Australian Survivor

Australian Survivor
Also known as	Survivor
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	Charlie Parsons
Based on	Expedition Robinson/Survivor by Charlie Parsons
Presented by	Lincoln Howes Ian "Dicko" Dickson Jonathan LaPaglia David Genat
Starring	Australian Survivor contestants
Theme music composer	Jack Robin (2002)[1] Jay Stewart (2006)[2] Russ Landau (2016–present)
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
No. of seasons	14
No. of episodes	304 (and 2 specials) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Stephen Peters (2002)[3] David Mason (2006)[4] Amelia Fisk (2016–2020, 2022) Tim Toni (2016–2017)[5] Keely Sonntag (2019–2021)[6] Tim Ali (2023)[7] David Forster (2022–2025)[8] Phoebe McMahon (2025–present)
Production location	see below
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts) (2002, 2006) 70-90 minutes (inc. adverts) (2016–present)
Production companies	Castaway Television (2002–present) Endemol Shine Australia (2016–present)
Original release
Network	Nine Network
Release	3 February (2002-02-03) – 15 May 2002 (2002-05-15)
Network	Seven Network
Release	17 August (2006-08-17) – 2 November 2006 (2006-11-02)
Network	Network 10
Release	21 August 2016 (2016-08-21) – present
Related
Companion shows Jury Villa Talking Tribal Drop Your Buffs Related American Survivor International versions

Australian Survivor (occasionally branded and marketed simply as Survivor) is an Australian adventure reality game show based on the international Survivor format. Following the premise of other versions of the Survivor format, the show features a group of contestants, referred to as "castaways" as they are marooned in an isolated location. The castaways must provide food, water, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in various challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out of the game by their fellow castaways. The final castaway remaining is awarded the title of "Sole Survivor" and the grand prize of A$500,000.

The series first aired in 2002 on the Nine Network, who as of 2023, also hold the first-run Australian broadcast rights to the American edition of Survivor. In 2006, a celebrity edition aired on the Seven Network. Both iterations of the series only lasted one season due to low ratings.^[9]

In November 2015, Network Ten announced at its network upfronts that it would be reviving the series in 2016.^[10] The series commenced airing on 21 August 2016, with Jonathan LaPaglia hosting. Unlike its predecessors, Network Ten renewed the series for a 2017 season,^[11] and the series has continued successfully, with seasons airing yearly. Australian Survivor most recently aired its fourteenth and twelfth seasons on Network 10, titled Redemption, set on the island of Upolu in Samoa. It was the first season hosted by former contestant David Genat after Network 10 confirmed in June 2025 that Jonathan LaPaglia would depart as host after Australia V The World .^[12]

Currently, casting is open for the fifteenth season, which is expected to have a "world-first" theme and is set to film in Malaysia.^[13]

The show follows the same general format as the other editions of Survivor. To begin, the players are split into two or three tribes and taken to a remote, isolated location. They are forced to live off the land with meagre supplies for several weeks. Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the tribes against each other for rewards such as food, luxuries, or for immunity, forcing the other tribe to attend Tribal Council, where they must vote one of their tribemates out of the game by secret ballot.

About halfway through the game, the tribes are merged into a single tribe, and challenges are on an individual basis; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out. Most players voted out during this stage become members of the Tribal Council Jury. When only two or three players remain, the Final Tribal Council is held. The finalists plead their case to the Jury about why they should win the game. The jurors then have the opportunity to interrogate the finalists before casting their vote for which finalist should be awarded the title of Sole Survivor and win the grand prize of A$500,000. ^[a]

In addition to being eliminated by a Tribal Council Vote, the Castaways can also elect to leave the game at any time, either if they are finding the game or the experience too difficult, or to attend to a personal emergency outside of the game. In the event of a castaway quitting, they may not be eligible to participate as a member of the Jury. Castaways who are injured can be removed from the game if the medical staff assess their condition and decides that they are not fit to continue in the game. Unlike some versions, injured castaways can be sent to the hospital for up to 24 hours to assess the nature and severity of their injury. If the injury can be remedied, they may be allowed to return to the game.

Like other editions of the show, the Australian edition has introduced numerous modifications or twists on the core rules to prevent players from over-relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons or other editions of Survivor. These changes have included tribe switches, players being exiled from their tribe for a short period of time, hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves or another player at Tribal Council from being voted off, voting powers that can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council, multiple players winning Immunity thought the challenge after the Merge, the opportunity to eliminate members of the Jury before the Final Tribal Council, and players being given a chance to return after they have been voted off.

Notes

The first Australian version of the Survivor format was filmed in late 2001 and aired in 2002 on the Nine Network. The program was a contractual obligation if the network were to be allowed to continue to broadcast American Survivor.^[14] The program was criticised for poor casting and lower production value than the popular American edition and it was not renewed due to low ratings. The Nine Network still hold the first-run rights to American Survivor and have continued to broadcast the American edition of the program ever since.^[9] Since 2013, recent seasons air on Nine's secondary channel; 9Go! and streamed on 9Now within hours of the original American airing,^[15][16] with most seasons since 2015 having the finale broadcast as a simulcast of the American Eastern Time broadcast, across Australia.^[17] Since 2026, with the commemorative 25th aniversary season, Survivor US 50: In the Hands of the Fans the American series moved to Nine’s affiliated streaming network Stan.^[18]

In 2006, the Seven Network found a loophole in the contract between the Nine Network and Castaway Television, which allowed them to produce a celebrity version of the series due to a celebrity format being licensed separately from the original format. While the series was a modest success in the ratings, Seven Network did not renew the series.^[19]

In November 2015, Network Ten revealed at its upfront event that it would air a new season featuring regular contestants to air in the last quarter of 2016.^[20] This new season gave Australian Survivor the distinction of being one of the few Australian programs to have aired across all three major commercial television networks in Australia. Australian Survivor has continued to air mostly yearly. In 2020, it was intended for there to be two seasons of the show, with the All Stars edition set to be followed by another season in mid-late 2020,^[21] however, the onset of the COVID-19 prevented filming of the second season.^[22] The following two seasons (Brains V Brawn and Blood V Water) were filmed in Outback Queensland, due to travel restrictions as well as safety concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.^[23][24] These seasons aired in 2021 and 2022.

The show's most recent season, Brains V Brawn II concluded in March 2025,^[25] with a second shorter season, Australia V The World airing from August 2025. Ahead of the season's broadcast, Network 10 confirmed in June 2025 that this would be Jonathan LaPaglia's final season as host.^[12] The decision was met with a large fan outcry.^[26] He was succeeded by three-time player and All Stars winner David Genat, beginning with 2026 and the Redemption season.^[27]

Following Network Ten's acquisition by CBS (the American broadcaster of the format) in 2017, starting in December 2018, CBS made the complete American Survivor series available on their paid Australian streaming platform, Paramount+ (previously known as 10 All Access until August 2021). The broadcasts include Survivor US: Marquesas, which never aired in Australia due to Nine Network's commitment in airing their 2002 version of Australian Survivor.^[28] Originally, a select few seasons are also uploaded to Network Ten's free streaming site, 10 Play.^[29] As of June 2022, all seasons are uploaded to 10Play.^[30] Each American season is uploaded sometime after the season has aired on Nine Network, when the rights to that season revert to CBS under their agreement.

Additionally, as of September 2020, both seasons of Survivor NZ and the Philippines and Island of Secrets seasons of Survivor South Africa were also uploaded on 10 Play.^[31] Both the Immunity Island and Return of the Outcasts seasons of Survivor South Africa and the 2023 revival of Survivor UK were available to be streamed in Australia, on the same day they aired in their originating networks (M-Net in South Africa and BBC One in the United Kingdom).^[32][33][34]

Over the course of 14 seasons, a total of 255 castaways have participated in the program.

Region	Locations			Season number(s)
Oceania	Australia	Queensland	Charters Towers	9
			Cloncurry	8
		South Australia	Whaler's Way, Eyre Peninsula	1
	Fiji		Savusavu	5, 6, 7
	Samoa		Upolu	3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
	Vanuatu		Efate, Shefa	2
Asia	Malaysia			15

Some seasons feature a reveal of the winner back in Australia, with votes read in front of a live studio audience, followed by a reunion show where the contestants discuss the season's events and the impact of their experience. This is a practice utilised in other versions of the show, including notably the American Version. Unlike the American version, most of the reunions are filmed a few days before broadcast.

The reunion of Australian Survivor 2002 was filmed at Melbourne's Crown Casino, with series host Lincoln Howes revealing the winner before Eddie McGuire hosted the reunion discussion. This was the only reunion to be broadcast live.

The reunion returned with Australian Survivor 2017, and the practice continued until All-Stars, with the exception of Champions V Contenders II, due to the concurrent productions of All Stars. These shows were produced at 10's Studios in Sydney, and all reunion shows were hosted by the series host Jonathan LaPaglia except for the All-Stars reunion, which was hosted by Osher Günsberg, as LaPaliga could not return to Australia due to travel restrictions being introduced during Covid-19 Pandemic. The practice of a reunion show was rested, partly due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The practice of holding a reunion was reintroduced during Redemption, with the reunion being produced overlooking Sydney Harbour at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney.

Seasons that do not feature a reunion have the final vote reveal filmed on the island, often filming both the true ending and a fake ending to avoid leaking of the season's results.

Notes

In addition to the main program, two companion web programs are also produced for Australian Survivor with both airings on 10's free video on demand streaming service 10Play. 10Play also hosts deleted scenes called "Secret Scenes" as well as additional interviews from the contestants.

Introduced in the 3rd season, Jury Villa is based on the Ponderosa series from American Survivor. The series follows the castaways that are voted off during the jury phase of the game as they become members of the Tribal Council Jury and interact with one another in the villa. Each episode focuses primarily on the latest evictee and their arrival in the villa. Episodes are released through 10Play following the airing of each episode of the main show of the Jury phase of the game.^[59][60]

For unknown reasons, the series did not air on Australia V The World. On Redemption clips from the Jury Villa were shown on social media.

Introduced in the All Stars season, Talking Tribal is an aftershow that unpacks all of the castaway's strategies from the main show. The show premiered on Friday 31 January 2020, days before the premiere of All-Stars for a preview special. The show then airs weekly after each Wednesday night episode of the main show.^[61][62] In addition to airing as web series on 10 Play, the series also airs as an audio podcast on 10's podcast platform 10 speaks. The first season was hosted by former contestant Luke Toki and television presenter James Mathison, who were joined by Rob Has a Podcast podcaster Shannon Guss as a regular panelist, with the trio being joined by a guest panelists each week.^[63]

Talking Tribal's second season (companion to the Brains V Brawn edition of the show) was hosted by Luke Toki and Nova Perth radio host and Big Brother 2002 housemate Nathan Morris, who were joined by Shannon Guss and former player Nick Iadanza.^[64]

Mathison and Guss were joined by the winner and the runner-up of Brains V Brawn, Hayley Leake and George Mladenov, in the third season of Talking Tribal during Blood V Water.^[65][66] Brooke Jowett from the third season and All Stars, alongside Khanh Ong from Blood V Water, joined Guss in the fourth season of Talking Tribal during Heroes V Villains.^[67] Chrissy Zaremba from Blood V Water joined Guss in the fifth season of Talking Tribal during Titans V Rebels, with Mladenov returning for a second season.^[68]

The series did not return for Brains V Brawn II.

For Australia V The World, the fan podcast, Drop Your Buffs was announced as the official companion show for the season - with regular host Sean Ross joined by two-time player Nick Iadanza, and Survivor US 41 player Ricard Foyé.^[69] Filmed in Samoa during production, the show features a brief discussion of the events from the last episode alongside an interview with the most recently evicted castaway.

Hosted by Nick Iadanza and four-time player Shonee Bowtell, Jury's Out was the companion show for Australian Survivor: Redemption. It features interviews with each member of the jury.

The series airs on the following channels outside of Australia:

• In New Zealand the series airs on TVNZ 2, with the series also being available on TVNZ+.^[70]
• In the United Kingdom, the series airs on Amazon Prime Video.^[71]
• In the United States, the series aired on Paramount+ but is not currently available as of 14 February 2022 due to the service losing streaming rights.^[72]
• In Slovakia and Czech Republic, the series is available on streaming platform Voyo.^[73]
• In South Africa, the series airs on M-Net.^[74]
• In Sweden, the series is titled Robinson Australien (reflecting the Expedition Robinson title used in Sweden for Survivor) and is available to watch on TV4's streaming service, TV4 Play.^[75]

• Official website
• Production Website - Endemol Shine (2016 - present)
• Australian Survivor at IMDb