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Meet Mel and Michelle, Australian Survivor’s Identical Twins
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If you’re like us, you’re totally hooked on Australian Survivor: Blood Vs. Water, but recently, you’ve maybe noticed that there are a couple of contestants getting left behind in terms of airtime.
As the season has progressed and we inch closer and closer to merge, it’s become a talking point on social media that identical twins, Mel and Michelle Chiang, have received barely any time onscreen.
ELEVEN. Eleven episodes without a single confessional from Mel.#SurvivorAU: get your shit together.
— Austin Smith (@AustinFSmith8) February 21, 2022
Hey #SurvivorAU editors! Give Mel and Michelle screen time and confessionals, you cowards! pic.twitter.com/wrc0SolgXp
— Steven Vo 🏳️🌈🇦🇺🇻🇳 (@StevenVo2168) February 21, 2022
https://twitter.com/avriIgirlfriend/status/1495792099056312325
Everyone relentlessly targeting Mel and or Michelle #SurvivorAU
— Lachlans Land (@lachlanhaswell) February 20, 2022
Mel and or Michelle: pic.twitter.com/t0CBJWhtNs
To date, Michelle has only had one confessional, while Mel has had none thus far.
Mel has now broken a record no one wants, at least 10 episodes with no introductory confessional #SurvivorAU
— Shannon Guss (Gaitz) (@ShannonGaitz) February 20, 2022
The way Mel has no voice in this episode/season is really horrible given how much she is the subject of discussion here.
— Slaying the Dragon-A Survivor Podcast (@slaydragonpod) February 15, 2022
How can we the audience form any fair opinions about someone when our only picture of them is painted with 2nd hand information.#SurvivorAU
We want to know everything about all the players of the season, so today, let’s actually get to know Mel and Michelle, who are 33.
Let’s start with Mel, because it’s alphabetical order, and she’s the Survivor superfan of the duo.
Mel’s a chiropractor who lives in Melbourne, and according to her 10 Play profile, she “wears her heart on her sleeve”.
Mel also says that she’s “a keen strategist and loves the psychology behind the game”, which honestly just makes us want to hear from her more!
In her intro video, Mel describes herself as “a little ditzy” and says that she’s “forever laughing”. She also loves puns, as per this IG caption:
“I am a humongous fan of Survivor,” she says in her intro, “I’ve been watching for the last 20 years. I think I’m gonna be coming in as a superfan! I don’t know!”
Describing her twin sister Michelle as “the thunderstorm to my sunshine”, Mel describes Michelle as her “literal other half” but says that they “could not be more different”.
“A hundred percent, at the right time, I will take my sister out of the game,” she says, explaining “I never want to hear her say that she beat me at my favourite game. EVER!” she laughs.
Mel says that the one word that describes her strategy is “misconception”.
“I am quite positive, and I am quite sunshine and lollipops and rainbows,” she explains, “but I can be really, really nice to you to your face and also show you the door on the way out.”
Wanting to be remembered as “a girl who took risks at the right time and smiling all through it”, Mel says that she’s “probably the happiest Survivor player”.
Now let’s get to know Michelle, a speech pathologist who lives in Sydney.
Michelle’s basically out to beat Mel at her favourite game in the world. In her 10 Play profile, Michelle describes their relationship as “competitive”.
In fact, Michelle’s biggest fear in the game is “getting eliminated before [her] sister”.
“My dream is to beat her at her favourite game, and I would feel like I had not succeeded in my quest if I didn’t get to do that,” she says.
In her intro video, Michelle says that she believes her career as a speech pathologist will help her in the game, as she’s very adept at reading nonverbal cues and communication.
She also says that if she and Mel are to find themselves on the same tribe at some point, it’s “guaranteed we will butt heads”.
“We’re complete opposites,” she explains. “I am a realist, she is an optimist. She’ll play a more social game, and I’ll play a more strategic game.”
Michelle says her strategy is to “read people, and read people right, strike when the time is right,” and that she wants to get Mel out on her own terms, not the terms of other people.
“On the surface, I want to help my sister in her dream of being on Survivor,” she shares, “but the underlying reason would be that I actually just want to beat her in the game she loves the most.
“It will be euphoric,” she continues. “It will just be the biggest trump of everything that I could ever do.”
Will Michelle be able to take out her own twin? Only time will tell, and hopefully, at some point, both Mel and Michelle will get some screentime to make their mark on Australian Survivor: Blood Vs Water.
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.
