Australian Survivor Winner Feras Basal Explains Why Praying On TV Was His “Biggest Achievement”

After 46 days on the beaches of Samoa, Feras Basal has finally been crowned the winner of Australian Survivor: Titans V Rebels. Playing a large part in why this season is now widely considered the best Australian Survivor season in the franchise, Basal's innovative gameplay, staunch loyalty, and larrikin nature has captured viewers across the nation (and even across the pond!).

The first Arab Muslim to go on the show, Basal's crowning as Sole Survivor is groundbreaking. "To be the first Arab Muslim to even go on Survivor, let alone win is extremely humbling for me," Basal tells Refinery29 Australia in an exclusive interview. "It was the most important thing to me. More important than winning, believe it or not."

"I wanted to show Australia and everyone internationally that an Arab man can go on TV," Basal continues. "He can represent himself in the best way. He can be funny. He can make you cry. He can be one of the most loyal players."

Rarely do we see Arab Muslim representation on screen, especially in the reality television world. But this season, we saw Basal pray on-screen — a moment that touched many people, including himself. "Seeing myself pray on TV, that is the biggest achievement I could have done," Basal says. "So many people don't know much about my religion — they just see the negatives about it unfortunately. They don't get to see the positives behind it. They don't get to see how beautiful this religion is. And I try to showcase that as much as possible."

"To show that I can represent my faith and my culture in the best way possible meant a lot to me," he says. "That was such an achievement for me, honestly, even more than winning."

Basal explains that existing on the Samoan beaches as a Muslim man was far more difficult than the show made it seem. He tells me that during rewards, there was a lot of food and drink he couldn't consume as it went against his religion. "At the auction, as much as I wanted pizza, I couldn't bid for the pepperoni pizza," he laughs. "During the Mexican feast, there was a massive margarita jug that I couldn't have."

He also tells me that part of the reason why he became so close to his ride-or-die Raymond Chaney was because he became his sleeping buddy out of neccessity. "That's funnily enough how I got really close to Ray," he explains. "Because on one of the first days I told Ray, I said, I'm sorry, can you sleep next to me? I don't want to be sleeping next to somebody from the opposite gender out of respect and also for my religion."

"There were definitely so many limitations when it came to the game and my religion and it was such a conflicting thing," he continues. "I didn't want to be seen as one way in front of everyone saying, Oh, he's, you know, not playing the game right? Or he's not being a good sportsman because he's not hugging a bunch of women all the time. So it was a massive challenge for me, but the cast definitely respected that side of myself, and I couldn't be more grateful."

But one of his biggest relationships in the game came through his friend and rival, Kirby Bentley. While the two had a tumultuous, somewhat confusing, almost sibling-like relationship, Basal ultimately says that he and Bentley bonded over their shared life experiences and acting as representatives of their culture. "It was actually one of the first conversations I had with Kirby — her being an Aboriginal woman and me being an Arab man," Basal explains. "We bonded so much over our life experiences. Very, very similar upbringing compared to a lot of the people that were on the show and we really resonated with that. I think that really, really helped our bond, regardless of the game. Like, we were so close."

"We thought it would be so cool that two people who are a part of minority groups could be some of the biggest players in the game and some of the most strategic players in the game," Basal explains. "She learned about my religion and my culture, and I learned about her culture as well."

The winner from Western Sydney has also drawn comparisons to the ubiquitous George Mladenov, the King of Bankstown. Basal says these comparisons aren't new by any means, but says that while their gameplay is incredibly different, they had similar backgrounds. "We both come from a very similar background in Western Sydney," Basal says. "We're just both average guys wanting to prove something to Australia."

As for how Basal will be celebrating now that he's won $500,000 and the title of Sole Survivor? "I'll probably be sleeping for four days," he laughs, adding that he'll likely be spending it very low-key with his family. "I'd love to say that I'm going to be partying hard, but I think I just need to stay true to myself and my family and have something more intimate."

When it comes to how he's spending the $500,000 cheque, Basal tells me that he wishes he had a juicier answer to give us. "Being in Sydney and the recession and having chips be $8, I have to be responsible with the money," he says. "I am definitely going to build myself up for the future. Might go on a little holiday, just to splurge a bit. But all in all, I want to hopefully buy my first property, give back to the community, hopefully start a side hustle... it's going to be investing for my future."