Prior to Australian Survivor: Redemption’s premiere in February, new host David Genat slipped into the show’s fan thread on Reddit to ask viewers to give this season a shot.
It’s season 12 on Ten and his first after taking over from veteran host Jonathan LaPaglia.
“Yeah, I left a little message in there asking people to please be nice. Some of the stuff I hear about them writing is so toxic. Just for our contestants, because they’re all first-timers and it’s such an intense experience.
“I remember that too from my first time – and I was a full-fledged villain the first time I played– and I think sometimes the fans can forget it’s a show and these are people,” says the 45-year-old.
“I felt compelled to message them and thank the fans but beg them to be nice. I love the discourse and I love people being able to unpack the show, but the people playing are under such intense scrutiny. The social stuff is so intense. They’re all actually really nice people.”
FINDING HIS RHYTHM
David tells Woman’s Day he refuses to read comments about himself, but he’s confident he’s doing a good job as host.
“I found my rhythm around the third or fourth Tribal. I think I settled on where I wanted it to be,” he says.
“I felt like I hit the ground running, like I knew the show, but I’m learning too – information I’m taking in, my performance, making sure things are facilitated and commentated, but like a lot of things, you can only learn through experience.
“Now I’ve got a season under my belt and I’ll keep getting better and I think you’ll see that through the season I settle into the role. I try to be as good as I can.”
David concedes he feels the pressure of filling the big shoes of former host JLP, 56, who was controversially axed last year.
“Definitely – he’s a beloved host and he was really good. But Jonathan also had a lot of time to settle into the role. He had 10 seasons to get where he is.
“I knew I had to be close to his level on my second or third episode. It wasn’t a learning curve – it was a learning drop-off-a-cliff!” says David.
“I really had to step up and do my best from the start and I’m really proud of what we did. I think we got it there. I know it’s not Jonathan and it’s going to take people a little bit of time to get used to hearing my voice and the way I respond and the way we want to do things. But we also wanted to pay homage to Jonathan and just build on that foundation that he had.”
THE GOLDEN GOD
And David – who has appeared on Australian Survivor himself three times – is confident he’s now put his own stamp on the show.
“I obviously have different insights to what Jonathan has, because I’ve played. And I think that helped me facilitate Tribals a little bit differently – I feel like in a better way,” he says.
“I’m really happy with how it’s turned out. I’m just not Jonathan. No one can go in there and be him. I’m just trying to be myself, with my experiences. I feel like I have an empathy that a host who’s never played doesn’t have.”
And while rumours have abounded that less-than-stellar ratings could signal the death knell for the TV franchise, David confirms to Woman’s Day that casting is underway for the next season of Australian Survivor and he is returning as host. “Definitely,” he says. “I’ll be back. I’ve signed for a few seasons.”
And “The Golden God” says he’ll be better than ever now he’s hosted a season.
“100 per cent. Once you’ve worked out all the procedural things, you can settle into the performance. Now I can start really finetuning it and perfecting it and really doing it how I want to do it,” says David.
Bigger & Better
In the meantime, the Aussie model says the cast of Redemption are killing it!
“There have been so many exceptional people. The level they were playing at was insane. I think we’ve got a lot of people who are very good at this game and it’s a very exciting season. Lottie is playing so smart right now. It just kept ramping up and getting bigger and better as the season goes on,” he says.
“We haven’t even scratched the surface. They go so much bigger and so much harder with the gameplay and these unexpected swings, it’s incredible. The blindsides are so juicy! It’s the best.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
