Having played Australian Survivor three times, and having auditioned as host on multiple occasions, David Genat finally found himself in Samoa, welcoming the players as they walked in to begin Australian Survivor: Redemption.
“Standing out there on the first day, it was a bit emotional,” David, 45, admits to TV WEEK. “I think just the culmination of me having played so much Survivor, having worked in my career so hard to get to this point, and then having the contestants walking towards me just felt like such a big moment. And then on top of that, two of my friends walk out on the mat.
“It was a really intense experience. I started to get quite emotional. I had to suck it back down and get into hosting mode.”
While Survivor fans and previous host Jonathan LaPaglia were surprised – to put it mildly – when David was announced as the new host last year, for David, the announcement was a long time coming.
“I knew they were looking for a new host,” he says. “Five years ago, I started auditioning, so I’ve auditioned for the show multiple times.
“I knew that people were going to be upset that Jon had lost the position, but nobody gets to be Batman forever, you know? It’s just the way entertainment works. Nobody in entertainment gets to keep their job forever.”
What does David Genat say about Jonathan LaPaglia?
David says Jonathan was an “amazing” host, who made the job look effortless.
“But I think, when Jonathan was going to be replaced, I’m the best person for the job.”
As for the reaction to the news on social media, David wasn’t fussed.
“I was a villain on Champions v Contenders [II}, so I’ve heard it all,” he points out. “I think I got a couple where people were physically threatening to hurt me. So being like, ‘Hey, we love Jonathan and we don’t like you,’ is water off a duck’s back.”
David says he and Jonathan exchanged a couple of text messages when the news came out – “I was like, ‘Man, all respect to your legacy. No-one can replicate what you’ve done with the show,’” – but Jonathan didn’t give him any advice about hosting. Instead, David turned to his “very close friend” Joe Manganiello, who hosted Deal or No Deal Island in the US, and to former US Survivor players like “Boston Rob” Mariano, Parvati Shallow and Ethan Zohn.
“I want to facilitate gameplay, so I went to the biggest gamers,” he explains. “And I was like, ‘How would you have liked [US Survivor host] Jeff [Probst] to facilitate these situations when you’re making moves?’ I can’t be Jonathan – I’m not Jonathan – and so I wanted to do it in my way.”
What reality shows has David Genat been on?
David made his first appearance on reality TV back in 2002, on the third season of Search for a Supermodel, which he and Nicole Trunfio won. He says that win was an “incredible leg-up” into the modelling industry. He moved to New York, where he studied acting for five years.
“I thought it was going to be a straight line from modelling to commercials to dramatic acting,” he remembers.
When the invitation came to play 2019’s Australian Survivor: Champions v Contenders II, he wasn’t sure.
“I was like, “Uh, reality, I don’t know about that.’ But then, once I leant into it, I realised, ‘Oh, I’m actually really good at this.’”
David didn’t win that season, but he did win on his second shot at Australian Survivor in 2020’s All Stars, where he played alongside Harry Hills and Brooke Jowett, who are both back this season. He followed that up with a win on Deal or No Deal Island last year, where he walked away with $US5.8 million, making him the biggest prizewinner in US TV game show history.
A father of three (he has sons Winston and Hugo with his ex-wife, as well as daughter Rei with his current wife, Pearl Christensen) and stepfather of one, winning such a big prize has been life-changing for David.
“It’s financial freedom,” he says. “I’ve been in entertainment and modelling for 25 years or so, and it’s always been this roller-coaster. Sometimes I had money, sometimes I didn’t have money. And to be able to just not have to worry about financial stress is unbelievable.”
Where does David Genat live?
David is now living in Texas – “When you’re trying to pay no income tax that’s where you gotta be,” he laughs – but he still has a home in Australia and, of course, travels to Samoa for Survivor filming. To him, there’s a huge advantage that comes with hosting the show rather than competing in it: staying in touch with his wife and kids.
“As a contestant, there’s no contact. Fifty days you don’t get to speak to your family.”
Although he’s enjoying hosting, David hasn’t given up on acting. He makes an appearance in zombie movie We Bury the Dead, written and directed by Zak Hilditch, and starring Daisy Ridley and Mark Coles Smith.
“I have a tiny bit part in that,” he says. “My friend directed it and I was between filming stuff. He was like, ‘Would you just step in and do this?’”
David hasn’t given up on the idea of competing on a reality TV show again, either. He says he gets asked to do shows in the US “all the time”. So has he been approached to go on the US version of Dancing with the Stars, in the light of Robert Irwin’s stunning success?
“Well, I can’t say anything about that,” he says with a laugh. “You’re going to have to wait and see. But once you’ve broken the record for the amount of money won on an American television show, there are people excited to see you, I guess!”
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