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Australian Survivor 2024 insider reveals major casting change this season
Here’s what to expect on this year’s season of Australian Survivor.
Australian Survivor is set to return on Monday night with another nail-biting season filled with plenty of blindsides, backstabs and shocking twists.
The show is once again hosted by Jonathan LaPaglia and has been filmed in Samoa for the second year in a row, however, fans can expect a major change when it comes to this season’s cast.
“The producers of the show are promising a dynamic cast and plenty of surprises which even shocked host JLP during filming,” a production insider tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Australian Survivor has created a name for itself as the most ruthless reality show on television, but don’t expect another King George this season.”
George Mladenov, also known as ‘King George of Bankstown’, is often referred to as one of the best Survivor players of all time - despite never winning the show. His devious gameplay and hilarious commentary in 2021’s Brains v Brawn made him an immediate fan-favourite, and he returned the following year for Heroes v Villains where he finished fourth.
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While George is undeniably amazing TV, our source says producers went out of their way when casting this season to find ‘characters’ that fans have never seen in the Survivor franchise.
“There is a lot of competition amongst the producers around the world to find the most bonkers player and while George is probably the most recognisable Australian castaway, we want to find even bigger personalities and players who will shock and surprise viewers in different ways,” the insider explains.
“Australian Survivor works best when viewers don’t know what will happen next, so unpredictable personality types is what we go for.”
Casting producers immediately ruled out applicants that described themselves as “the new George”, with our insider adding: “We got that a lot and it was the opposite of what we were looking for.
“Sure, we can’t help some contestants studying past players, but if we see too much of the same gameplay we know our viewers will be disappointed. Keeping the show fresh is a priority and we want Australian Survivor around for many more years to come.”
George's new gig at Channel 10
While George might not be competing on this year’s season of Survivor, it was recently announced that he would hosting the show’s companion series Australian Survivor: Talking Tribal.
The former Amazing Race star will be joined by Blood V Water fan favourite Chrissy Zaremba and podcaster and Survivor expert Shannon Guss as they break down strategy and predict future gameplay.
“Chrissy understands George and will bring the best out of him,” our insider remarks. “I think some fans were expecting Hayley [Leake] or Cara [Atchison] but if you’ve seen the chemistry with Chrissy and George you will know why that decision was made.
“Chrissy loves him but isn’t intimidated by his antics, which is actually a really hard personality type to find.”
Our insider adds that if George was to ever return to actually play Survivor, it would likely be on an international season.
“There are whispers that the US has him in their sight, but I can’t see him back on our Australian format any time soon,” they share.
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