Sam Webb and Felicity 'Flick' Egginton during a challenge. Credit:Nigel Wright/Ten "I think if there is one mistake that they made, it was making the show in the country of the cast – Australia. "Making it in [Whalers Way, SA] probably didn't capture the imagination of the Australian audience. It is very important that you take contestants where they are a fish out of water. Where they don't know what is poisonous and what is going to bite them and what isn't. "If you are a fan of the US series, there are huge expectations on the production values of this show. We have done absolutely everything we can to ensure that we can meet people's expectations." Ten opted for a safe bet in Upolu, Samoa's main island, where the US filmed four seasons in 2009 and 2011.

Sam Webb, who would not look out of place as next year's The Bachelor and Brooke Jowett, who prefers to be known as "charming" rather than "flirty". Credit:Nigel Wright A humble place, mostly undeveloped and devoid of mega-resorts and flashy attractions but offering a stunning green backdrop with baby-blue waters, crystal waterfalls and without any dangerous animals or insects, it was the perfect location for castaways. "With making Survivor there is an expectation that you are in the ultimate paradise and Samoa delivers that," Tate says. Survivor castaway Brooke Jowett in Samoa. Credit:Nigel Wright/Ten Despite the Americans setting up many filming locations, building dirt roads and clearing some trees, Tate admits "making Survivor is a degree of difficulty beyond most of the shows we make".

"The fact that we were doing it in Samoa, where we couldn't use huge trucks to get gear in and out, meant everything had to be carried in by hand. We had to be very respectful of the environment." El Rowland, an army corporal, is one of the fittest contestants. Credit:Nigel Wright/Ten The main differences with the Australian version is that there are 55 days instead of 39; Jonathan LaPaglia replaces Jeff Probst as host and, as Tate puts it, "it's populated with 24 Aussies". On set, the castaways behave cordially towards one another, despite prize-money of $500,000 up for grabs. Kylie Evans exudes strength in body and mind. Credit:Nigel Wright/Ten

Expectations of backstabbing, bitching and blindsiding were not outwardly met and instead the castaways encouraged one another on and, at one point, one even stood down from a challenge to let the other win. Hoping to assure fans of Survivor sociology, Tate says: "I can confirm that the Australians can be just as cut-throat but they can do it with a smile and a clap on the back." The main difference between the Australian and US version of Survivor is that it is "populated with 24 Aussies". Credit:Nigel Wright A record 15,000 applied for the show. To whittle that number down to 24, there were a number of characteristics sought, primarily physical fitness. Enter Kylie Evans, a 38-year-old mother of three children under the age of six from Melbourne, who exudes strength in body and mind.

A normal day sees the former personal trainer wake at 5am to teach an aerobics class, go straight to the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade, where she works as lead firefighter, and then back home to put the kids to bed. "I love challenges," she says. "I throw myself into a male-dominated workplace or I always strive to achieve." Perth's Kate Campbell, 28, who overcame life-threatening injuries after a boat accident to become a triathlete; Lee Carseldine, 40, a former Queensland first-class cricketer; and El Rowland, 33, an army corporal, are among the fittest contestants. "Obviously physical fitness is important but we need so many more facets to a cast to deliver the diversity and the competition that the show needs," Tate says. Like the slogan suggests – "outwit, outlast, outplay" – the social game is arguably the most critical in Survivor where you must make and break alliances, in a way the tribe still likes you enough to vote you the sole survivor.

This is where magician and mentalist Matt Tarrant, 29, and Survivor superfans Nick Iadanza, 28, and Evan Jones, 30, come in. Beauty is also an imperative facet to round out the cast – cue Sam Webb, 28, and Brooke Jowett, 23. Webb, the CEO of suicide prevention organisation LIVIN, who wouldn't look out of place as next year's The Bachelor, doesn't mind being lumped with the "sex symbol" title. Having never watched an episode – save for 30 minutes of Seven's Celebrity Survivor, which he describes as "absolutely ridiculous" – he uses his charm as a strategic move. Jowett, from Melbourne, plays the flirty game. "I like to use the word 'charming'," she says. "I always get on with guys better than girls and I can always get guys on my side, but I knew I would have to put a lot more into the girls. I often struggle with girls." There's a mixed bag with the cast, someone for everyone, which Tate believes is the show's main selling point, and even though one walks, he has no regrets with the final 24.