Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | August 18, 2025
In a blindside to end all Survivor blindsides, the popular Australian version of the series fired longtime host Jonathan LaPaglia over the summer. He’d been the host for roughly a decade, finishing out his run on Australia V The World, which began airing over the weekend.
As had been rumored, LaPaglia will be replaced by David Genat, a former winner of Australian Survivor and a player on the current Australia V The World season. He also won Deal or No Deal Island here in America, winning around $9 million, the most ever awarded to the winner of a traditional reality television series. He also began his reality television career by winning the third season of Australia’s Search for a Supermodel back in 2002.
He’s clearly a popular and savvy reality competition player and, in 2023, hosted an Australian travel series, Rush, so he clearly has knowledge as a player and some hosting experience. He is not, however, Jonathan LaPaglia, a host with whom no one had any issues, save possibly for the Australian Survivor production who, perhaps, could no longer afford him (there’s been no other explanation offered).
I don’t know Genat well (I didn’t watch his All Star season, nor Deal or No Deal Island, but I did see him in the Australia V The World premiere. He undoubtedly has some presence, although wearing a leather jacket during confessionals on a tropical island feels … incongruent. I’d characterize the response on the Australian Survivor subreddit as somewhere between hostile (“NOT MY KING”) and resigned (“at least it’s someone we know”).
I’m sure he’ll be fine. He will not, however, be Jonathan LaPaglia, who is as good or better a host as Jeff Probst here in America.
For the record, the premiere episode of Australia V The World was very good.
