WARNING: Survivor spoilers below.<\/p>\n
Victorian truck driver Caleb Beeby has been crowned the winner of Australian Survivor: Redemption, beating out 23 other contestants to take home the show\u2019s $500,000 prize. <\/p>\n
Beeby, 28, had lasted 45 days in Samoa, emerging victorious over 24-year-old Sydneysider Jackson Goonrey in the final tribal council as both parties pleaded their cases to their fellow contestants.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing crowned sole Survivor is not just a title, it\u2019s an identity, and I\u2019ll be sitting here waiting \u2026. keeping the crown warm until the next person can come and take it off my head,\u201d Beeby said after his win.<\/p>\n
MORE: Top Aus suburbs for reality TV filming revealed<\/a><\/p>\n The show\u2019s next winner might hold the title for a while. TV Blackbox<\/a> recently reported that Ten had quietly scrapped plans to film another two seasons of the reality show back-to-back later this year, and will instead film just one instead – with this current season\u2019s \u201cperformance and audience reception understood to be key factors\u201d.<\/p>\n This was the first season of Australian Survivor to air since the dramatic ousting of popular host Jonathan LaPaglia, who made no secret of his disappointment to be losing the high-profile TV job he\u2019d held since 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t get a direct call, which, I\u2019ll be honest with you, was disappointing,\u201d LaPaglia later told Stellar<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter 10 years of helming their flagship show, it would have been nice to get a direct call from the people at the top, but I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n He was replaced by former Australian Survivor winner and three-time player David Genat, a decision that proved controversial before the season even began – and sparked further debate once Redemption premiered and Genat copped the inevitable comparisons to his predecessor. <\/p>\n It\u2019s undoubtedly been a softer season ratings-wise for Australian Survivor, with the show regularly ranking outside the top 20 in the overnight ratings, occasionally dropped as low as 24th and never making it above 14th in the overnight rankings. <\/p>\n Still, fans who were watching were pleased with last night\u2019s result. <\/p>\n \u201cCaleb won because he played a better game than Jackson. He is real and authentic. He expressed his pitch the best he could,\u201d one fan wrote under the Instagram post<\/a> announcing Caleb\u2019s win.<\/p>\n \u201cThe more I learnt about Caleb, the more his story resonated with me. Couldn\u2019t be happier about the win,\u201d said another viewer. <\/p>\n Host David Genat dropped some information about the next season of Australian Survivor during last night\u2019s finale, announcing that the next season will be filmed in Malaysia and will feature a \u201cworld-first theme never seen before\u201d.<\/p>\n