Australian Survivor‘s Laura Darras became the first member of the 2025 Jury, which means she’ll welcome each eliminated castaway—except the finalists—to the Jury Villa.
The Jury Villa is a beautiful Samoan property where the last 11 remaining contestants are sent after they are eliminated. It’s usually packed full of the snacks the castaways missed on the beach, has comfortable beds, and lets the evictees engage in vacation-like activities while the remaining contestants battle it out on the beach.
While the Jury Villa certainly sounds like a dream, the castaways who reside there will have one big job. They attend each of the upcoming Tribal Councils and will ultimately vote to decide the winner of Australian Survivor 2025.
In previous years of Australian Survivor, the first Jury member has set the tone for how the remaining players are received in the finale.
Laura told Chattr during a post-elimination interview that she considers herself the “queen of the Jury” and won’t take that responsibility lightly.
“As soon as I left tribal and I went into the Jury Villa, I sat down and thought, ‘Okay, what does being the queen of the Jury mean, and how am I going to influence all of the people that come after me?'” She said.
“I’m joining a group of very elite players, players that I have loved and respected for a really long time. So being the first member of the Jury was just a dream come true,” she added.
Australian Survivor 2024’s first Jury member was Aileen Chong, and her number one alliance was Feras Basal, who ended up winning the season.
“I absolutely want to have that same amount of power,” Laura said. “I think each person that comes in after me, I’m going to sit down with them, dissect what they value in the game, and see if they have any biases towards any players left in the game.”
What is Laura looking for in an Australian Survivor winner?
Laura told Chattr that when it comes to her vote, she won’t be weighing in previous biases from her time on the show.
“I want to spread the narrative of praising strategic moves, even if it hurts our feelings. I want to vote for the sole survivor who has played the best game, and I want to influence all of the jurors after me to value strategy and a great social game.
“I think it’s my responsibility to make sure that they’re they take themselves and their pride out of it, and now this is about who’s played the best game. I will absolutely be judging who played the best game, no matter how long I played with them, no matter how close I was in the game.
“If they can show me that they have played a big, loud strategic game, that’s who I’m going to vote for, no matter how close I was with them in the game.”
Who does Laura think has what it takes to win Australian Survivor 2025?
Despite the fact that AJ played a heavy hand in Laura’s elimination, she told Chattr that she could still recognise how well he was playing Survivor.
“I think that if someone can stand up and call people hostages and get away with it the way that AJ has, I think that that’s a brilliant, brilliant move,” she said.
Laura added that she thinks Myles and Zara, both of who betrayed her during her elimination vote, have a strong chance of winning the season.
“I think that Myles is ‘Jungle Ratting‘ his way along the bottom, collecting other numbers, such as Paulie, which I think is a really great move.
“I also think that Zara is playing amazingly. She’s playing loud. She’s not afraid to share her opinions. And I think that’s really respectable.”
Whoever joins Laura next in the Jury Villa, it sounds as though there won’t be any grudges held!
Stream Australian Survivor 2025 Sundays – Tuesdays on Channel 10 and 10Play.
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