reality tv

'I'm more African-American than you are.' Why everyone's talking about Australian Survivor's Rogue.

Australian Survivor's Rogue has gone, well, ROGUE. 

Last night, while the majority of reality TV afficionados were understandably watching the craziness that is Married At First Sight, the rest of us were glued to our screens as the GREATEST REALITY SHOW ON TELEVISION returned for another season.

Yes, Survivor is the best, bar none. No other reality TV show beats it. That might be a contentious statement, but it's nothing compared to what Survivor contestant Rogue Rubin uttered to a fellow player mere minutes into the show.

Watch the trailer for Australian Survivor: Heroes V Villains. Story continues below.


Video via Network 10.

But FIRST! Just who the hell is Rogue Rubin, right? I had never heard of her, and chances are neither have you.

Who is Australian Survivor's Rogue Rubin?

"Hey, I'm Rogue! I am from Africa, New Zealand, Australia, America, you name it," Rogue introduced herself to her fellow Survivor cast mates. "I'm a director/writer."

According to her bio, Rogue was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Her mum is Zimbabwean and her dad is South African. As she made very clear on the show, she has lived and worked in several countries.

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Rogue has been in the film industry for over 20 years and is a passionate advocate for animal conservation. She spent six years working undercover in Africa filming a documentary about poachers and trophy hunters titled Lion Spy: The Hunt for Justice.

She believes she is "perfect" to play Survivor because she finds people fascinating. "I know that the heart of everything comes down to the person, their reasons, their motivations, and their tiny nuances of how they speak, look, react. It's always a lot more about listening than it is about talking."

Which is funny, because Rogue does a WHOLE LOT of talking in episode one.

Rogue Rubin. Image: Ten.

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What did Rogue say?

Even though Rogue is on the Heroes side of Heroes V Villains, she has said some pretty villainous things thus far. This makes her the best kind of contestant and I can already tell I'm going to love watching her.

One of the first eyebrow-raising things she said was to Gerry, the old newbie (meaning he is an old man who is a newbie on the show rather than a returning player). 

"I'm excited you're here, Gerry. I think you're going to be a friggin' hoot. And I think you're probably going to take on some of those big boys and I'm excited to friggin' see it," she said. So far, so nothing.

"Well, you only live once," old man Gerry said. "I'm closer to death than the rest of yous so I'll give it a go."

"No, no. Actually, totally disagree with you, since I almost died three times in my life so far. I bet I'm a way lot closer than you. I got bit by a lion on my ass, beat that," she boasted.

"Beat that!" she continued, cackling. 

Then, after chopping away at a tree with a large knife, she said to Shaun (as in Hampson, as in ex-AFL player and Megan Gale's partner), "Hey, were you circumcised?" She brandished the knife at him. "I can help you out right now, obviously."

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And thus, having ruffled a few feathers, she went on to ruffle a few more.

"Where in the US are you from?" Rogue asked Survivor royalty, Nina Twine, daughter of two-time US Survivor winner, Sandra Diaz.

"North Carolina," Nina replied. "On the east coast, so ALL the way on the other side."

"Because I live there half the time, I don't need you to explain it like I'm an idiot," Rogue said. "But thank you. Gotcha. Gotcha."

"Oh," Nina said, looking perturbed.

"I work in the US all the time," Rogue continued. "I'm more African-American than you are, you need to understand that. Because I'm from Africa."

Yes. She actually said that. To Nina, one of the very few people of colour on this show. 

Here are screenshots in case you need to see it to believe it.

"Do you understand the words coming out of my mouth?"

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Please stop talking.

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To her credit, Nina just pursed her lips and said, "Hmmm". Sometimes you just have to STEP AWAY from the crazy.

What else did she say?

In her confessional, Rogue was asked what her first impressions of her tribe mates were. 

"Reality is, I know we're on the heroes team, but that doesn't mean some people aren't 50 shades of grey," she said. "And yeah, they're here to win... although technically I think I might be the ONLY hero here, I've decided... I'm taking that whole sentence back. But it's true." 

Well, well, well. It looks like perhaps there's a bit of a villain in one our heroes, aye?

Since the episode aired last night, Rogue has seemingly removed any reference to Australian Survivor from her Instagram account and disabled comments.

It's going to be a GREAT season.

Australian Survivor continues tonight at 7.30pm on 10 and 10Play.

Feature image: Network 10.

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