After becoming the second contestant to be booted off the highly-praised Survivor: Australia V The World, Channel 10 has confirmed that David Genat will be taking over as host for Australian Survivor.
Shortly after he brutally had his torch snuffed out by Survivor Australia OG and zaddy Jonathan LaPaglia, Channel 10 confirmed that filming was underway for the 12th season of Australian Survivor.
In it’s announcement, the Survivor big dawgs confirmed that the Golden God — AKA Genat for those who’ve yet to catch up with the show — will be taking on reigns of hosting the show.
“10 is thrilled to confirm the ‘Golden God’ — David Genat — will be at the helm, commentating every challenge and tribal council as castaways battle it out for the title of Sole Survivor in Australian Survivor: Redemption,” Channel 10 said in a statement.
Reflecting on his new gig as a host, Genat said “getting to come back as host after playing three times is such an honour”.
“But Survivor is not about me; it’s about the incredible players who put everything on the line to outwit, outplay, and outlast,” Genat dished.
“I am pumped for the fans to meet the new crop of Survivors next season.”
The ‘yuge news comes shotly after LaPaglia opened up about his shock axing from the Survivor gig. To give you a quick TL;DR, the Australia reality TV world was rocked after Network 10 confirmed LaPaglia, who ran Australian Survivor since 2016, would not be returning for 2026.
Shortly after the announcement was made, LaPaglia made a scathing statement regarding the boot, admitting he was “blindsided” by the decision.
“I received a call from the Network thanking me for all my hard work and dedication to the show, but for next season they are ‘going in a different direction’. Ratings had dipped a bit recently and they wanted to do something drastic to shake things up,” the former Australian Survivor said in an Instagram post.
“Whoever said a blindside is the most humane way to put someone down is an idiot. It hurts like a bitch!”
And amongst this internet breaking post, LaPaglia was caught liking shady comments that speculated Genat would be taking over his hosting role — which has now been confirmed via today’s announcement.
Ahead of Sunday night’s premiere of Survivor: Australia V The World, the reality TV OG cleared up some rumours on the brutal axing confirming that his manager was the one who broke the news.
“The speculation online was that I received an email. But no, it was a call to my manager in Australia,” LaPaglia told The Watchlist.
“I didn’t get a direct call, which, I’ll be honest with you, was disappointing.
“After 10 years of helming their flagship show, it would have been nice to get a direct call from the people at the top, but I didn’t.”
Elsewhere in the interview, LaPaglia confessed that his Instagram Post might’ve upset Channel 10. However, he’s always “been honest” with his fanbase.
“I’m sure the network wasn’t happy,” he dished.
“But I’ve always been honest with the audience, and I think that’s part of what they appreciate about me.
“Honestly, that’s who I am, and maybe that’s why I’m in this position, because I am a little too honest about stuff, and maybe I’m not very good at playing the game.”
While we are extremely happy for Genat’s new gig — especially since his time on Survivor: Australia V The World was so short lived — we will be savouring this season, as it will be JLP’s last ride as Australian Survivor host.
It truly is bittersweet.
