No. of episodes 12 Number of episodes 12 Winner Anirudh Kathirvel | Original network Network Ten Country of origin Australia | |
Original release 3 August (2015-08-03) – 8 September 2015 (2015-09-08) | ||
The first season of The Great Australian Spelling Bee premiered on Network Ten on 3 August 2015. The season was hosted by Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan, and also starred Chris Edmund as pronouncer.
Contents
Anirudh won the season, receiving a $50,000 education scholarship, $10,000 worth of equipment for his school, a Macquarie Dictionary, a Sprout computer, and a HP Pro Slate 8 tablet in prizes. In addition, the five runners-up received scholarships worth $10,000, a HP Pro Slate 8 tablet, and $1,000 of education goods for their school.
Contestants
The series began with 52 contestants aged 8–13 years old which was cut down to the Top 26.
Episode 1
This episode consisted of 4 person heats, with 2 in each group winning a spot in the top 26.
Episode 2
At the beginning of the episode it was announced that Emma had to quit the competition due to family reasons. Because of this Harpith (as the most successful eliminated contestant) was brought back into the competition. Josh and Jack also got sent home.
Episode 4
At the end of Speed Spell, the Top 6 were deemed safe from elimination. In no particular order, those spellers were Marko, Anirudh, Mica, Tej, Grace D and Jack B. The remaining 12 spellers went head-to-head in Flash Cards, where the theme was technology. The winning spellers, Harrison, Aimee, Amelia, Amanda, Holly R and Stuart were then safe from elimination. In the final spelling bee, 6 spellers spelling in multiple rounds to determine the 2 spellers who would be safe from elimination (Jye and Grace P). The other 4 spellers, Ben, Bella, Timothy and Josie were sent home.
Episode 5
In the Final Spelling Bee, Yellow Team was facing defeat against Green Team. It was a three-on-one situation, as Green Team had three members and Yellow Team only had Mica as their last member. However, Mica rallied in an impressive showing to obtain a astounding come-from-behind victory and gain immunity for her team.