Ever since her original season, Titans V Rebels, Kirby has been open and honest about barely watching Survivor. Despite emerging as a fan favourite and a strategic beast of the game, Kirby bashfully plays down her impact on the game.

When she received the call to come and play Survivor: Australia V The World, Kirby said she was shocked to even have made the cut. "I'm pretty sure I said, 'Are you sure? Me?' Of course I was going to say yes, [but] there's so much to learn in this game, so I was like, am I ready?" she said.

"That's why I walked in with the persona of 'the princess', I wanted people to think she's still learning," Kirby added.

Arriving on the beach, there was an immediate difference to her original season. "It was absolutely far more intense," she said, "auras were big, energies were big, the characters were huge.

"Obviously, I hadn't watched any of their seasons," Kirby laughed, "but they're professionals, which means I was already like, I don't trust any of yas. You could be telling me the biggest truth or the biggest lie, and I'll still question you."

Early on in the game, Kirby set her sights on taking out big targets and forming a close 'ride or die' alliance with Sarah, similar to her close relationship with Rianna in Titans V Rebels. But after Kirby orchestrated a blindside on David -- their trust fractured almost immediately.

Kirby explained that she had one-on-one chats with most of the people on the Aussie tribe and was building relationships with the likes of Shonee, Luke, and Janine. "But when Sarah said 'ride or die', in my head I think of Ri, and Ri's version of ride or die is the pinnacle. I'm comparing you to that," she added.

"Janine had said to be careful of Sarah... she gave me a heads-up and said Sarah was floating my name. I was like, well, this can't be good. Who is she floating my name to, and what else is she saying?"

Making it to merge, Kirby and Sarah found themselves vying for the trust of major players like Cirie and especially Parvati. While the other Aussies begged to stay 'Aussie strong' and target the World tribe in the first post-merge vote, Kirby wanted to swing against Sarah after hearing her name was being thrown out to the new merged tribe, as well as being a sign to Parvati that she was willing to work with her until the end.

"Nobody else wanted them around. They wanted a temporary vote together and then to get rid of them," Kirby explained. "I wanted to go to the end with them, it was something I was adamant about, and I wanted to see what was possible because I think Parv and I are similar in the sense of the way we think."

But after blindsiding Sarah, there were too many questions about whether Kirby could actually be trusted. Seeing Parvati and Kirby getting closer, Janine and Cirie wanted to fracture that power duo and began to plant seeds of doubt in Parvati's mind.

Ahead of tribal council, Kirby said she could feel a shift within the tribe. "Every time I tried to chat with Parv, Janine would be right there, coming out of nowhere like a ninja," Kirby laughed.

"You know, if you're not in the conversation, you ARE the conversation, but there were so many names being floated that, if I had caught wind of mine, there was enough fear in that tribe that they would have backtracked."

It wasn't until they were sitting at tribal council when Kirby wanted to cross-check who she was voting for that she sensed something was amiss. And then Jonathan began pulling her name from the urn.

"It was the first time my name got mentioned, and then I got got!"

While it's all part of the game, being blindsided by the likes of Parvati and Cirie does come with some perks.

"These are the biggest players in the world. For Parvati to call me a shield, to be called 'Black Mamba', to be given a name from these Gods and Goddesses, it's a huge compliment," Kirby said.

"But I have so much to learn. I've learned a lot and hopefully they ask me back. When I play again, you'll see a different version. An evolved, upgraded version of this Black Mamba."

Survivor: Australia V The World continues Sundays at 7pm and Monday - Tuesday at 7.30pm on 10