?
Yeah.
Am I excited?
Yeah.
I can't wait to see what this future brings.
Hello, Duane.
You built a fabulous shelter.
You caught a fish.
You seemed to be in great frame of mind,
and then you tapped out.
Could you have gone longer?
Why did you tap out then?
Yeah, you're right.
I did test myself in the way of my physical capabilities
of staying out there, and I was quite confident in what
I built and created and could potentially have kept on going
and caught more fish and ate it raw, if I had to.
But I think I really underestimated the mental side
of the game.
When you're solely alone for so long,
your mind does start playing games on you.
And for me, it really did.
So that all came into play.
And I started thinking deeply about why I am here
and what I am missing most and what I needed.
And what that was was just to talk to somebody
and connect with somebody and experience it
with somebody else.
I then said to myself, OK, I know the next day is a new day.
Let's see what that brings.
And then the days got worse and worse for me.
And that's when I was like-- day 10, I'm like, I need people.
I'm tapping out.
Now, you have a very famous bottom now, Duane.
You're going to be recognized when you leave a room.
Wow, look, there's Duane.
You tapped out.
But before the boat arrived, you felt you
had something you needed to do.
Woo!
What did that mean to you?
The sole reason why I did that was because I was saying
goodbye to country and saying thank you for having me there.
When you got home, and you watched the show
with your kids, I know that it had quite an impact
on your son.
Yeah.
My son, he's such a little fan of the show.
And he's like, Dad, I want to do "Alone."
So I came up with the idea and said, yeah, let's do that.
So I gave him a list of, I think, 20 items, and said,
choose 10.
He chose his 10 items, and we went out and we did it.
AMANDA: So he wasn't alone?
DUANE: No, he wasn't alone.
Oh, no, no.
I wouldn't do that to him.
AMANDA: Did he love it?
DUANE: He always-- yeah, he loves the outdoors so much.
And it's special times with him.
Yeah, definitely.
And I think that's what people need
to do more is to go out on country
and be together and experience such a beautiful time together,
like we did.
And how long did your son last before he tapped out?
Oh, here we go.
So I secretly checked the weather before we went,
and it wasn't supposed to rain.
But at 7:30 at night, a torrential rain.
And so at 8:30, he's like, Dad, I want to tap out.
AMANDA: Wonderful. - Yeah.
Love it.
Thanks, Duane.
Thank you.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No.
Yeah!
I've got a fish!
Yeah!
You're a beauty!
Just like gold.
Oh, I'm so happy.
Wow.
[laughs]
We got dinner!
I got a bloody fish.
You must have caught so many fish in your lifetime.
Did it occur to you that you weren't catching any other food
because you'd scared it away with your loud voice?
Yeah, it does now.
Yeah, absolutely.
You said that you're OK being alone.
You actually quite enjoyed being alone.
But for someone in your position with PTSD,
being alone with your thoughts wasn't always a good thing.
No, that's right.
I do love being alone.
And you know, very introverted a lot of the times.
But yeah, I feel, like Duane, I totally
underestimated the mental game of being alone.
And yeah, as people said before, we do need people around us.
It's OK to have these periods alone.
It's a reset and that, but it's good to be around people.
And how did you feel when you discovered that you'd
be competing against your own head?
Yeah, I think it was--
I'm not sure what day, but after a few days,
I sort of realized that OK, this is not going to be super easy.
And then I think it didn't take long.
And I think what couples with that is the lack of food.
You start to sort of not be full of energy and bubbly and that.
So yeah, that definitely affected me a lot.
Can we go back to the day when you heard a chopper overhead,
and we saw firsthand what it's like for you
to have a panic attack?
Are you OK if we look at it again?
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
So we got that chopper flying over,
and I thought it was, like, super exciting.
And now I'm just getting mad PTSD triggers.
I don't know why.
I don't know if it's like--
like someone's hurt, or like--
fuck.
PTSD is fucking shit.
[crying quietly]
Just had a crazy panic attack.
Huge waves of emotion.
[helicopter blades whirring]
Fuck!
Jesus.
Well, that's what a fucking PTSD panic attack looks like,
if you ever want to see one.
I feel like I can't breathe.
How are you?
Pretty intense.
Yeah.
AMANDA: Do you want to give yourself a hug?
No, it's all good.
Yeah.
Can we give you a hug?
Yeah, confronting, but also very educational for me,
and then hopefully a few others.
How educational for you?
What do you mean?
Yes, I don't know how many panic attacks I've had.
But I've never sort of seen myself like that.
And so I kind of tried to dissect it a bit
and see what I could do to maybe make--
this is watching the show-- to maybe do things better
if I needed to or improve.
But yeah, I think I'm quite confident of the way I handle
it.
Being aware of what's happening and learning about it
and educating what a panic attack is.
And also a big thing is it's not just PTSD or veteran-related,
military-related.
So we're also talking about anyone that has any panic
attacks, they're all the same.
Good things have come from this, though, haven't they?
People have responded hugely to watching you go through that.
Yeah, it's been amazing.
There's been huge amounts of love
and quite a few messages of other people
that are in a similar position and struggling.
And they sort of have resonated with it and thank me for it.
You said that what you learned as well
was that you can't always face this alone--
ironic, given the title of the show--
that it's OK to reach out to people to help you.
Yeah, absolutely.
You just have to.
You can't do this by yourself.
I did it for many years.
And you know, it was only probably four years ago
that there's no way anyone would see that or film it.
And you guys are the first people
to ever see me have a panic attack.
No one's ever been there when I've had one,
except for you guys.
So yeah, get it out there.
Just be honest up front, and it's actually easier.
If you do it-- if you are feeling a bit off,
you can just tell people, rather than hide it.
And are you in an OK place now,
feeling all right mentally and strong?
Oh, I'm just day by day, just doing my thing.
Same as what you see on the show, just a little bit more
regulated.
But yeah, I'm always pretty happy.
So life's OK?
Yeah, life's played good.
AMANDA: Great.
I spent 20 years in the military,
and I learned 10 times more watching Chris
through his honesty.
Jeez, man.
Ah, I knew I'd cry.
It's hard for me not to, you know?
Well, that leaves Kate.
All right, you lot better shush.
It's Kate's turn in the camping chair over here.
Welcome to the camp chair.
Thank you for having me.
22 days.
Did you have any idea that really, you came fourth?
Did you have any sense of the big picture?
Look, I did a bit of Instagram stalking when I got out
to assess the situation, so I had it pretty good that I was
fourth. Yeah.
Well, for the first couple of days,
no one caught anything except for Jimmy.
But I don't think COVID counts.
Sorry, Jimmy.
And then day three, you caught the first eel.
And wasn't it glorious?
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, baby.
It is.
It's an eel.
I'm going to dong it.
Dong it.
Gave it about 20 dongs to make sure I'd got it.
OK, I'm going to eat the eel.
I don't actually want to eat the eel,
but this is what we're doing.
We're eating eel.
I don't want to eat the eel.
[gags]
[retches]
It's like a cat with a fur ball.
Mind over matter.
Woo!
Yee-haw.
[laughs] Living the dream.
Mm.
Golly.
Bleh.
Oh, fuck, it's disgusting.
You made a decision after that that you were only going
to eat certain kinds of food.
I guess I knew for me, the battle was going
to be the mental game over the physical.
And I knew bashing an opossum skull probably
wasn't going to do much for my spirit, so yeah.
Did you think that that might limit your ability to win?
Not really.
I think the human body can--
you can go for 60 days.
Not well, but you don't really need that much food.
There was lots of sausage, things to eat around there.
You didn't really need to be munching on wallabies and Paddy
melons.
As a botanist, did you just see it all as a giant salad
bowl?
What kind of foods did you see around you?
Yeah, there was a lot there.
It took a while to find some things.
I was hoping that it would be easier to find different plants
to eat and use.
But yeah, I really had to look hard to find them,
but I found a few.
So that was good.
What did you accomplish for yourself in that time?
So many things.
I'm not sure if you guys experienced it,
but I think as, I guess, I got more hungry,
my brain just started to do some strange things.
Like, it was screaming at me some days, you're not safe.
You're not safe.
And those thoughts, I'd have to say, hang on.
That's not actually accurate.
And I'd have to be like, I'm warm.
I'm dry.
I've got enough food.
That isn't real.
And I could silence that.
That was quite powerful.
That's a good tool to take into your everyday life.
Absolutely.
I basically made this plan to drag myself to that number
that I'd picked as 22.
And I put every ounce of my being to get to that number,
including looking at my six pairs of undies
and putting my special orange pair there.
That's day 22.
I get to wear them that day. And I--
What a treat.
--back from there.
I know, it was like the smallest thing.
And this day, I get to pack my thermals into my backpack.
And it was just very small steps each day
to drag myself to that 22.
Thank you, Kate.
Thank you.
Well, can you believe it?
We have even more exclusive unseen footage.
[vocalizing]
Hey!
All the Bible stories lead to him.
And it goes for about three times as long as that,
but I don't really remember the rest.
[laughter]
It made me think about what you all did in your downtime
because I know there were things to do during the day.
You had chores you had to do to stay alive.
But were there other bits that were just hideously boring?
How did you keep your brain active?
Yeah, I don't think I really got bored out there.
I really enjoyed the time.
I felt safe, which is great.
You lasted so long, and yet you ate nothing.
Yeah, there's a lot of sausage in there.
When I first heard you all talk about that,
I thought you was saying "sausage."
I thought, sausage soup.
How great?
Sausage rolls.
But sausage is that--
Yeah, like sawing.
AMANDA: Yeah, the grass.
The grass.
So you ate that on its own.
Did you boil it up?
No, I ate it on its own for the first 20 days.
And then I thought--
I wasn't sure if I was getting scurvy
or if my teeth were falling out.
I thought it was just too much chewing, I decided.
So I end up boiling it, and that made a lot-- and my teeth
started to feel stronger as time went by.
Now, your decision to move camp was the bravest
make-or-break moment, I think, of the season,
but it was pretty hard to watch.
Trip one, here we go.
Let's see how far we get.
Ow.
Got to repeat that trip two more times.
Oh, wow.
Have I done the right thing?
I'm exhausted.
I'm hungry.
I'm cold.
Good morning, family.
Look what we're up to.
One, two, three, four weeks.
[crying quietly]
[sobbing]
Five weeks, really, isn't it?
I miss you guys so much.
I'm doing well out here, really.
Each day, I just putter on and get through.
But I think of you guys.
You're on my heart.
I haven't cried before now, but I'm crying now.
Michael, did that break you?
Did the move break you?
It sure did, actually.
So you said it was a make-or-break situation.
It ended up being a break-or-break situation,
so I could either sit where I was and kind of starve out
over the next 10 days or so, or I give it a chance to move.
But I just couldn't.
All the energy that went into it, my body
just couldn't take the energy dropping out that quickly.
If you'd stayed in your original camp,
would you have lasted longer?
I would have lasted longer.
I think I probably could have lasted about 10 or 14 days.
But I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be enough,
that just playing a starvation game,
surely someone out there has caught at least a fish,
which I hadn't.
What have you learned about yourself during that time?
I learnt that I really don't need people,
but I do need my wife.
Well, we are here with Gina, the winner
of the very first "Alone, Australia."
Gina, what a thrill.
Thank you.
I think it was Rob said early on that the person who wins
is going to be the person that can fight nature the best.
And yet, that wasn't your game plan.
Never.
And here you were, day 67.
Yes.
You went with nature.
Yeah.
I'd go one further and say that I died,
and I dissolved into the landscape
and was regrown as a part of it.
I know that sounds kind of hippie,
but as we saw when I danced around in the moss,
I do have my hippie moments.
But I really felt like that.
It's like I then became part of everything that
was out there and no more important
than any bird or creature.
But like all of those things, there's
this interconnected web of life where everything
can get its needs met.
You went into it prepared physically.
You said you laid down a really rich layer of fat,
or what we call a Christmas lunch.
Let's have a look at your weight journey.
[groans]
[laughs]
I'm so fat I'm so fat, I can't stand up.
I have to-- I have to rock.
I have to rock.
Mind you, these boots don't help.
OK, one, two, three.
Oh, there we go.
These pants were ridiculously too small for me
when I came in at 94 kilos.
Breathe in.
That's the first.
That's when I came here.
Now, no, it's not quite like that anymore.
I was feeling my body in the night and feeling how much fat
has come off it.
I want the fat that I have to last me two more months.
It won't.
There's no way.
It's shredding off me.
Playing with my belly, going, come on, be more.
For the first time in my life, I'm
like, I need more fat on my belly, instead of, oh, no.
I've got a fat belly.
I am never going to look at fat on a human the same way again.
It's a very interesting conversation, isn't it?
Because in society, we talk about limiting our calories,
about not wanting to be fat.
And this is the different way of I need more fat.
I need to consume more calories.
It's such a refreshing conversation.
It was interesting because going in, I deliberately
put on 19 kilos.
And our society does not reflect favorably
on women who are built like a Sherman tank.
That's not the beauty ideal.
So to deliberately kind of turn that on its head
and put on weight on purpose and then be hanging on to fat, what
I got to see was how fat is survival gold.
And living with that survival mentality for that
long has completely changed the way
I look at fat on my own body.
But really, I'm just celebrating that I
can have a body that is ready for the zombie apocalypse.
You'll be the first one eaten.
It was so wonderful to see the joy with which you woke up
every day, but you shared the hard times, too.
And you know what I'm talking about in particular.
Are you OK if we look at this again?
Absolutely, yeah.
A very hard night for you, Blaise's birthday.
This fire is your candle, little chicken.
It looks like I'm having a vigil tonight for you,
my little spark.
My only cub.
When I was 38, I discovered I was pregnant.
And then four days later, I found out I had breast cancer.
I was told that I had to terminate the pregnancy,
or I'd die.
And I said no, I will not.
This wild wolf mama inside me just said, no.
And I just had this this clarity inside
of knowing what I needed to do.
Chemo babies are usually tiny.
When Blaise arrived, she was 4 and 1/2 kilos.
She was enormous.
Getting her here healthily and being in remission
taught me that I could trust that part of myself.
And then three years later, Blaise got cancer.
For any parent, the most terrifying thing to think ever
is that your child can die.
It's the biggest fear of a parent.
It's like as long as they're breathing, you're afraid.
She spent nine days in the ICU, and then she died.
[sobbing]
Little chicken, I miss you.
[sobbing]
How did people respond when that went to air?
I've had people coming up to me
and hugging me in the street.
I've had people sharing their own stories of loss.
I've had so many bereaved parents that have reached out
to say thank you.
You know, thank you for showing what that looks like.
And I think it's really healing.
I think it's really beautiful to see, much like Chris
showing what a PTSD storm looks like and then teaching us
that there is a beginning and there is an end to that,
and that a human can feel it and come all the way through.
I think that by showing what a grief storm looks
like and that there is a beginning
and that there is an end, and on the other side is gratitude,
it maybe opens the door for people to feel their own grief.
At least, I hope so.
You said also that it made you feel that after Blaise died,
that you didn't want to need anyone.
You could love them, but you don't want to need them.
But you found that you actually decided you did need people.
Yeah.
That was actually a really, really big one for me.
I have so many people in my communities.
I love so many people.
I love with such a huge heart and am loved by so many people.
I feel so blessed with the connections that I have.
And yet there's been this part that I've just held back.
It's like, I will love you.
I will love you, but I'm not going to need you because if I
need you, you might die.
And I can't do that again.
And I hadn't realized that I'd kind of like
taken this little corner of my heart
and held it for myself as a backstop
until that moment when I started inquiring.
Like, why am I OK out here on my own?
And I started pulling on the magician's scarves.
And you never know what's going to be at the bottom of the hat,
the magician's hat.
What was at the bottom of the magician's hat
was that realization.
It's like, oh.
I mean, of course.
It's like, duh.
But yeah, I've been holding myself away from needing people
as a protection from feeling that pain again.
People who watch this series know that the winner finds out
that they have won when a loved one sneaks up
behind them while you're talking to a member
of the medical team.
Your joyous expression is, as they say,
as Australian as a dingo's breakfast.
Let's have a look.
MEDIC: All right, so Gina, 67 days.
67 days.
Now that it's sunny, I'm good.
The last probably week to 10 days has been hard.
I love being here, but I have such a sense of gratitude
for my family.
And I just want to love them up.
It's more that this place is giving me--
no fucking way!
What the fuck?
Holy-- oh, my God!
You did it.
Oh!
Are you-- you're here.
Well done.
[crying]
You've won, Gina.
You've won.
Oh, my God.
I won.
I don't believe it, actually.
I--
[screams]
I'm crying again.
But of course, it's Lee, Blaise's dad.
How do you feel seeing that again?
Oh, yeah.
It brings up a lot, actually.
Part of it is, like, I was actually a bit peeved
because I wanted to get to 90 days.
And there was a part of me that was like, just leave me here.
I've got heaps of food.
I can keep going.
But there was also just the shock of having Lee there.
And you see it a little bit, but I
spent quite a bit of time doing this on his chest, going
are you-- are you real?
It was almost like he was a hologram.
I couldn't compute that he was in my world
because I was so immersed in that world
that the idea that Lee could just suddenly be there,
like a Jack in the Box.
Like, [pop] oh, there's Lee.
What?
It was anathema.
It was just this very strange experience.
And it took me a little while for
to drop into the, actually, no, he's here.
And that means I've won.
And I think over that day, it just dropped in in layers
and layers and layers.
And what are you thinking of doing with the money?
Oh, you know what?
I haven't even thought of it.
Well, we've all got great ideas for you, I'm sure.
Well, look.
"Alone" stars, let's make a toast
to Gina, the very first winner of "Alone, Australia."
Here's to Gina.
Raise up your camp cups, and Mike,
you can do a shoey for us all.
Here's to Gina.
Hurray!
[cheering]
[laughing]
Woo hoo!
Thank you all.