There’s trouble brewing in the jungle.
Rumours are swirling of a massive shake-up on Ten reality show Australian Survivor, with the long-serving host Jonathan LaPaglia quietly axed ahead of the 14th season.
The 55-year-old first joined the franchise in 2016.
‘It’s a terrible idea,’ one TV industry source told me this week.
‘The show’s ratings have been in decline for a while, but the same goes for pretty much every entertainment show.
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Rumours are swirling of a massive shake-up on Ten reality show Australian Survivor, with the long-serving host Jonathan LaPaglia (pictured) quietly axed ahead of the 14th season
LaPaglia, 55, first joined the franchise in 2016 and is said to be well-liked by the cast and crew
‘Changing the host now is a terrible idea. He’s so well-established in the Survivor world – it would be a total mistake to find a new host.’
While Jonathan had disagreements with the show’s producers at EndemolShine over the years, he is nonetheless ‘respected on set… the cast and crew love him.’
In a controversial move, I am told he will be replaced by David Genat, the former model and Australian Survivor: All Stars champion who went on to front the ill-fated Nine series Rush, which was cancelled after a single season.
David recently had a massive windfall when he won US$5.8million (AU$8.7million) on the American TV game show Deal or No Deal Island.
Not everyone is convinced he’s the right man for the job, with one production insider telling me: ‘He doesn’t fit the brief.
‘He’s charismatic, sure – but Survivor needs someone with gravitas. David is not Jonathan, and viewers will notice that.’
The hosting reshuffle comes as Australian Survivor battles a slump in the ratings.
The most recent season, Brains v Brawn II, struggled to capture the audience’s attention, with viewership dipping to as low as 486,000 in total overnight viewers.
In a controversial move, I am told he will be replaced by David Genat (pictured), the former model and Australian Survivor: All Stars champion
David recently had a massive windfall when he won US$5.8million (AU$8.7million) on the American TV game show Deal or No Deal Island
That’s a far cry from the million-plus numbers the series used to pull in its heyday.
But that’s not the only difficulty plaguing the production.
I can also reveal producers have been scrambling behind the scenes to lock in contestants for next year’s season.
‘Casting has been a nightmare,’ a well-placed insider tells me.
‘They extended the application deadline and even tried poaching contestants who had originally applied for Married at First Sight.
‘Some of them were a better fit for Survivor than MAFS, but going after their leftovers really shows how desperate things are.’
Despite the drama surrounding the 2026 season, Ten is pushing ahead with the next instalment, Australian Survivor: Australia v The World, set to launch after MasterChef.
Australia v The World, which pits Aussie contenders against international Survivor royalty in a cross-continent showdown, was filmed between September and October last year with LaPaglia as host. Genat is one of the local contestants.
Neither LaPaglia nor Channel Ten responded to my emails.
