MUCH has been made of the savage, physical gameplay in the BBC’s big-budget challenge show Survivor.
But host Joel Dommett says it’s the psychological warfare that makes the series finale must-see viewing.
The show climaxes tomorrow with a final tribal council, where all the axed contestants will decide which of the final five contenders will win the £100,000 prize.
Joel told me: “The jury have been sat there for however many tribal councils, just listening to it all happen.
“[After being voted out] they are not allowed to speak until the final, then they can air their grievances, say whatever they want.
“So it’s like this build-up and then they finally go mental and let it all out.
“And they really aired all their grievances — it was fascinating to watch. Brutal, savage, everything you want. Imagine all of that built-up angst and anger and frustration that they’ve got, all playing out in the final. It’s epic! If this was an episode of EastEnders, there would be a duff duff moment every other minute!”
The BBC One show saw 18 people stranded on a remote island, competing against each other in a range of physical and mental challenges.
Just five remain: Footballer Hannah, surf school owner Pegleg, singer-songwriter Christopher, hospitality worker Matthew and barista Leilani.
Now Joel has shared his thoughts on them.
He said: “Hannah has played an excellent game of keeping under the radar, which is a very difficult yet successful tactic in Survivor.
“She has given it her all and fully deserves her place in the final. Pegleg has been a huge character — he has smashed challenges and navigated the game beautifully. I believe he has got the farthest out of anyone in Survivor history with a prosthetic leg, which is an incredible accomplishment.
“Matthew is a wonderful game player. I think he was physically good in challenges and had this nice side to him where everyone thought, ‘Oh, he’s the loveliest guy’. And yet behind people’s backs, he’s very devious and played the game excellently.
“Christopher was one of my favourites to watch. He would flip from the hero to the villain every episode. There were a couple of times he was definitely on the chopping block, and he managed to survive it.
“Then Leilani was a really interesting one because she seems so naive to the game, but I asked her, ‘Do you really not know this show at all?’.
“And she went, ‘Maybe I’ve watched every single episode of it across the world, maybe I know it really well’.
“All of us behind the scenes, our jaws hit the floor. We were like, ‘Oh my God, have we all been played?’.”
Catch the final at 6pm.
NIGELLA Lawson has a great way to let off steam while preparing a festive feast in Amsterdam.
Brandishing a rolling pin to crack her ingredients into small pieces, she jokes in her hour-long Christmas special: “I’ve got my macadamias in my nut-bashing bag.
“Bash, very useful – we all need an outlet at Christmas.”
In another cheeky remark, Nigella jokes as she rolls out her nut-filled pastry: “Now we can unwrap this pastry fat patty – that’s my drag name.”
But instead of a traditional Christmas main course, Nigella will cook an Indonesian-inspired chicken biryani for her Dutch party alongside seasonal cocktails.
Nigella’s Amsterdam Christmas is on December 21 at 8pm on BBC One.
DAWN French is planning her TV comeback.
She told Andrew Marr on his LBC radio show: “There are plans afoot. I can’t tell you too much about it at the moment.
“Watch this space. At the end of next year or beginning of the following year there will be a sitcom, and I will be in it.”
LAYTON Williams’ dream of a musical episode of Bad Education came true this week – but it wasn’t quite what the Strictly finalist had hoped for.
While his co-stars Charlie Wernham, Mathew Horne and Jack Witehall all performed their routines, he largely watched.
He said of Wednesday’s festive special of the BBC sitcom: “Everybody came into their own, and I was jealous because I didn’t feel like I was doing that much singing and dancing.
“It felt like I was just standing there watching everyone else do their moves with my arms crossed while pretending to be Scrooge.
“That was hard, because the whole time I wanted to join in and get involved.”
Better to save your moves for the Strictly final, Layton.
EVEN the famed laidback Aussie lifestyle wasn’t enough for the Made In Chelsea mob to leave the drama back in London’s SW3.
The poshos spent a month Down Under in Sydney and, while there was plenty of fun in the sun, their love life and relationship dramas were never far from the surface.
Newly single Ruby Adler, who split from her model boyfriend Nicholas Sinclair in September, teased: “There’s a lot of drama to unpack so stay tuned.
“Sydney has definitely cured my broken heart. And I definitely brought some chaos to the city.”
Ruby was joined by cast regulars including Liv Bentley, Yas Zweegers, Sam Prince and Tristan Phipps, plus some hot Aussie socialites.
Made In Chelsea: Sydney airs daily at 9pm from Monday on E4.
MR TUMBLE star Justin Fletcher, Dodge the Dog and Armed Forces personnel will read bedtime stories for CBeebies this Christmas.
The Invisible String will be read on December 23 by members and veterans of the Army, Navy and RAF.
Justin and Dodge read The Hospital Dog on Xmas Eve.
