Gemma Kinghorn
22nd Place
Preference: 14/22
Impact: 16/22
Alright, so here we are - sorry, Gemma! Hope you still keep following along...
Anyway, at the start of the season, I was intrigued by Gemma. She seemed to be very fun and outspoken but not in an obnoxious way. However, I think this aspect of her personality was one of the factors which ultimately led to her downfall as the other contestants seemed to have a hard time relating to her. For instance, the paddling pool incident. As a viewer, I completely understood Gemma's intentions - from what I saw, her comment appeared to be more of an apology to Skye than anything for not giving her a chance at first. However, I do think Gemma's comment lacked a bit of social awareness as she should've known that it would be interpreted incorrectly because of her phrasing.
As far as her strategy goes, I understood what she was going for, and I do think she could've had some success with it had the public voted to save instead of the housemates the first week. From what I've observed from watching this show, it's almost always better to be polarizing than to be neutral, because if you're polarizing, you'll still have fans who will be willing to send votes your way, while neutral does not get you votes. Like I mentioned, it was ultimately the format of the first eviction that screwed Gemma over - I think there's a definite chance she would've survived if it was up to the Australian public, possibly making it a long way as well. However, even if her strategy would've seen success initially, it probably would not have worked long term since at the end of the competition, you can't really afford to have detractors since they will vote to save other people just to get you out. I think that could've very well happened to Gemma had she lasted longer.
With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the two weeks we got of Gemma - even though she was the first to leave, she made much more use of her two weeks in the house than many others this season did with longer stays, so for that, I give her props.