The Five Most Likely Winners Of ‘Alone Australia’, Ranked From The Comfort Of My Couch

SBS’s Alone Australia is set to make its debut down under this year, with 10 contestants poised to tackle the rugged Tasmanian wilderness for the chance to win $250,000.

The Australian contestants were announced just yesterday. Since then, I’ve been pouring over the list in full in the hopes of gleaning a potential winner from the pack — setting aside the fact that my media background and homebody tendencies mean I have exactly zero expertise on the subject.

But similar to the armchair athletes mercilessly judging the Physical: 100 contestants, I’m unfazed. Here are my absolutely unwarranted suggestions on who to back in the first season of Alone Australia.

5. Jimmy Could Harness The Power Of Youth To Clutch A Win

Your early twenties come with a supernatural power to foster obscure hobbies and weird skills with alarming speed, like learning the guitar or cultivating kombucha. So while others might question the prowess of Alone Australia‘s youngest contestant Jimmy, I see a diamond in the rough. As demonstrated in his short promotional trailer, the young South Australian has already mastered the art of bushcraft — weaving a wicker basket that could probably sell for thousands at a Nest emporium near you. This coupled with his pluck developed after volunteering with the RFS makes him one to watch.

4. Humble First Nations Leader Rob Is One To Watch

Sure, bragging is key component of every reality tv show, but all good Alone aficionados know that contestants usually eat their words eventually (CC: Survival expert Jim Shields with his unique “positive mental attitude” technique who quit after two days). For First Nations contestant Rob, his humility may be his secret weapon. Despite never describing himself as a survival expert, he’s worked with Indigenous communities in Australia for 20 years teaching conservation land management and lectured at universities around the world on Indigenous knowledge systems. As the old saying goes: humble goes hard.

3. Duane Could Show Us That Fun Always Wins

If my binge watching of Alone over the COVID pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that you can’t live for very long without fun. Enter Duane, Alone Australia‘s equillivent of a Finska set on a camping trip. Another First Nations contestant, the 35-year-old brings a professional familiarity to country gained from working as a Wildlife and Environmental Officer in New South Wales. But during his short intro trailer, he also looks like the contestant who enjoys himself the most, attempting an ad hoc rail grind on a wooden log sans skateboard with a wide grin. A keen surfer, he’ll earn his place in the Alone hall of fame if he can MacGyver a Huon pine longboard in his time on the show.

2. Kate’s Not Eating Animals To Better Savour Victory

Kate’s bold mission statement to not harm any wild animals on a survival show that revolves around the wanton murder of fauna for survival is endearing, though many will likely wonder how she’ll net the calories needed to survive the winter. But seeing as Kate has already survived another harrowing survival experience by completing a PHD over five years, how bad can a vegetarian sojourn in Tassie really be?

1. First Nations LGBTQI+ Teacher Beck Looks Hard As Nails

“My goal is to be the first woman, First Nations grandmother, to win this” Beck calmly states in her introduction. A secondary school science teacher, Beck is the matriarch of her family with survival skills honed from a lifetime spent fishing and camping outdoors. But seeing Beck in action across her brief introduction trailer, it’s obvious she’s got that survival je ne sais quoi. She’ll win it, trust me.

Alone Australia premieres on Wednesday 29 March via SBS On Demand.