Who is Luke Toki? An ode to the best Australian Survivor contestant, ever.

Guys, we need to have a chat about Survivor’s Luke Toki.

Yes, he’s just been evicted, but we’re calling it. Luke was the best Australian Survivor contestant, ever.

We first met the FIFO mining technician from Western Australia two years ago when he made a name for himself as the ‘King of the Jungle’ on the 2017 season of Survivor.

After finishing seventh that year, Luke came back on the show in 2019 and found himself with a one-in-four shot of taking home the reality TV crown before sadly being sent home.

Aside from his cheeky nature and hilarious commentary on the show, what made Luke such a formidable and loveable character on Survivor was his story.

Last week, the 33-year-old touched on the reason he returned to the franchise for a second crack at the title of Sole Survivor. His family.

You can watch our interview with Luke Toki below. Post continues after video.

"I'm definitely here to win it for my family. I've sacrificed a lot to be out here this time... my daughter was six weeks old [when I left for Fiji]," he said.

"She's been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, so it was worst-case scenario for me, leaving. I'm definitely here for the money because obviously, the money will help my family – every move I make in this game is super critical."

Luke also spoke of his family in previous episodes and what the $500,000 prize money would mean to them.

Mamamia’s daily entertainment news podcast The Spill chat to Luke Toki about his time on Australian Survivor.

''Being a father to me means everything. I haven't succeeded in sport or whatever but my boys, daughter and wife, that's obviously what I treasure the most. If I win $500,000 it would be life-changing for my family. It'll give my kids a future that I want to give them so that's why I'm doing it."

In March, 2019, Luke and his wife Mary Toki welcomed their third child, Madeline Snow Toki.

Madeline was born with intestinal atresia and after three weeks spent in a neonatal intensive care unit, the family learnt she had been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Luke Toki (@luketoki) on Apr 1, 2019 at 5:11am PDT

 

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Guess who decided they wanted to come home ?? ???? I guess I owe you your pocket money ???? #baby got #hustle

A post shared by Luke Toki (@luketoki) on Apr 4, 2019 at 3:56am PDT

"Our gorgeous little baby is not coming home the perfectly healthy baby we imagined we would have. After in-depth genetic testing, two rare genes were found which unfortunately led to the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis," Luke posted on Instagram in April.

"Life will now consist of a highly rigid regime of medications, physiotherapy and specialist appointments for the rest of her life as we try to keep her as healthy as possible and avoid hospital admissions. We will try to keep life as normal as possible for her and with medical advances these days she has a promising future ahead."

Luke and Mary are also parents to two sons. Their eldest son, Lennox, was diagnosed with autism at the age of three, and their middle child, Nate, was diagnosed with a condition called Global Developmental Delay (GDD).

In a 2017 interview with Kidspot, Luke said he didn't really know what autism was before his son's diagnosis.

"Obviously when it’s your first child you’re new to the parenting game, but [Lennox] just didn’t talk, he didn’t bond to anything, his speech wasn’t lacking it just wasn’t there, he wasn’t speaking at all. I tried to not ignore it, but not rush on it, everyone does things in different stages, and then when he turned three I was like no I really need to get this looked at and try and find out why he’s not talking," Luke told the publication.

"[The diagnosis] was a bit of a shock because I didn’t even know what autism was. It’s like being special, it’s like a superpower. He’s [Lennox] extremely smart in different areas, yeah he doesn’t speak much but I think that will come with age. I don’t know how to explain it but I wouldn’t want them to be any other way."

 

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Happy fathers day to all the dads and parents holding down the fort ????also thanks to @tarocash for the sneaky lil present and @makeawishaust ❤ The king of the jungle is feeling grateful ???????????? @marytoki84 you have blessed me with three perfect kids ????

A post shared by Luke Toki (@luketoki) on Aug 31, 2019 at 9:00pm PDT

Luke and his family use his reality TV profile to raise awareness for 4 ASD kids Charity, a non-profit assisting families in need affected by Autism through funding therapy and therapy related resources.

With that kind of back story, we can understand why none of Luke's Survivor competitors wanted to be sitting next to him at the end.

He'd win every time.

Are you watching Survivor? Who do you think will win Australian Survivor? Tell us in the comments!