Bali Bombings survivor Phil said an emotional goodbye to The Summit last night, being sent home by last year’s return trekker, Sam. The team shook their heads in disbelief as Phil revealed he was “absolutely surprised” and “gutted” with the decision.
Phil’s emotional goodbye raked in an impressive total TV national reach of 1,508,000. Phil revealed in his post-elimination interview that he did not forsee his exit at all. “I was targeted because I was a threat – I guess Sam thought I was a big threat for him and he chose to take me off the mountain”.
Earlier in the episode, Phil had opened up about how he and his 19 friends were in Bali when the attacks left him presumed dead for 12 hours. He regaled how his front teeth were blown out as the explosion left him covered in shrapnel wounds, with burns to 60 per cent of his body.
“I can only explain it to be like… an extreme fireball that just blows you off the floor,” he told the rest of the trekkers. “I was curled up in a fetal position, about to give up. This is a choice – are you going to lay down, Phil, or are you going to get up?”
It was a huge night overall for the Nine Network, with four shows appearing in the top six spots. Nine News appeared in the second spot with a total TV national reach of 2,047,000. A Current Affair and Tipping Point fell not far behind with a total TV national reach of 1,518,000 and 1,472,000, respectively.
Over on Seven it was MasterChef that did the numbers as the cooks had to use at least one of six Asian sauces to deliver a showstopping dish, with the bottom four headed for tonight’s pressure test.
