“We didn’t tell the players that there was going to be a live audience finale back in Sydney,” exec producer reveals.
This year’s Australian Survivor players were shocked when host David Genat dropped a bombshell following the final Tribal Council in Samoa.
“We didn’t tell the players that there was going to be a live audience finale back in Sydney,” 10 / Paramount executive producer Ciaran Flannery tells TV Tonight.
“We’ve not done a live audience finale since 2020 when covid to put an end to that. That was six years ago, so none of them would have been expecting it.
“The two final players made their pitches. Everyone got up, went and voted, came and sat back down again. David grabbed the urn, brought it back to read the votes, and said, ‘I’ll read the votes back in Sydney,’ and then just turns around and walks out.
“The faces on the players, particularly the finalists!
“Not one of the jury had any idea we were gonna do that. It was something that we really wanted to keep as a surprise.”
In the run up to the penultimate episode there are three remaining players: Caleb, Loz and Jackson, with Sally being voted out last night.
Tonight sees the final challenge and the winner deciding who will sit beside them for the jury pitch.
The pitches will screen tomorrow night, followed by the winner announcement / reunion filmed last Friday in Sydney.
Flannery says he had long been keen to return to a live audience finale since covid.
“It’s not much of a secret that we always have to shoot multiple endings to shows to make sure that the winner doesn’t leak. But there’s something really special about seeing someone genuinely be told in front of hundreds of people that they’ve just won $500,000 and are the sole survivor. That’s the kind of magic that you can’t really recreate.”
The reunion sees the full cast, not just the jury back to celebrate the season.
“Obviously, as you get to the end of Survivor, it is the jury, the key players, who make the calls. But a lot of really great moments and moves, especially this series, did happen before the merge. So it’d be a shame not to give those people a chance to to look over their journey,” he suggests.
“Besides, you can’t not bring Dirty Harry back!”
Australian Survivor: Redemption has been the lowest rating across its 10 era, and follows a fan backlash with David Genat replacing Jonathan LaPaglia.
But Flannery maintains while most of the noise occurred prior to the season premiere, and that Genat’s hosting has actually been well received.
“I think you’d have to be a pretty one eyed viewer not to acknowledge that David’s done a good job. For me, he’s brought his own authority to the role as a former winner, which is a unique role. He’s got his own type of humour, but I think importantly for me, he knew how to make sure that the players are the heroes of the story. Like, he could have gone out there and just been the Golden God, couldn’t he? But I think he probably knew better than anyone that wouldn’t have worked,” says Flannery.
“He’s finding his own voice now as a player turned host, and for me, episode by episode, you can see him refining that voice and becoming more and more comfortable. At the beginning, I think the biggest credit you give is that the most negativity occurred before the series went to air. But the more people have seen of him, the quieter and quieter that negativity has become.”
Its biggest challenge has been the stellar audience for another Endemol Shine Australia show.
“This is a very tough market with very tough competition. It’s the hardest time of year to launch a show against Married at First Sight, which is doing phenomenally well,” he continues.
“So I think that’s a very, very large part of it, if I’m being honest with you. I think the main thing for us is, when we look at that, is getting a sense of what our viewers think of the show. The love for the show this year has been really strong. I think the online commentary has been super positive. I was just reading a Reddit thread just the other day that the debate was, ‘Is this the best, second best or third best season of Australian Survivor? ‘So that’s where the the debate has been, couched, which is very promising. It makes us really believe that the show editorially is in a good place.”
So if the show returns in 2027 should it be scheduled at a different time?
“Look at the end of the day, you can’t put nothing to air against Married at First Sight. So my view is that wherever Survivor goes next year, we want it to grow.”
And any confirmation of the show’s future?
“We’re going to make an announcement during the finale that I think will be very exciting for the fans,” he teases.
Australian Survivor: Redemption. 7:30pm Monday and Tuesday on 10.
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