Periods, Poops and More: Here’s How the Australian Survivors Deal With Their Personal Hygiene

If you’ve ever been watching Australian Survivor: Blood Vs Water and wondered something like ‘where do these people go to the toilet?’ or ‘what happens if you get your period?’, you’re not alone!

We want to know absolutely everything there is to know about what goes down offscreen when it comes to the actual survival side of Australian Survivor, so we’ve done some digging.

Here’s everything you need to know about how the Castaways deal with the toilet situation, the period situation, body odour and dental hygiene.

The Toilet Situation

Chatting with the So Dramatic podcast, Abbey Holmes, who played on Australian Survivor: Champions Vs Contenders 2, as well as Australian Survivor: All Stars, revealed that they did actually have one toilet, to be shared by the entire cast.

“It’s just the one drop, just one,” she shared, adding that although there was a toilet, the cast would still find themselves going wherever.

“Pia [Miranda], Janine [Allis] and I, we would just do squatty potties everywhere.

“The amount of times I saw their bum bum… it was just hilarious.”

Australian Survivor season one contestant Sam Webb offered a little more detail about the toilet, revealing that it’s less a portaloo like something you’d see at a music festival, and more like “a drop hole“: a toilet seat and a 10-metre long drop.

He also revealed that the castaways have access to toilet paper, sunscreen and hand sanitiser.

@kelleywentworth_

Reply to @jebbiesans it’s a real 💩 situation #survivortiktok #cbssurvivor

♬ original sound – Kelley Wentworth

Interestingly, it seems that Australian Survivor provides its castaways with a little more in the way of amenities than US Survivor does. Former contestant Kelley Wentworth revealed that US contestants either have to “poop in the ocean” or “dig a hole, find a leaf, and wipe your bum”.

The Period Situation

Chatting to Refinery29, Australian Survivor: Brains Vs Brawn contestant Shannon Lawson called it “a real challenge” to deal with periods when you have “no access to showers/flushing toilets”.

“Should we elect to use the pill on the show to help manage or stop our periods, we are absolutely allowed to have them in our medical bag,” she explained, adding that it’s “your responsibility” to make sure you bring enough and don’t lose them.

Just because there is a toilet, doesn’t mean it’s always convenient to use, either.

Shannon explained that if you need to change your tampon or pad “between challenges… it would become a challenge if access to the drop hole was out of sight and you would need to go behind a tree.”

Season one winner Kristie Bennett published a post on Medium last year, in which she explained that the conditions of Australian Survivor can affect when your period actually comes, as well.

“About a week in, your body realises WAY less food is coming its way,” she wrote. “It starts preparation for shutdown. You feel your body evaluating essential and non-essential survival organs.”

Here’s how they deal with it on US Survivor:

@kelleywentworth_

Ladies, this one is for you 🔴 #cbssurvivor #survivortiktok #realitytv

♬ original sound – Kelley Wentworth

@kelleywentworth_

Y’all had lots of questions about this… 🔴 #survivortiktok #realitytv

♬ original sound – Kelley Wentworth

The teeth situation

Speaking to POPSUGAR Australia, Abbey Holmes said that not having a toothbrush was “one of [her] main concerns going in”.

“I was like ‘no, surely, surely they’ll have a toothbrush!’ and my partner was like ‘Honey, honey, I don’t think that you will, so just be prepared for that mentally!'” she laughed. “But in saying that, I didn’t absolutely hate it too much, because you’re not eating the sugar and processed foods and preservatives that you would be back home in Australia, so you don’t really feel as much as you would if you didn’t brush your teeth for an extended period of time here. It was actually quite bearable, as gross as it sounds!”

@kelleywentworth_

Reply to @jennylynnroth usually sticks and ash from the fire get us through #survivortiktok #cbssurvivor

♬ original sound – Kelley Wentworth

Meanwhile, Australian Survivor: Brains Vs Brawn winner Hayley Leake told Who that they were given “no toothbrush. No toothpaste.”

Rather, Hayley said that her dentist “recommended using a soft piece of cloth to wipe [her] teeth, rather than scratching the enamel off with a stick”, which she said, “seemed to work”.

She also echoed Abbey’s sentiment about the impact of the Survivor diet on your dental hygiene, saying: “we were only eating rice and lentils so we didn’t build-up as much plaque as you would from other foods.”

The body odour situation:

Speaking to POPSUGAR Australia, Australian Survivor: All Stars winner David Genat described the hygiene issue as “really interesting” to deal with.

“I’m like, obsessively clean… Like I’m OBSESSIVELY clean, because I’m having people like touch my face all the time or like, put makeup on me — I hate having dirty skin and dirty hair, so it took a while for me to get over that mental hump!” he revealed.

“Unfortunately the campfire seems to be the eau de toilette of the camp,” he laughed. “That nice campfire scent just descends over everyone so you don’t have to worry about too much body odour. But it’s definitely pretty… pretty interesting, at the beginning there.”

So there you have it. That’s how the Castaways deal with their hygiene while on Australian Survivor.

Australian Survivor airs at 7.30pm, Sundays and Mondays, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand.

Want more Australian Survivor? Read all of our stories here.