Viewers were shocked when TV villain David Genat was announced as the new Australian Survivor host… but it had been a long time in the making.
When he was announced as the new host of Australian Survivor in mid-2025, David Genat’s appointment “blindsided” host Jonathan LaPaglia and viewers alike.
Yet he had actually been sounded out by producers Endemol Shine Australia as far back as 2020.
“In case JLP couldn’t fly for covid,” he explains.
“There was an audition in 2020. I auditioned again, maybe around 2023. And then after Australia vs the World in December 2024 was when I screen tested, and kind of knew I had it.”
It had been an uncoventional path to the hosting role for the former model, born in Perth to Australians of Prussian heritage. His first dalliance with entertainment was competing in Ford’s Search for a Supermodel on 10 in 2002.
“A friend dared me to do a Zoolander impression. We’d been watching that film so I just went down as a laugh. I was a bit of a class clown, I guess, in school,” he recalls.
“This was, like, super early days of reality, so they didn’t really understand the tricks of making us all argue with each other and be all dramatic and stuff. But it was still a pretty intense experience.”
After winning the series alongside Nicole Trunfio he resided in the US in an era when Travis Fimmel reigned. Life was busy and exciting.
“When I won that show it meant that I had agents around the globe for the next three years, or so. I was based in New York, just flying all over the place, modelling,” he explains.
“My claim to fame at the start was I had Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren at the time when they were competitors. It was a big modelling scandal. It was hilarious, and they were very upset with my agent. But then it led to me getting on contract with Ralph Lauren. I was with them for about seven years. Had a really good run with those guys.”
Acting classes and a pursuit of theatre however was a slower, longer target, so when a friend who had appeared on Australian Survivor told him about the show it became a new pursuit.
“They were looking for male modelling talent that had a good profile, my agent just put me forward, and then they wanted to meet me. I flew to Sydney and met with Endemol Shine and the rest is history. I think that was in 2018 that meeting happened. I met the amazing (producer) Amelia Fisk, and I gave her the American sell at this point. I’d been living in America saying ‘I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that, and I’m so great. ‘ She was like, ‘Well let’s see.’”
Ahead of his first appearance (there have now been three), he crammed episodes of the American series, and some of the Australian version.
“I wanted to be a villain on the show. I was piecing together all these characters, like Boston Rob and Parvati and Tyson. I watched their seasons… I thought ‘Let me try and be the male Parvati.’ I wanted to really play up that character side of things, to be a villain on television, to see if it could get some career going with TV,” says Genat.
“My plan was to play that first season, not worry about winning, but just do the craziest stuff I could and really get the audience on board, or hating me.”
He became known as an Immunity Idol magnet, earning him the “Golden God” tagline. He admits it was a name he gave himself.
“The original Golden God clip came about because I found this little skull and I crafted a fake Immunity Idol,” he recalls.
“It was 3am on the beach and I was trying to do it with no one seeing it. When I finished it, (a producer asked) ‘How does that feel? And I was like, ‘I feel like a Golden God right now!’ …then they just started calling me ‘Golden God’ in interviews. So then I started using it.”
But in Champions v Contenders II he was blindsided, leaving the tribe with an Idol in his bag. Producers, excited by his gameplay immediately hauled him in with another idea. Would he return in 6 weeks time to film Australian Survivor: All Stars? This time he won the series.
When the pandemic then swept the world, he pivoted into Celebrity Apprentice for Nine, who subsequently gave him guest hosting spots on Getaway before a series hosting role on Rush. The travel adventure series, produced by Endemol Shine, only ran for one season before being dropped.
“Nine had gambled on two new formats, The Summit, and Rush, and both rated about the same. I didn’t think the ratings were lighting the world on fire, but they were quite good, and it was just a big financial commitment,” he continues.
“When they came back to green light shows, I don’t think they wanted to run them both….I’d signed on for three seasons of that , so it was pretty upsetting when it got cancelled.”
But he had also been seen by US producers who invited him to compete on Deal or No Deal Island.
“I thought, ‘That sounds so ridiculous’ And then they said, ‘The last season,someone was playing for $14m bucks.’ I thought, ‘Alright I’m in!’”
The series put him alongside Survivor‘s Parvati who had also been invited to do Australian Survivor: Australia vs the World prior. Despite winning over AU$9m on Deal or No Deal he agreed to his third Survivor tour of duty. It would be the final time he appeared alongside Jonathan LaPaglia whom he would unexpectedly succeed.
The two spoke briefly following the new host announcement by Network 10.
“Yes we did have a little chat. I am cordial with Jonathan. As a contestant, he’s always treated me very nicely. I wanted to be able to send him a message, to tell him how much I appreciate his legacy and what he did for the show. His response, and I get why you (would) do that, was that ‘It was what it was.’ But I was very cordial with Jonathan,” he confirms.
So having been a Reality TV villain is it important to be accepted by the audience as a likeable host? Not necessarily.
“I don’t know. Man, it’s like an acting role. I think you can kind of make it whatever you like as long as you’re facilitating the gameplay. There’s hosts that do it all in different ways. Like, look at The Traitors. Alan Cumming is so theatrical and camp so there’s all different ways you can play host,” Genat insists.
“I like to keep the guys accountable for the gameplay. I love the game, and I love gameplay, and I want them to play. I think there’s a tendency sometimes for Survivor players to not want to play. But they have to be in Tribal Council and play hard so I make sure I keep them on the hook for that. I ask probing questions, and I give them a chance to obviously deceive. Skullduggery and being good at that is at the core of a Tribal Council. But I don’t want to let them get it easy. I want them to work for it. There’s half a million dollars on the line.”
What will viewers see in the new Redemption series?
“You’re gonna see one of the wildest seasons of Australian Survivor. The alliance switches were incredible. There’s really high drama and great characters, really good stories. The people that were playing like were really into the theme. Everyone was kind of like, ‘I need Redemption,’” he explains.
“There’s probably about three or four, super-standout players this season. It’s going to be like old school Survivor, where you’re going to really gravitate towards their characters… the new ones I’m talking about.
“Having the returnees is good, because everyone has to play hard from day one. It’s like they give you an education. That happened for me the first time I played because I had Luke Toki there.
“And they’re playing in front of someone who knows the game so well who has played it at its highest level. So I think they really wanted to play hard for me as well.”
Australian Survivor premieres 7:30pm Monday February 23 on 10.