Lisa Holmes won $250,000 on Survivor NZ. Now she’s trying again on Survivor: Australia vs The World

It’s doubtful you’ll find a Kiwi more passionate about being stranded on a remote island than Lisa Holmes, who’s slick social engineering snagged her the win in the 2018 version of Survivor NZ. Now, she’s back for another shot representing the world against some fresh Aussie faces and tells Mitchell Hageman what it really takes to ‘Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast’.

Kill them with kindness and cosy up? Or stab them in the back come tribal council time? Cantabrian and ultimate Survivor fan Lisa Holmes has seen it all, both on screen and in real life.

“It’s like a big social playground,” she says of the hit reality survival show she won in 2018.

Now, she’s returned to the competition for Australia Vs The World.

Softly spoken, a gleam in her eye, and with enough knowledge of the hit show to fill a car boot, it’s clear the chance at another go around, this time in Samoa, was a no-brainer.

“I think it’s a perfect game. There’s so much depth to it. It’s sort of like the ultimate social deduction game. At its core, it’s about people relating to people in a variety of ways.”

Lisa Holmes will face off against survivors from all over the world in the latest series of the hit TV show. Photo / Nigel Wright

But the former librarian and current education adviser admits that while she became a master at social engineering during her first campaign to win the New Zealand version of the series seven years ago, the physical deprivation can break anyone at a moment’s notice.

“It’s not nice to be out in the rain and the cold, and even though the beach is very hot during the day, at night-time, it gets freezing,” she says, recalling the testing conditions of Thailand and its unpredictable climate. She could “barely walk” by the end of it.

“[And] towards the end there, you’re just so hungry that you’re not thinking. It’s like your brain’s just really starving for nutrients. I remember there was a puzzle towards the end, and I got through the physical part of the challenge, but I just couldn’t get through the puzzle. I just looked at it, and my brain was just like, no, there’s no fuel in this tank.”

Lisa Holmes (far right) says Survivor is the "ultimate social deduction game".

Winning Survivor New Zealand changed some parts of Holmes’ life. She had never really travelled abroad before landing at Khao Laem National Park to film the series, but the $250,000 prize money has allowed her to explore the world. One trip may have even given her some good prep for the task to come in Australia Vs The World.

“One super fun thing I did was a few years ago. I went to LA for some Survivor events, and that was really nice to meet up with just a bunch of people who love the game as much as me.”

She’s also made sure to put the money towards “sensible boring things” and purchased her young son a Nintendo Switch.

Although more than seven years have passed since her win, Holmes keeps in contact with some of the 2018 contestants, proving the collegial nature of the game despite its often-brutal reputation.

“It’s such a unique experience to go through, and you really do get close to people and care about them,” she says.

"The World" contestants in Survivor: Australia Vs The World, including 2018 Kiwi winner Lisa Holmes (third left).

People across the motu still comment about her time on the show, which took some time to get used to.

“Obviously, it’s nice to have people say to you, ‘Oh, that was cool. If I were going to do that, I would do it the same way. I think what you did was sensible’,” she says.

“But as a counter to that, you also get people saying, ‘Oh, you were useless, you shouldn’t have won’.”

Opinions aside, it’s probably not a stretch to say not many Kiwis would choose to spend days on an island with few creature comforts, people they have to learn to love - or eventually hate - all while tempers boil and tensions flare.

Holmes believes the people who excel on a show like Survivor are those with different strengths - and who don’t have malevolent intentions.

“I think if you have too many inner demons, you shouldn’t play Survivor, because there aren’t many places to hide there,” she says.

“If you had tendencies to not be a good person or to want to treat other people badly, then I think this environment would be a really bad one for you to jump into.”

And if that hasn’t put you off, her advice for those wanting to give it a go is simple: get your ducks in a row internally first.

“Be really firm with your tūrangawaewae and know what you are, and what makes you tick.”

You can catch Lisa on Survivor: Australia Vs The World, which premieres on Thursday, August 21 on TVNZ+ and TVNZ 2.

Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald’s entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke’s Bay Today.